S5.E17: Reunion, Part 1

[ZettaK]

6 hours ago, Dr Mama said:

Yeah--I think there are a few other HWs who COULD pay for his clothes, including Heather D., Kyle, Sutton, Jenna. I'd forgotten about Heather's dress. Did she maybe just borrow it or did Christian forget she had also paid?
 

 

Maybe he was discussing current clients. Heather Dubrow seems to favor European designers only for a few years (Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Chanel, etc.). She used to wear clothes by American designers too before (eg. DVF who is not technically American, but she lives and works in the U.S.). The Dubrows' net worth increased tremendously because they sold two houses in Newport Beach one after the other for a lot more than it cost to build them (one for $55 million- this is not their net profit obviously). Heather also attends fashion shows in Paris for at least a couple of years according to her IG.

The women you mentioned could afford Christian Siriano's clothes, and they are not known for borrowing clothes. 

Edited 12 hours ago by ZettaK

[Yours Truly]

On 1/23/2025 at 2:59 PM, Marley said:

Bronwyn was on WWHL & said she never bought any jewellery from the jeweller because the jeweller talked to Lisa but on the reunion she was acting as she had already bought the smaller necklace so something isn't adding up.

Browynn was being vague during the reunion not realizing that Lisa was gonna go full out and throw the jeweler under the bus. I mean, the jeweler was probably mad about whatever deal that never was and vented to Lisa but I doubt the jeweler wanted Lisa to out her unprofessionalism on national TV. But whatever that's what she gets for discussing other people's shopping or non shopping habits with others.

My theory:

Browynn was promised a piece of jewelery. Then the gift was rescinded before actually acquiring. I have little doubt that Todd can afford to get her some nice pieces but me thinks that Todd soured a tad and his generosity dried up a bit. I really have no interest in criticiizing people for being who they are and to be honest all of our lives we live in a way that dictates how people respond to us, and we all determine what we offer or give into based on whether we deem others worthy of any particular overture. Todds no different and is in possession of some serious bargaining tools. Seems to me there is a good possibility that Browynn gets some of her toys taken away when Todd isn't happy. That's not something Browynn is going to explain on camera or to anyone for that matter so I'm not that pressed that she tried to side step that particular subject. At the end of the day it's a catty call out. Nothing more nothing less and I really could care less if Browynn spills the beans or tried to keep the particulars private of what went on with that particular transaction. I doubt it's because Todd can't afford diamonds. 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Yours Truly

[Yours Truly]

On 1/25/2025 at 6:16 PM, IntrovertRed said:

I don't completely understand the disagreement between Bronwyn and Lisa. Bronwyn and Todd are mad at Lisa for saying on the aftershow that Lisa said that Gwen's grandparents were told Bronwyn had a miscarriage?  Because the way Bronwyn was telling it, she was mad that Lisa said that Bronwyn had a miscarriage. It was all very hard to follow. And I don't always watch the aftershow, so she's also bringing more attention to it for those like me who don't always watch it.  The whole argument just seemed very dumb to me.

I'm not a Lisa fan, but at the same time, Bronwyn seemed to be pissed that Gwen's father came up at all. When it's well known that the housewives are told before they come on the show that secrets have a way of coming to light on the show. So for her to expect it to not come out it pretty naive. I'm sure Gwen wouldn't be so hurt if her mother hadn't gone on housewives at all for this to even be a topic. 

 

So this is what I think and I'm a Browynn fan but I reserved the right to side eye and criticize when it comes to the grandparents drama. I was happy when it apparently fell of the storyline docket for this season. I believe that Browynn is a VERY calculating women. I DO believe she cares about her daughter and this particular situation however I also think that she's an attention seeker. 

My theory:

The storyline was for sure supposed to come out during the season. Serve two possible outcomes. One: Have Gwens grandparenst get to know Gwen and be in her life without much drama and it ends well financially for all including Browynn. or Two: Shame the grandparents giving her the upper hand with regards to their access to her daughter, how far she would try and take the victim narrative  therefore giving her an angle with a family that I'm assuming is well off. Either way win win. I suggest this theory because maybe Browynn is looking for a safety net due to her marriage being on rocky terrain. Either Todd or Browynn is giving end of the line vibes. Hey, could be..

Brownynns manipulative, "I asked them not to show that footage because I wanted to be careful about too much identfying information being shared" was bullshit! Whoever is close enough to the story (neighbors, friends, family) would already be clued in by the death of their son, their connection to Lisa and the area so the ONE detail of a possible miscarriage isn't going to be the key piece that will turn on any light bulbs. If anything thats the LAST part of the story that would clue anyone in cause who the hell is sitting around discussing miscarriages of their sons girlfriend to anyone? 

Nope? Browynns reaction to Lisa mentioning that detail was really noticable. That was a "wholly crap" I didn't expect that to come out and I sure as hell didn't want that on camera" reaction. It totally tanks the sympathy she's trying to garner from the audience and her friends. It kills the narrative that paints the grandparents as horrible people and it explains their absence. We've seen Browynn be caught unprepared in other orchestrated plot lines (jewlery for instance) and how she recoils a bit and tries to recover quickly with this that or the other as an alternate explanation. Yeah, I think that's when Browynn pulled the plug on pursuing that particular storyline. I'm inclined to believe Browynn mislead the father or the grandparents or both in some way. I won't go so far as to say she faked a miscarriage but reaction tells me she wasn't as forth coming about Gwen as she's wanting people to believe. 

I believe Lisa. She said that the aftershow is filmed before the actual episode airs so she had no way of knowing that that part would be cut out and didn't know that Browynn didn't want it aired.  Now granted I do feel like Lisa shouldn't be even talking about it in any conversation that isn't initiated by Browynn so I do think there's reason to be mad at Lisa. She takes liberty with way too much shit. That's where she was wrong. She shouldn't be speaking on it in any room, to anyone unless prompted by Browynn. Point, blank periold. Yes, it's a reality show but this particular topic should really off limits and my disapproval also extends to Browynn. I didn't like that she even brought it on the show. Oh, and I don't believe for one second she didn't know that Lisa knew these people before she started filming. I think it was her intention all along to have it be a part of the season, it's when Lisa dropped that tidbit of info on camera that it needed to be nixed and being how sensitive the topic is Browynn thought she could redirect and nix it with a simple a "nope, nothing to see here, moving on". Oh, silly girl.

Gwen drama aside, I'm all for Browynns antics. Shady and calculating is fine with me just as long as she continues to deliver it was such calm sass and control. But girl, KEEP GWEN'S STORY OFF THE SHOW!!

On 1/24/2025 at 8:56 AM, 65mickey said:

I hate to keep rehashing the Bronwyn pregnancy miscarriage not miscarriage but one question. Did Gwen's father know that he had a child with Bronwyn and he chose to ignore his own child or did she keep this information from him? So many different versions of this story have been told that who knows what is true. If Bronwyn was so protective of Gwen that she wanted to keep Gwen in the dark about the grandparents rejecting her why did she go on a reality show and engage in conversations with other housewives about this?

 

Exactly! Something's rotten in Denmark. 

[Yours Truly]

On 1/25/2025 at 6:24 PM, Dr Mama said:

I rewatched the reunion and the WWHL.

I never heard them say that she "immediately" ordered a different necklace after the Palm Springs trip.

What I remember them saying in that episode is that they thanked the jewelry store employee for bringing those samples and that they would think about what they wanted to purchase.

At some point later, it sounds like they made a decision on what they wanted, and the order was progressing well until Lisa revealed those texts at the reunion. On WWHL, Bronwyn said she checked with the jewelry store to see what was going on, and that's when she learned the texts were legitimate, so she cancelled the order. I would have done the same.

Look, Bronwyn and Todd have WAY more money that the Barlows, and if they changed their mind about buying some jewelry from a specific store, that's hardly a crime (meaning, if they'd cancelled the order even before the texting issue.)

 

Agreed! That explanation seems most likely. 

[Yours Truly]

17 hours ago, Dr Mama said:

So, I am NOT AT ALL trying to excuse any behavior by Bronwyn. But whatever Lisa and/or the jewelry store employee are trying to accuse her of--and I guess that would be pretending to buy a $4M necklace and earrings she had no intention of buying, and I guess not being able to afford such a purchase?--is just ridiculous.

I mean, really. Lisa's whole big accusation seems to be there was a scene where Bronwyn and Todd looked at some VERY pricey jewelry as a possible anniversary gift, and the jewelry store told Lisa that the Newports never bought anything. WHO CARES!!! NOT A BFD!!

And I feel a little like I did when Pavit was accused of shady crap because he claimed he was flying to Vietnam for a day for airline miles. People not familiar with the mileage run/airline status game thought that was a shady excuse. I've made similar crazy trips for that exact same reason, and there is a whole community of people out there who do the same.

So, connecting that same thinking to the story of Bronwyn and the necklace.

I don't know what Bronwyn and Todd's net worth is. I've seen estimates of $24M. Based on his career, it could be higher, but that number sounds reasonable. I still don't think that's $4M necklace territory, but I don't make their spending decisions.

It is clear that she spends A LOT of money on couture clothing. You don't get to sit front row at the Valentino runway show without spending serious money. And Christian Siriano (not the same level as Valentino, certainly) said the same thing about her in terms of his work. She's been buying it--and a lot of it--FOR YEARS. And that's just ONE designer. And this is just clothing. They are also art collectors.

So, maybe they were in the market for some jewelry as a gift. Maybe they had worked with the jewelry store before. Maybe production knew this jewelry store and made the connection. Maybe they and/or production thought it would be great to have a scene where she and Todd contemplate buying some over-the-top jewelry--it's a common enough HW show scene. Maybe they had an intention to buy something. Maybe the jewelry store was happy to participate because they thought they'd get a credit on the show, which might be good for their business. High end jewelers in LA (and elsewhere) often lend jewelry to people who have no intention of buying it--maybe some do it for advertising, maybe some do it to cement relationships with stylists who have other clients who WILL pay, maybe some do it to cultivate a relationship with the person who is wearing it in the hope of future business. Could be a host of different reasons. But, even in Palm Springs, it was clear that the jewelry was ON LOAN from the store at that time.

I'm guessing the jewelry store participated in this scene because they thought it would be good business for them--either because the Newports might become customers or Bravo might work with them again (or both.) Or viewers of the show would come to the store.

I seems very plausible that sometime after the scene in Palm Springs Bronwyn and Todd decided to buy something else from this jeweler--something that would need to be made. They definitely have custom high end jewelry money.

At the reunion, it was Andy who asked her about the $4M necklace as he was welcoming her to the set. To me, that did not seem like the moment for a long, drawn-out explanation of the story. It seems possible to me that she considered asking to borrow that same necklace again for the reunion, which would be even more understandable if they were currently waiting on a different piece of jewelry to be completed. And so, I think it is plausible that's what she meant when she said considered WEARING it again. Some might assume that statement meant she was implying she OWNED it, but she wore it before on the show when she did not own it.

But when this topic became a whole issue at the reunion, she at first seemed a little shocked that the jewelry store employee criticized her to someone while she thought (or claimed) they were working together to complete the Newport's order. She then detailed exactly what she and Todd ordered from that store (or claimed to.)

I really don't know why she would lie about this, which is why I have trouble believing Lisa's attack. The Newports absolutely have enough money to purchase high-end custom jewelry. If they had decided not to purchase anything from that store at that time, it would have been super easy just to say that. They don't have any need to keep up a fiction that they are very wealthy. They are. And I don't think TODD would want her to LIE about what they may or may not have ordered. Like him or hate him, he seems pretty blunt about what he believes.

The Barlows, on the other hand, are not nearly as wealthy. As in, a fraction of the Newports net worth. And Lisa makes so much of an effort to try and claim to be so rich that makes me think even the estimate of $5M net worth for the Barlows is too high.

So, I think Lisa was super annoyed that the Newports had a scene where they even pretended to contemplate purchasing a $4M necklace--that's a whole different league than her $60,000 ring--so she wanted to take them down and attack them for not actually purchasing it.

And if I'm wrong, that's fine too.
 

STANDING OVATION TO ALL OF THIS!! BRAVO! :-)