Real Housewives of Orange County

Bravo’s answer to Desperate Housewives, The Real Housewives of Orange County has proven to be a surprising hit for the network since its 2006 debut. It has launched three spin off shows to date: The Real Housewives of New York City, The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Date My Ex: Jo and Slade, and there are rumors of more Housewives related projects in the pipeline. Of course, everyone stays tuned to the show for the drama that happens while the cameras are rolling, but what’s the drama behind the drama? We walk you through it.

As stated, Bravo launched The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 to capitalize on the Desperate Housewives craze by offering a glimpse into the real life versions of Wisteria Lane. The show centers around a gated community in Coto de Caza, California, or “Coto,” although not all of the “housewives” featured on the show live in the neighborhood. The program was actually the brainchild of a TV producer who himself lives in Coto. Viewers who have stuck with the show from the start may have noticed a subtle shift away from the “Coto, Coto, Coto” of the first season and the decision to profile the lives of women in other Orange County cities.

The original housewives profiled in the series were:

• Jeana Keough
• Kimberly Bryant
• Vicki Gunvalson
• Lori Waring
• Jo De La Rosa

Jo was never technically a Coto housewife. In her early 20s, she lived with her significantly older boyfriend Slade in his Coto home, and a focus of the first series was her difficulties adjusting to the suburban lifestyle and the strife in her relationship with Slade.

In season two, the housewives were:

• Jeana Keough
• Vicki Gunvalson
• Lori Waring
• Jo De La Rose
• Tammy Knickerbocker

In season three, Jo was out and two new housewives were added to the mix:

• Tamra Barney
• Quinn Fry

At the time of writing, season four was being filmed and it is unclear which housewives will be in the line-up.

Here are the onscreen stories and behind the scenes gossip that propels the series:

• The relationship between Jo and Slade was a major issue in the first two series. The two split briefly, and Slade began seeing Jo’s fellow “housewife” Lori Warning. After Slade and Lori split, he and Jo briefly reconciled, causing tension between Lori and Jo. Eventually, Slade and Jo broke up again, and Slade began “managing” her “music” career. Although they were not officially on the third season, Jo made an appearance at a party, seemingly in an attempt to promote her “album.”

• In the first series, Kimberly Bryant dealt with a skin cancer diagnosis, and after the first season, the Bryants were gone. The show claimed they left to get out of the California sun, but rumors suggested that the real reason they left had more to do with the fact that Kimberly’s husband Scott was charged with physically assaulting a woman. The charges were later dropped.

• Lauri Warning has gone from single mother to marrying an extremely wealthy Orange County businessman. Her two oldest children struggled on the show, but a major plotline surrounded her son’s drug abuse and their attempts at reconciliation (at one point, her son ended up living with her new boyfriend’s ex-wife). Lauri’s relationship with George, whom she married at the end of season three, sparked some minor eye rolling by the others on the show. Rumors around the net suggested that George a woman he was dating to be with Lauri – a woman who happened to be the second woman he was cheating on his then wife with.

• Jeana Keough’s marriage has dissolved during the show, and audiences were privy to the disintegration of her relationship. Former Playboy bunny Keough claimed her husband distanced himself from her when she gained weight. Matt Keough, her former husband, was sentenced to 180 days in jail in 2008 for violating his probation on a DUI charge.

• Series three new housewife Quinn Fry had viewers in an uproar over her proclamations of her strict Christian beliefs while openly having a sexual relationship with two men, including one significantly younger than her, during the taping of the show.

In addition to the Real Housewives of New York City and the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Bravo has the Real Housewives of New Jersey and a show about the Real Housewives series kids in production.

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