Bravo Has Intense Rules For Casting And Firing 'The Real Housewives'

Real Housewives looked very different when it started with the Orange County franchise (RHOC) in 2006. At that time, the show’s original producer, Scott Dunlop initially thought of making a short film about the now beloved “tennis b——” and “unusual” and “annoying” characters alongside their “men of leisure”. But once Andy Cohen saw a sizzle reel of this bunch, he knew Bravo needed to turn it into a reality series. Back then, casting wasn’t as intense as it is now, with all the contract and salary drama involved.

It started with Vicki Gunvalson’s son, Michael Wolfsmith, who pitched his mom to Bravo’s local newspaper ad. “Most women in this area don’t work,” he wrote. Soon, Scott found other cast members through Vicki. But to settle the debate, Jeana Keough is the first-ever housewife, being the first to get on board as the producer’s first friend in the area. Fast-forward to 2024, producer Thomas Kelly revealed that these days, Bravo does full-blown auditions to cast the Real Housewives and takes fan demands seriously, leading to several firings from the show.

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Bravo Auditions And Films Potential ‘Real Housewives’ At Home Before Casting Them

In an interview with Bustle in 2023, Thomas said they have “a dedicated casting department” for Real Housewives “to start the process with outreach.” To get the casting directors’ attention, the producer said a candidate must be/have the following:

• A “large and intriguing social media presence”
• A reputation for being “a pillar of their community”
• A recommendation from “someone in the industry”
• “Someone who’s smart, interesting, funny, attractive”
• An “open book”

Thomas added that current housewives don’t influence casting decisions. “But if a current cast member knows of someone they think would be a great fit, they’ll be encouraged to pitch them to production,” he said. What’s important is that they have “an authentic connection to the group and live within a reasonable perimeter of where the show’s filmed.” Regarding the “open book” part, Thomas cited RHOC‘s Elizabeth Vargas as a red flag after refusing to talk about her divorce in season 15.

“A major red flag is when a candidate is guarded or not willing to express themselves in a meaningful way,” he explained. “Take Elizabeth Vargas from
RHOC
Season 15, for example. She was unfiltered throughout the interview process, but when the cameras started rolling, there were a lot of legal limitations regarding her ex-husband. We basically couldn’t talk about him.”

Here’s a step-by-step process of casting the Real Housewives:

1. Selected potential housewives are “interviewed face-to-face”
2. From there, a “list of the best candidates” is made and passed to “the higher-ups at the production company, who will vote on their favorites”
3. The shortlist is then handed to Bravo executives who decide which potential housewives to pursue
4. After the approval, producers audition the final candidates by “going into their homes and filming them in their environment with their husband, children, or parents — whoever’s in their world”
5. The edited footage is given to Bravo “who’ll make the final hiring decisions”

Thomas called it an “arduous” but “necessary” process. For instance, in Orange County, they had “a candidate [who] was great on paper, but the dynamic with her husband at home was so awkward.” The home shoot ultimately ended that candidate’s journey into the show. For Nene Leakes, a drunk audition successfully landed her a spot on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA).

“I was drinking and when she rang the doorbell and I opened it, I said “Helloooo and welcome, honey,”
Nene said of her interview with the casting director
in 2014. “By the end of the interview she said to me, ‘You know, you are very interesting. Who are your friends?'”

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Bravo Listens To Fans’ “Inauthenticity” Radar In Deciding Who To Fire From ‘Real Housewives’

While “the powers that be at Bravo” decide who to fire from the show, Thomas said that the execs “can be influenced by a number of factors, including the opinions of the producers [or] social media.” The network takes fans’ opinions seriously. According to the producer, “The modern reality TV fan can sniff out inauthenticity.” So even though that’s not the case for some housewives, if viewers think they’re “intentionally pot-stirring”, that’s enough reason for Bravo to let them go.

Thomas added: “It’s usually time to move on from a Housewife if they have no place in the cast anymore, [like] if nobody likes them. [There are also] network focus groups, who watch the shows and give feedback, [and] if a Housewife starts to hold back elements of their life, she might find herself on the chopping block.”

A good example of that is RHOC‘s Heather Dubrow. “Some believed she had crossed a line by not giving full access to her house on the show, and by giving an exclusive to E! Entertainment,” Thomas said of Dubrow’s firing after season 11. “So Bravo decided to step away.” In a 2018 interview, Andy shared “it’s usually a conversation,” determining who gets fired from the show.

“At the end of every season, we talk to the women about what they have coming up and whether they want to come back,” said the host of
Watch What Happens Live
. “What they see for the future. Then we also look at the show and say, ‘How do we want to change the show?'”

Andy went on to emphasize the “ensemble show” appeal of the Real Housewives. “I think part of the reason the entire franchise is successful is it’s an ensemble show,” he continued. “It’s all about what’s best for the group.” So during those difficult end-of-season discussions, he said their main points are always:

• What’s best for the ensemble?
• How’s it going to be different?
• Do we want to continue this conversation?
• Do we want to pivot into a new conversation?

2:06

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The Most Challenging Part Of ‘Real Housewives’ Is Filming Fights During Lavish Trips That Influence Firing Decisions

Real Housewives isn’t the same without the explosive fights between cast members. But over the years, it has influenced Bravo’s decision to fire some of the stars. Sure, these episodes may get higher ratings, but their long-term negative impact on the group dynamic always outweighs that. When asked about those altercations, Thomas said the most challenging part of filming the show is following the fights during those lavish cast trips.

“One challenge can be adjusting to a sudden story pivot. Ahead of filming and during production, we have a rough idea of what story we’ll be following,” he shared. “This can change at any moment, and we have to pivot in real time. Capturing high-level drama as it happens is tricky. Not that producers don’t love it. We do.”

He then recalled the infamous Amsterdam fight in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH) season 5 (included in the Bravo clip above), which Thomas described as “mayhem”. “Before I had time to think, I was running through the rainy streets of Amsterdam with an umbrella, following the women. I had to keep focused on chasing the story and not interfering,” he said of shooting that episode.

Another challenging thing for producers, which could lead to the stars getting the boot is “bad or unacceptable behavior… especially if they refuse to film.”

In case you were wondering, Bravo splits the costs for these cast trips with the housewives. “There have been some that have been generated by us and there have been some that have been generated by them,” Andy said of planning these vacations. “The women take the planning of the vacation really seriously and so it’s a case by case but we have paid for them, yes.”

His fellow Bravo producer, Lisa Shannon also said that “there’s usually a tie-in that makes sense” as these getaways have to remain “organic”. But in May 2023, Real Housewives of New York (RHONY) alum, Bethenny Frankel said these trips weren’t as real as the show claims. She even said these vacations felt like “going to the electric chair”.

You’re going to someplace that seems like it’s going to be nice and you may have always wanted to go,” she told her fans on TikTok, “but you have to do go places that you didn’t plan, do things you didn’t want to do, and hang out with people you didn’t want to hang out with, and film and work. You don’t get a minute to breathe.”

Bravo

Founded in

1980

Notable shows

The Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules, Summer House, Below Deck

Parent organization

NBCUniversal

President

Frances Berwick

Focus/Known for

Reality TV