amarante

I think Tamra actually bought the places. If her name and Eddie's weren't the owners of record, it would have been outed. It is a very simple thing to check ownership of any property in California. You can even check sales price and taxes going back pretty far. Almost all the housewives have given tours of their homes in one way or another so Tamra giving a video tour of her new home wasn't unique. I am not sure why having spare bedrooms means that you or your mother want to live together 🙂 Six bedrooms - the master plus two for the kids who live with her. One or two of them are probably used as a home office and another as a guest room. That's six bedrooms. She might have purchased the "jinxed" home that she sold with the intention of flipping because she did extensive renovations on at least the kitchen. While Tamra isn't a financial wizard, there would have been no particular benefit for her not purchasing a home. With her $1,000,000 plus income which she thought she could rely on, the new home was not outside of what would be prudent especially since there would have been some amount of equity from selling Eddie's home which they (or he) had owned for a significant period of time.

It is my understanding that after Bethenny all of the contracts have a clause in which a percentage of income from their enterprises is paid to Bravo. I guess an individual housewife could negotiate specific stuff in or out but the default is that Bravo gets their beak wet in everything launched while they are a housewife.

How is CUT a viable fitness business? Based on their website, they have very few classes - basically one in the morning and one in the evening. They have instituted some kind of on-line training class but not sure why anyone would feel that Eddie or Tamra are so knowledgable that on-line classes with them are worthwhile. The gym seems to be chiefly a place in which affiliated personal trainers use the facilities. I would imagine they pay CUT a percentage of their client fees in much the same way a hairdresser rents a chair in a salon. A personal trainer can take their clients with them unless there is some affiliation with the gym that provides a steady stream of clients. My understanding is that most gyms make money because people become members and then don't show up. CUT doesn't have any of that kind of income stream coming in.

I don't think AC "likes" any of the OC housewives. I think his sole "liking" for them is based on whether they are viewed as worth the money as cast members and how they are perceived and valued by the audience. To a lesser extent, he also views them as potential guests for WWHL. Andy's BFF is Anderson Cooper. He "liked" Carole Radziwill. He's a smart and cosmopolitan NY media guy. Those are the circles he runs around in. He has not a thing in common with any of the OC women and views most of the housewives like creatures in a zoo - they are amusing and valuable to him only insofar as they make the shows work in terms of ratings and media coverage. Tamra will no doubt appear on WWHL just as Jill Zarin and Danielle Staub have popped up. Whether Tamra comes back to the OC franchise, really depends on what next season is like. However, as posted above, Luanne had genuine ties to the rest of the cast members and she accepted her demotion of friend of and made it work for her by being a valuable cast member that season. As I have posted, I am a member of a Bravo on-line focus group and one of the many questions they ask is whether you want to see the same, more or less of each cast member. I suspect that many people said they wanted to see more of Luanne and thus the promotion. I think think Nene will be interesting to watch in terms of whether she is in or out last season. However, I find the Atlanta housewives to be more confusing in terms of who they demote and bring back. Kenya was demoted and then back in. Nene threatens to quit and this season hasn't appeared on every episode and yet she remains one of the most highly paid of the housewives.

Not sure what you mean by taking the lead. The shows are semi-scripted so production would decide where they are going on the away from home trips and which housewife is going to theoretically "host" the trip or make the suggestion as to where and why the cast should go somewhere. The ladies are manipulated in terms of information given to some women and not to others and they are told/requested to cover certain stuff for the storylines the producers want. There is always plenty of free liquor because the producers are pretty certain that drunk women filming for a long stretch will produce memorable scenes which of course they do. :-). ETA - Just as a general rule, in terms of events actually hosted by the cast - and therefore paid by them to the extent they don't manage to get everything comped or discounted - the less wealthy or more frugal cast members generally have very low key events - if they even throw an event. Except for weddings, the OC cast didn't generally host lavish events. BH ladies - or the more affluent ones - do. Kyle and Camille hosted some lavish events. Kim didn't and I don't think LisaR did - she is pretty frugal :-). From what I have read (and I am NOT an insider) the end of season party is sometimes actually hosted by BRAVO but I'm not 100% sure of that. Bravo hosting would make sense since they need a large event to provide some kind of closure.

Everything that is filmed is free including all the drinks and rooms. I believe they pay for the parties they throw but generally the ladies will get free or highly discounted stuff because they promote the vendor. Most of the weddings are discounted food and services. Even if they aren’t filming, they receive a lot of free stuff because every time they post a picture of a restaurant or resort, they receive either money or have been comped.

Since BRAVO is in charge of planning trips, I don't think there will be any difference. Where the housewives go depends on what kind of deal BRAVO location managers are able to score. Unless the ladies are hosting a party at their own home for a specific occasion, it is all orchestrated by BRAVO. You can't film in a public location without getting a contract. For the small places like stores and restaurants, they probably just get some free goods which is a benefit to the housewives. For major vacations, they will negotiate deals in the form of free seat on planes or a certain number of rooms in the hotels.

You are right about Luanne. However, Luanne managed to make herself relevant and interesting even though she was just a friend and was then upgraded. I can't remember what she did exactly though 🙂 Tamra had become toxic to the show especially in terms of other cast members. Ramona never alienated herself from other NY cast members in the way that Vicki/Tamra did nor was she involved with the kind of on-going toxic dark stuff that Vicki/Tamra were - or at least I can't remember. Ramona is much more of a blundering rude individual like when she did the obvious social climbing and changed tables or didn't invite cast members to her "fancier" birthday party - but that's much more amusing (at least to me) than the foul stuff with the train. I think for many viewers Tamra/Vicki were no longer people you loved to hate but people you just hated and that permeated the season. Ramona is still (at least to me) in the category of love to hate because she's amusing and doesn't really get into dark places. I don't think age - per se - of the cast has as much to do with it as much as whether cast members are amusing/appealing or whatever to target demographics. Ramona and Dorinda and Sonja are amusing - they are genuine rich NYC social ladies. Vicki/Tamra were not particularly interesting/rich or appealing and had no storylines that weren't contingent on being vile and nasty. At any rate, if Ramona ever gets cut, she can support her current lifestyle as she is genuinely wealthy.

I don't think any of the sideline businesses require any kind of money invested by the women - they are just licensing opportunities for the housewives and they pretty much all fail because there is nothing organically related to the housewives and the market is oversaturated with the products they are pitching. There is no particularly reason to buy a housewives wine, liquor, article of clothing or item of jewelry for the most part because they don't bring anything unique or have any expertise in those areas. Aside from the most rabid fans why would anyone decide to purchase Vicki branded cigars or jeans. Luanne was pretty famous for her necklaces and even she couldn't succeed with her line of jewelry. Kenya Moore's hair line appears to have some actual viability but she has actual credibility in terms of the product as she is an AA woman with beautiful hair. To the extent people purchase any "celebrity" brand, a hair product from a woman who appears to have hair expertise/credibility would seem to be viable. However, I don't think they actually invested anything in and were just promised a royalty from whoever the actual manufacturer was. That is probably why Kelly and the others got into such a hissy fit regarding when Kelly had invested in her water. I think Vicki is a shrewd within the narrow parameters of her business which is insurance. It's not a rocket science type of business but it appears that she has actually built a business which supported her lifestyle and I also think that she has some amount of investments for a rainy day since that is her actual profession. Tamra on the other hand was funding her lifestyle solely on the salary and other financial benefits of her housewife gig. I don't believe for a nanosecond that CUT Fitness is profitable in the same way that Coto Insurance is probably a profitable enterprise.

Such schadenfreude I have been experiencing since the happy news broke. With all that is going on politically, it cheers me up just a wee bit that awful people sometimes get their faces smacked :-).

I bundled up all the CBD stuff and gave it to my old pot smoking buddy from high school as a gag gift. 🙂

I doubt CBD has any medicinal value. I got some actual THC from the medical dispensary and it didn't help my arthritic thumb but THC definitely has medicinal value for pain as well as glaucoma for starters. I subscribe to some beauty boxes and in the past few months I have gotten CBD face oil; CBD bath bomb and a CBD exfoliator for my tush 🙂

I think some of the genuinely wealthy women have walked away because it had become toxic and what did they need it for? Adrienne Malouf; Heather DuBrow; Heather Thomson. Bethenny has walked away twice. While Carole Radziwill isn't as wealthy as these women, she obviously has enough money to support her lifestyle and I think she left because the show was really starting to impact negatively on her reputation as a "serious" person. I can't think of any other housewife who has quit the show but there might be others.

They moved to Chicago because of the cancer. I think they were originally from Chicago so probably made sense. Tammy Knickerbocker also left the show because she thought it was really harming her daughters. Or at least that's what she said. Those early seasons were, of course, quite a bit different - especially the first season. I don't think there was as much incentive to stay on the show in terms of salaries and other promotional opportunities.

The CBD line will go nowhere - especially since she has lost a huge promotional platform. It is so filled with competitors that it is hard to imagine why this would break out. I can't really think of any housewife except Bethenny who has been able to actually create a successful brand. And Bethenny's was a combination of luck and smarts. She was in the right place at the right time and her Skinnygirl Margarita was completely on-brand with who she was. Even before she had the brand, she was ordering it and I associated the drink with her in the same way I associated Cosmos with Sex & The City. Hell I even BOUGHT a bottle of the stuff when I was rolling down the aisle and saw it on an end cap. Bethenny also partnered with a very shrewd business guy who provided both expertise and seed capital so that the brand was able to become successful enough to attract Seagrams. The wines, the She By Sherree, the jewelry, Shannon's food line, BlK Water from NJ, the Little Major popcorn from the Lauritas - a long line of failed efforts. I doubt that the DuBrows skin care line is doing all that well - but who knows. They have failed to launch beyond eVine. CBD is different than medical marijuana or the legalized pot that is now available in California and Colorado. Pot shops are highly regulated by the states - CBD is legal all over the US. In California, it still pays to have a medical marijuana "license" because you save a HUGE amount on taxes versus buying the same products "recreationally".

I think people also forget about the huge amount of money these women make from promotional opportunities. Their social media is completely monetized so every mention/post brings in dollars plus even off-season they would be getting free meals, spa treatments, clothing, resort vacations so long as they post a photo and mention the place in their social media.

Well don't think it is analogous to Vicki's cancer scam since Tamra isn't claiming that the profits from her company are going to a cancer charity. However, it is completely in line with the purveyors of snake oil remedies that skirt the edges of the unregulated Wild West in terms of being able to make unsubstantiated medical claims for non-regulated pharmaceutical and supplement products. I hold a California medical pot license to purchase 🙂 so I'm certainly not anti-weed or its derivatives but curing cancer is not one of its benefits. And even cardio would have a very attenuated relationship, if that, in terms of possibly making an case for easing stress and thus helping cardiac issues.

You might not find it interesting but it is tabloid worthy and based on Andy’s assessment of Braunwyne’s story, it is in line with what Bravo feels the franchise is looking for. I don’t care if Meghan is in or off but her storyline isn’t palpably fake the way others are who needed to stir shit and invent engagements to attempt to be interesting and relevant.

And if you believe Tamra is happy to walk away from a $600,000 or more income stream because her CBD line is doing so well, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. 🙂 And that’s not factoring in the enormous promotional benefit as well as the fame addiction. I can’t think of any housewife who walked away willingly unless they really were wealthy which Tamra isn’t.

Meghan has an incredible storyline at this point. She has got the whole divorce from the douche going and she has also got the kids including one with serious health problems.

Responding seriously, it would be Tamra and Eddie because they need the money and both are invested in the fame whore aspect. Much as I despise VIcki, she does not need the money in the same way that Tamra does as I believe she is a shrewd business woman. Not that I would buy insurance or anything else from her. Matt is not going to agree to participate as I assume he wants to be able to get his work together. Nothing he has ever done indicates that he wants any kind of publicity.

If anyone is interested in becoming part of the BRAVO online surveys, you can register at this link. You can also accumulate points which can be used for various gift cards including amazon. I do it because I like to think I might influence a wee bit but I have actually made enough points to get $100 worth of gift card from amazon :-). I get nothing from sharing this link - it's not SPAM and it can be interesting to see what they are surveying in terms of how they structure the shows. They also survey other shows which I think are all under the NBC parent umbrella https://survey.researchresults.com/survey/selfserve/53b/g012/180201?kssrc=176#?

Not a BRAVO insider so don't know if it's true - it's just what I read on an entertainment website. I would imagine that if "true", it would mean that she was on for specific episodes and so her "storyline" could conclude with her actually departing the show versus her not appearing at all. I guess she could theoretically make a graceful exit versus being fired. In the past - and again as far as I can recall - the major housewives like Jill Zarin or Gretchen were clearly fired - left without wanting to versus housewives like LVP, and Bethenny, the Heathers or NY and OC) or Carole Radziwill who appear to have left of their own volition. My understanding is that a friend doesn't really know if they are going to appear on any episode and they are paid ONLY for an episode in which they appear while a housewife is paid for every episode even if she doesn't appear or has a minimal presence.

I believe I read that Tamra had been offered three episodes to "wrap up her story" which she declined to do. Whether that is literally true or whether they just gave her the option of "friend" - who knows? I think it was a combination of demographics shifting way too old and also how dark the series had become. I am on some kind of Bravo survey and I am sent a long on-line questionnaire after each of the Housewive franchises airs in which I essentially rank the cast; let them know whose "side" I was on in feuds; answer whether I liked it more or less than other seasons; whether it is going to stale etc. I would imagine they also do more concentrated focus groups and there would have been a consensus that the series had gone very dark and Tamra/Vicki were pretty universally despised with not much in the way of redeeming features except they had been on the show for a long time. Gretchen was gone when she ceased to have any storyline except the relationship with Slade although ironically with the birth of the baby she would actually have had a storyline. In terms of analyzing Andy's statement about why Braunwyne was "interesting", it is clear that neither Vicki nor Tamra had a compelling independent storyline except to be assholes and shit stirrers. Hate or love Braunwynne's mother and the weird dynamic of the family - there is actually true organic stuff that is interesting and doesn't depend on being vile and starting crap. Kelly has poor anger management but as far as I can remember, she isn't the instigator in the on-going feuds which seem to have dominated the past seasons. She was pissed at Vicki when Vicki set up her ex but I think most viewers probably agree that it is not something one does to a friend - especially if you don't tell her. That was completely unlike the idiotic "fake" issue when Emily set up the cousin because obviously Emily had no idea the cousin was in a relationship - why would she have set her up - that would have made no sense. As I am an evil bitch, my real interest lies in whether Tamra can financially support the house of cards she has set up since her income from the show was about $600,000 plus any money she brings in from promoting stuff in person or on social media and of course all the free stuff she gets because restaurants, resorts, clothing, furniture etc. want to get a mention on her social media or be featured on the show. While CUT may break even or bring in some income, I can't imagine it generates enough profit to support the kind of lifestyle she lives nor do any of her side rackets like CBD seem to be viable income replacements for the BRAVO salary. On the other hand, I am amazed that some of the housewives like Gretchen and Slade seem to be able to go on living without any visible means of support.

I remember years ago watching a woman on television - one of those audience participation shows - and she was wearing her hair in rollers. I thought Good God if she wears rollers when she is likely to be viewed on national television, what occasion merits her actually taking them out. I think the issue for Swedish girlfriend is that she didn't have the legs for any kind of shorts. Do people look in the mirror and think this is the best way I can dress to avoid humiliation? I mean God bless comfort and all that but I think most people, especially women, want to look as attractive as possible when they are being taped for posterity.