A new set of iconic (and sometimes bad) taglines comes with every new season of The Real Housewives. Every Real Housewives opening credits sequence sees the ladies deliver sassy taglines that play a part in their story in the new season.
These taglines have become such an important part of reality TV that they have been parodied on Saturday Night Live, and celebrities even create their own when appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
The trend for giving Housewives taglines happened during Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The opening season was the first of its kind and had clips from the series, but things changed for Season 2.
The producers and the Housewives work together to create an iconic tagline. Usually, taglines are connected to something that is happening to the reality star that season. For example, their career, an event in their life like becoming a mother or getting married, or a joke connected to their previous behavior on the franchise.
Here’s How Bravo Comes Up With The Real Housewives Taglines
A good Real Housewives tagline will be quoted for many years to come, but they don’t come out of nowhere. It takes a team to create the right line for the right Housewife.
Doug Ross, Executive Producer of both The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, told E News! how they came about.
We initially really tried to capture a moment that had happened in the show and reform it as a tagline.
He explained, “So, they were more statements that felt lifted from the story as opposed to a tagline describing their personalities.”
As the franchise became more popular and the audience became more familiar with the franchise, the way the taglines were created changed. “We work very closely with the team at Bravo, and it became clear that we wanted to have the taglines have a little bit more of a punch, a little bit more of a meaning to their characters,”
Related
Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills: Net Worth Ranking For Every Wife From Season 1 To Now
All of the housewives have money, but there’s something extra luxurious about the women of Beverly Hills.
The producer explained that they started thinking over taglines on the very first day of filming. They try hard to create a line that is “unique and special” and “really stands out from the pack.” Although the production team brainstormed over the entire season, Doug admitted it can be tricky to create a unique tagline every year.
“So it gets more difficult to come up with them each year, but the goal for every Housewife tagline, of course, is to not only be an accurate reflection of their personality and who they are as a person, but what’s going on with them that season in their lives,” he adds.
“One of the interesting ones, I think, is in season seven [Vicki Gunvalson] says, ‘My tank is full and I’m driving into my future.’ That really was a take off on things that had been happening over the last couple of years where her relationship to her husband Donn was starting to fall apart, and she had made comments that her love tank was empty,” he continued. “And then in season seven, she meets Brooks [Ayers] and her life turns around.”
Related
Inside The Crossover Between Real Housewives And The Traitors
The crossover between The Real Housewives and The Traitors is a connection that makes sense because of NBCU owning Peacock and Bravo.
- As the Housewife speaks the tagline, producers have to have variations of the sentence and backups in case it doesn’t work when it comes to recording.
“You never know exactly which one they’re going to be able to say with the right inflection, the right meaning, so we’ll ask them to record three, four, five, or six—each sort of variations on the theme or hitting on different parts of what’s going on in their life that season.”
Do The Real Housewives Get Any Say In Their Tagline?
The producers will work with Bravo and the cast members to make sure they get the right tagline for their season of The Real Housewives.
Executive Producer Doug Ross told E!, per Cheat Sheet, that he would come up with the tagline and present it to the Housewife. They would not always approve of it, forcing the team to go back to the drawing board.
For example, The Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador told the team her tagline had to present her marriage issues. “She really wanted to have the line ‘The best things in life are worth fighting for,’” Doug explained. It has also been reported that the Housewives can send the production team tagline ideas, some of which are used but are often amended.
The Real Housewives of Potimac’s Gizelle Bryant told Us Weekly that she hated what the producers gave her, which is why she created the iconic “Word on the street” tagline. “All of my [other] taglines I’ve hated, that they’ve given me,” she told the outlet “‘Word on the street’ I made up, and I kept it for so long because everything else they were giving me sucked.”
Related
Every Real Housewives Couple Who Filed For Divorce After Starring On The Show
The Real Housewives franchise have introduced audiences to countless couples. Here are the pairs who split after leaving their shows.
Gizelle even admitted her shock when they finally gave her a good tagline. She admitted her surprise at how good her Season 8 tagline “I’m no angel. But gimme some grace, and you’ll learn to adore me” was, which was a reference to her daughters.
According to a Reddit comment from someone who worked at a public relations agency connected with The Real Housewives of New York icon Ramona Singer, they were “tasked with coming up with tagline options.”
The Real Housewives Stars Who Hated Their Taglines
Not every star of The Real Housewives likes the tagline they are given. Over the years, numerous reality stars from the franchise have admitted they regretted their opening line.
When The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Melissa Gorga landed in hot water for her tagline, “Some people are born great and some are born Jersey.” She denied it was her idea. Reality Tea reported that Melissa revealed on Instagram that she “hated” her tagline.
Former RHONJ star Jacqueline Laurita’s daughter backed up Melissa’s claims in the comments. The former tearaway teen turned makeup artist commented, “They actually don’t pick their taglines. Suggestions can be made but it’s not up to them. My mom def [sic] had some she hated too.”
Lisa Rinna also admitted she had her The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 10 tagline. Her opening line declared, “The secret to life? Dance like everyone is watching.” This was like a reference to Lisa’s sometimes unhinged dancing in social media videos.
According to PEOPLE, the former soap star thought her tagline was “dumba**,” and she wanted it to be “When people ask my sign? I say dollar.” Lisa explained the new tagline “fits perfectly because we go to Erika’s house and have our horoscope/signs read!”
Former RHOBH star Crystal Minkoff, according to Reddit, made a note on an Instagram story that she requested her tagline not include the word, “slay.”
Some Of The Most Popular The Real Housewives Taglines
Housewife | Series/Season | Tagline |
Teresa Giudice | The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Season 7 | “I Used To Flip Tables, Now I’m Turning Them.” |
Luann De Lesseps | The Real Housewives of New York, Season 8 | “If You Can’t Be Cool, You Can’t Be With The Countess.” |
Lisa Vanderpump | The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Season 8 | “The Queen Of Diamonds Always Has An Ace Up Her Sleeve.” |
Sonja Morgan | The Real Housewives of New York, Season 9 | “There’s Nothing Grey About My Gardens.” |
Aviva Drescher | The Real Housewives of New York, Season 6 | “When People Tell Me I’m Fake, I Know They’re Just Pulling My Leg.” |
Kandi Burress | The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Season 12 | “Don’t check for me unless you got a check for me.” |
Gizelle Bryant | The Real Housewives of Potomac, Season 3 | “Word on the street is, I’m still the word on the street.” |
Because taglines are such a popular part of the fandom, choosing the perfect one is a big deal for a successful season. And while not every Housewife appreciates theirs, fans still love to be a part of the process.
Catch up on The Real Housewives on Peacock.
