Being a true Real Housewives devotee — a loyal viewer of every iteration of Bravo’s most well-known franchise — comes with certain responsibilities. It’s our job to translate these shows to the uninformed, retain an encyclopedic knowledge of the deep-cut lore, and attend every Housewife cabaret performance and stunt-casting in Chicago on Broadway. But the true responsibility is sometimes the heaviest lift: watching every new season of these shows long after they’ve lost their luster.
You can’t just stop watching Housewives. These shows operate like the soap operas that inspired them — the longevity is the point, and to fully understand a Housewife’s arc and the long-simmering conflicts that consume her, you have to have been watching from the jump and to continue powering through. But no, all seasons are not created equal. Any show that’s been on the air for more than a decade, as is the case for several of these series, is bound to have its share of low points over the years. It’s true that there’s often a steady decline, with each new season a little bit worse than the last. At the same time, shows like The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of Potomac have now demonstrated real improvement. How shortsighted to have given up on them in their flop eras!
But how do we define a flop era? Even for those of us who are committed to sticking with these shows through the heat death of the universe, it’s still worth unpacking. That’s truer now than ever, as the question of which Housewives seasons represent the lowest of the lows has been a hot topic of conversation throughout the widely derided current season of New York City. Is season 15 really the worst that RHONY has to offer? And what are the other nadirs across the franchise? To find out, I took a top-level look at every Real Housewives city, going by original premiere date and pulling out the seasons that I most struggled to get through. (I skipped The Real Housewives of D.C., since it only aired one season.) Some are mere blips amid an otherwise strong run, while others represent the downfall of their respective shows. All offer a fascinating look at how a seemingly unstoppable reality TV machine can fall apart.
The Real Housewives of Orange County: season 15
It’s easy enough to blame COVID for the failures of RHOC’s 15th season — and the pandemic certainly played a sizable role — but there were already cracks in the foundation. The show began a downward slide after its peak in season ten (the one where Brooks Ayers allegedly fakes cancer), and by season 15, the cast was in shambles. OG Vicki Gunvalson and OG-in-spirit Tamra Judge had both been fired, Kelly Dodd’s rightward lurch inspired increasingly ugly behavior, and Braunwyn Windham-Burke’s decision to film mere weeks into her newfound sobriety turned out to be an ill-advised one. But yes, the sudden arrival of COVID exacerbated the situation. If there’s one defining image of RHOC season 15, it’s the post-pandemic opening titles, with medical masks edited onto the women’s faces. The season premiered in October 2020, a time when no one was in the mood to be triggered by a March 2020 period piece. Emily Simpson documenting husband Shane’s nearly fatal bout with the virus may have demonstrated her commitment to reality television, but it made an already unpleasant season that much tougher to get through.
Runner-up: Season 14. The prior season wasn’t much better, with the cast dynamics already badly in need of a refresh. Tamra’s clumsy pot-stirring had reached the end of its appeal — she was fired for a reason — and while Braunwyn wasn’t solely responsible for “destroying” the show, as Vicki claimed before self-immolating at the reunion, her arrival certainly didn’t help.
The Real Housewives of New York City: season 15
The arrival of a fully rebooted RHONY cast in season 14 wasn’t exactly a high point for the series, but it was easy enough to forgive the new ladies for some freshman stumbles. The hope was that they’d get their sea legs and return more confident in their sophomore outing; instead, these Housewives found entirely new ways to flop. It’s impossible to list all the sins of the current season, but they include these: Jenna Lyons’s continued refusal to share her real life, Erin Lichy’s disastrous pregnancy prank that trolled viewers for an entire episode, and Brynn Whitfield’s ham-fisted attempts at producing conflict. Don’t get me started on the way the show has coddled Rebecca Minkoff by keeping the Scientology talk light as a feather. But the finale represented a new low, as Bravo’s dullest cast stumbled on drama in the most uncomfortable way imaginable. Brynn’s accusation that Ubah Hassan had implied Brynn slept with someone to get on the show despite knowing about Brynn’s sexual assault, and the reveal that Brynn maybe hadn’t told Ubah after all, was not “OMG” but “ugh,” the kind of grim Housewives event that makes you feel dirty for watching any of these series.
Runner-up: Season 13. Fans clamoring for the return of the original RHONY cast should revisit season 13, where Ramona’s decade-plus of monstrous behavior reached a breaking point in the infamous Black Shabbat episode. It wasn’t hard to understand why Bravo decided to cut its losses and cancel the reunion before firing the whole cast — even without knowing about the behind-the-scenes investigations into additional racist comments.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta: season 15
What is it about Real Housewives and 15th seasons? In truth, it has less to do with a specific cursed number and more to do with the fact that any show is bound to grow tired a decade and a half into its run. Like RHOC, RHOA’s slide into mediocrity happened over the course of several seasons, as the show struggled to find breakout stars after NeNe Leakes’s second departure. Season 15 was simply when the series ran out of gas completely. With veterans like Kandi Burruss and Kenya Moore either completely MIA or content to stand on the sidelines, much of the drama revolved around Marlo Hampton, who shone as a friend-of but never read authentic as a full-time Housewife, and Drew Sidora, whose nebulous relationship with the facts made her equally hard to root for. Even a bone collector like (now thrice-fired) Shereé Whitfield could only do so much to move the plot forward. By the end of the season, the cast seemed as over it as the audience — and the same could be said for Bravo, which put RHOA on an extended pause.
Runner-up: Season 14. There’s really not much that distinguishes season 14 from 15, except that cast members like Kandi and Kenya were a little more clocked-in, and new full-time additions Marlo and Sanya Richards-Ross at least brought a bit of novelty before it became clear how little sense they made for the show.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey: season 6
Fans love to complain about the hamster wheel of RHONJ, where family feuds last for a decade-plus (and that’s just what we see on the show). On the whole, however, the series is one of Bravo’s most consistent. That’s thanks in large part to the show’s casting, grounded in real friend and family relationships and driven by strong personalities like mainstay Teresa Giudice. Of course, casting can also backfire, as it did in season six, when the show replaced Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, and Kathy Wakile — women with actual connections to the other Housewives — with Amber Marchese and twins Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano. The return of Dina Manzo wasn’t enough to counter the regrettable new additions, particularly Amber and her loathsome husband, Jim. Beyond that, the shadow of Teresa’s legal woes hung over the season, making for a depressing watch. Teresa ended up being sentenced to 15 months in prison, with the reunion filming shortly after she learned of her fate. Rather than risk a Teresa-less season, Bravo paused RHONJ while she served her sentence. Season seven was a bumpy return but a clear improvement over season six, and the arrival of Dolores Catania marked a new era of (mostly) better casting choices.
Runner-up: Season 14. After the finality of season 13, it was clear that Teresa and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga could never film together again — and yet, film together they did, in a season that probably should never have happened. It turned out they weren’t the only problem. With so many cast members refusing to make peace, Bravo ditched plans for a reunion and seemed to give up on the show entirely. As of this writing, the future of RHONJ remains unclear.
The Real Housewives of Miami: season 3
To find a bad season of RHOM, you have to go back to the show’s original run. Aside from the carryover cast members, those first three seasons have almost nothing in common with the near-flawless current iteration. Season three was the worst of the bunch, featuring endless wheel-spinning thanks to stale fights. Even the prospect of competing weddings couldn’t make the rivalry between Adriana de Moura and Joanna Krupa interesting, but it was Adriana’s estrangement from Lea Black that really dragged the season down. Nowadays, RHOM is one of Housewives’s boldest series; back in 2013, the show could never seem to capture the vibrancy of Miami itself, which would have gone a long way toward enlivening the tired cast dynamics. But it’s probably for the best that Bravo decided to pull the plug on the series instead of trying to fix it — the eight-year hiatus resulted in a reboot that’s one of Housewives’s most impressive comeback stories.
Runner-up: Season one. The first six episodes of RHOM — seven, if you count the Watch What Happens Live episode that served as a reunion — barely even counts as a season. Cristy Rice and Larsa Pippen, both fired before season two, were especially bad casting choices, though Larsa did prove her worth when she returned in season four after her Kardashian-inspired face and personality transplant.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: season 9
If you want to strike fear in the heart of an RHOBH fan, you need only say four words: Lucy Lucy Apple Juice. Season nine was consumed by the story of Dorit Kemsley’s foster dog — which she adopted from Lisa Vanderpump’s foundation and then maybe returned to a kill shelter — and whether LVP was behind leaking the story to the press and getting her castmates to bring it up on-camera. (Three more words to ruin an RHOBH fan’s day: Teddi Jo Mellencamp.) LVP’s shady behind-the-scenes dealing was nothing new for the show, and her comeuppance was probably overdue, but takedown seasons are rarely fun to watch — and, more importantly, LVP refused to play ball. Following the genuinely electric friendship-ending fight between her and Kyle Richards (“Good-bye, Kyle!” is the highlight of the season), she quit filming midway through and opted out of the reunion, which made for a deeply unsatisfying end to a story line viewers were already sick of. All that, plus Camille Grammer showing up to defend the honor of Brett Kavanaugh against sexual-assault allegations. How did we ever survive this era?
Runner-up: Season 12. The Lucy Lucy Apple Juice fiasco is only one example of RHOBH’s overarching problem: These women will drive any story line into the ground, and Lisa Rinna’s relentless attempt to destroy Kathy Hilton (who maybe did say that thing Lisa and Erika Jayne swear she said) made season 12 a drag. Of course, Lisa’s unhinged social-media behavior and habit of (allegedly) leaking upcoming story lines to Bravo fan accounts didn’t help matters, nor did the arrival of lip-licker extraordinaire Diana Jenkins, one of the all-time worst Housewives.
The Real Housewives of Potomac: season 8
While Real Housewives as a franchise may be defined by flipped tables and thrown glasses, these shows are as much about conflict resolution as they are about conflict; when cast members are unwilling to make amends, series can quickly become stagnant. This was the case during season eight of RHOP, which followed a season where Gizelle Bryant ended up estranged from Candiace Dillard Bassett, whose husband she accused of making her feel uncomfortable, and Wendy Osefo, whom she implied got a boob job to win her husband back. Gizelle didn’t just opt out of apologizing to her co-stars — for the most part, she refused to acknowledge them at all. Constant fighting might drag a season down, but going full no-contact can be show-destroying (just ask RHONJ). In the case of RHOP, it was clear to viewers that Gizelle’s Queen Bee status on the show had made her feel untouchable. No amount of producer intervention could convince her to stop icing out her castmates, an obvious attempt at forcing them off the show entirely. It turns out there is little pleasure to be found in watching an immovable object stay put, turning season eight into a slog. Thankfully, season nine has been an exercise in course correction, with Gizelle — humbled by the firing of her bestie and fellow OG Robyn Dixon — suddenly more than willing to bring Wendy back into the fold.
Runner-up: Season one. There’s really only one bad season of RHOP. Season one just reflects the confused identity of many early Housewives series. Here, the show feels less like part of the larger franchise and more like a show about etiquette, a word that is repeated endlessly throughout the season. That fixation on good manners was dropped by season two, allowing RHOP to ascend to greatness.
The Real Housewives of Dallas: season 5
How many racism controversies can a Real Housewives series endure before Bravo pulls the plug? Season five of RHOD was a clear attempt to right the ship after a troubling fourth season — more on that below — but adding Dr. Tiffany Moon as the show’s first Asian American Housewife was not enough to fix the ignorance of her co-stars. In fact, it put Tiffany in the uncomfortable position of having to grant Brandi Redmond grace after a racist video from her past resurfaced, while also trying her best to educate Kameron Westcott, a woman more interested in shilling pink dog food than unlearning implicit bias. Kam’s cultural insensitivity was bad enough during the season, but the situation turned even uglier when the Westcott family went to war with Tiffany on social media. Kam’s husband, Court, called Tiffany racist for identifying as anti-racist, adding, “I don’t understand how many of your patients would be comfortable with you treating them with your open vile racism.” Bravo posted a statement in support of the AAPI community and anti-racism, but trying to salvage RHOD was a bridge too far.
Runner-up: Season four. The racism controversy began the prior year, when LeeAnne Locken referred to Kary Brittingham as a “little chirpy Mexican.” (Never mind the fact that this happened on the cast trip to Thailand amid an offensive outburst about sex workers.) At the deeply unpleasant reunion, the cast forced LeeAnne to sit in a chair across from them so they could admonish her for her xenophobia — which might have carried more weight if Brandi’s racist video hadn’t popped up while the episodes were airing. The network probably should have called it a day there.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City: season 3
We can’t put all the blame on Heather Gay’s black eye — but we can absolutely put much of it there. In one of the most confounding story lines on any Real Housewives series, Heather got a black eye on a cast trip, then spent the next several episodes repeatedly contradicting herself about its origins while dropping vague hints about what really happened, only to reveal at the reunion that she didn’t actually know where it came from. (She then told a different story on her book tour and said in the season-four finale that Jen Shah gave it to her. That final explanation is now considered canon.) But the black eye was far from the only mark against season three, which also gave us a painfully repetitive fight between Heather and Whitney Rose and Jen having an extended meltdown ahead of her trial. As in season six of RHONJ, the specter of legal proceedings haunted season three of RHOSLC, but watching Heather and Meredith Marks rally around Jen was a tougher pill to swallow given the crimes Jen was accused (and convicted) of. By the time the reunion rolled around, Jen had been sentenced to prison, and the entire season felt more cursed than ever — which is saying something, since season three began filming with Jennie Nguyen until she was fired over racist Facebook posts.
Runner-up: Season one. Like RHOP, RHOSLC has only had one truly bad season, making season one the runner-up by virtue of depicting a less evolved version of the show. To be clear, it’s a solid Housewives outing with a number of still-referenced moments. There were, however, some wonky editing choices, like integrating Mary Cosby into the season by filming scene after scene of her in her walk-in closet.
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: season 3 (Thailand)
Just in case you hadn’t gotten enough of Heather’s black eye and her fight with Whitney, RHUGT season three picked up right where we left off. They weren’t the only problem — Gizelle and Candiace also rehashed their fight from the prior season of RHOP, where Gizelle accused Candiace’s husband of crossing a line. RHUGT was filmed before the reunions of these shows but aired after, a head-scratching decision that confused viewers and made long-lasting fights feel even more interminable. All that aside, these women seemed to bring out the worst in each other. Heather’s Bravo fan behavior made her a tough hang, like when she suggested that Leah McSweeney fall off the wagon. Leah, meanwhile, didn’t do herself any favors, airing her grievances over RHONY and reminding us all why Bravo had cut ties with her after season 13. On top of everything else, Gizelle decided to fixate on a stolen tequila bottle, spending a ludicrous amount of time investigating the disappearance and putting her castmates on trial. By the time the show arrived at a Murder on the Orient Express–style conclusion, viewers had long since stopped caring.
Runner-up: Season four (RHONY Legacy). As much as RHONY fans had been demanding the return of the original New York Housewives, season four of RHUGT didn’t make a great case for their ongoing entertainment value. Dorinda Medley and Ramona quickly fell back into bad habits, while Kelly Killoren Bensimon revealed a continued penchant for erratic behavior. The bottom line was that none of it was all that interesting — if the editors had better material to work with, they probably wouldn’t have spent several minutes on the removal of Kristen Taekman’s toenail.
The Real Housewives of Dubai: season 1
Look, there have only been two seasons of RHODubai, and I have a hunch the indefinite pause the show is on will continue forever. The show never worked, and that was apparent from the first season. Overproduced and distractingly glossy, season one felt less like an actual Housewives series and more like an expensive ad for Dubai. Sure, the cast understood the franchise well enough, but that mostly led to a lot of self-conscious performing of Housewifery. Even a natural talent like Chanel Ayan, whose confessionals revealed real star power, fell into the trap of overdoing it. Caroline Stanbury, the breakout star of the Housewives-adjacent Ladies of London, made her long-awaited return to Bravo, but she didn’t seem all that interested in interacting with the ladies she’d been cast alongside. (The same thing happened on Ladies of London, where Caroline spent the third and final season avoiding her co-stars.) On the whole, RHODubai quickly established itself as luxe but fatally dull — and it could never escape that promotional quality, most egregiously at the reunion, where the women explained that it’s totally fine to be gay in Dubai as long as you don’t hold hands with someone of the same sex in public. If there was any hope that the show could turn things around in a second season, that was dashed when a full two-year hiatus killed any momentum.
Runner-up: Season two. Okay, yes, because Dubai only aired two seasons, season two was also its best. But that doesn’t mean it was good. Even with new cast member Taleen Marie giving it her all and Caroline finally deciding to earn her paycheck, a slightly more dynamic season still fell short of every other Housewives series. Let’s keep that pause in place.
