Throughout the The Real Housewives history, there have been numerous times when onscreen moments have come across as fake, with some scenes seeming more staged than others. Even though the franchises are often presented as depicting the everyday lives of the women behind the gilded gates, there were moments when scenes appeared contrived. Bravo has had a lot of success with multiple cities, and even if some episodes don't ring true, they still captivate viewers.
In 2006, reality TV changed, with the introduction of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The premise of the series was to follow extremely wealthy women who lived in California's Orange County region. Some worked, and some were stay-at-home mothers. Either way, they led lavish lifestyles. The popularity of the series grew, and Bravo quickly launched The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of New York City. Each franchise offered unique insights about well-heeled women from different parts of the United States. Naturally, there were famous fights, and viewers initially fell in love with the series' authentic vibes.
7 RHONY - Sonja Morgan's Engagement To Harry Dubin
Sonja was always known as the flirt of RHONY, and she played the part extremely well. However, her nearest and dearest friends, Luann de Lesseps and Ramona Singer, often mistook her kindness for weakness. They usually tried to steal Sonja's men from right under her nose. While Sonja's love life has often been part of the plot line for the popular series, one moment didn't add up. The season ended with Sonja asking the well-known playboy for his hand in marriage. However, Heather Thompson later told Page Six that the scene was fake, noting that the ring used was one that the "Singer Stinger" was already wearing.
6 RHONJ - Melissa Gorga's Lost Sister
The Real Housewives of New Jersey season 9 took a surprising turn, as Melissa revealed to viewers that she might have a long-lost sister. Melissa's storyline was considered irritating, as the idea of a lost sister seemed far-fetched, even for the "On Display" singer. Melissa has always been open about her late father, Anthony Marco, and his cheating issues. With that being said, the self-proclaimed daddy's girl was convinced she had a sister from one of her father's affairs, who was out there waiting to be found. However, no sister surfaced, leading the storyline to fizzle out. The last viewers heard was that Melissa had completed a 23andMe profile, in the hopes of reconnecting with her relative.
5 RHOA - Cynthia Bailey's Hot Mic
RHOA season 12 was a lot to contend with, especially after "Snakegate." At one point, Cynthia Bailey and Nene Leakes were the best of friends, who had even signed a friendship contract. However, the season showed them drifting apart. It didn't help that some mystery person secretly recorded to former top model trash-talking Nene behind her back. The secret recorder turned out to be Yovanna Momplaisir, and unsurprisingly, no actual recording ever surfaced. The "friend of" had tried to make a storyline. However, with no receipts, the women quickly cast Yovanna out of the group.
4 RHONY - Aviva Drescher's Thrown Leg
One of the most iconic The Real Housewives of New York City moments featured Aviva Drescher throwing her wooden leg, but it turned out to be fake. During installment 6, at the end of the season dinner, Aviva became so irate that she unhooked her prosthetic leg, and threw it across the room. This scene was iconically shocking, and everyone went silent after the outburst. Aviva's ex-husband Harry Dubin revealed on the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast that the blonde had planned to throw the limb before shooting had even started. According to the New Yorker,Aviva asked Harry to carry her out of the room. Needless to say, staged or not, this scene still gets talked about.
3 RHOA - Kenya Moore's Fake Boyfriend
All Kenya ever wanted on The Real Housewives of Atlanta was to fall in love, but no one ever thought she would resort to hiring a fake boyfriend. Sadly this is precisely what happened when she introduced Walter Jackson to the group of women. The former Miss USA had trouble explaining her onscreen love affairs. During season 5, Walter popped onto the scene, and even went on the cast trip.
The entire cast, including Porsha Williams and Kandi Burruss, believed that the relationship was fake, but it wasn't until Walter spoke out in 2012 that the truth was revealed, via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Walter revealed that Kenya had approached him with the idea of him playing her onscreen boyfriend. However, Kenya still claims that Walter's statements about their fake relationship are false. As the episodes show, there was never any real connection.
2 RHOBH - Yolanda Hadid's Lyme Disease
During The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 6, Lisa Rinna really put her foot in it when she accused Yolanda of possibly having Munchhausen syndrome. This is when a person knowingly fakes a severe disease to deceive others, but Yolanda wasn't having any of it. The mother of two supermodels had been open about her Lyme disease the entire season, and something between the two women felt off. While speaking with Jenny McCarthy on her XM show, Lisa revealed that RHOBH and RHOC were run by the same production company that coincidentally ran with the Brooks Ayers "faking cancer" storyline a few years prior.
During her interview, Lisa made it clear that she had a feeling the same would be done with Yolanda's Lyme disease noting she had a feeling and didn't "feel good about it." Lisa also called out Lisa Vanderpump during the season 6 reunion revealing she was the true mastermind behind the story claiming the SUR owner was tired of Yolanda getting too much screen time.
1 RHOC - Tamra Judge's Rebirth
During The Real Housewives of Orange County season 10, Tamra Judge found religion. Viewers were able to watch Tamra step into her swimming pool to be baptized. The entire season showed Tamra becoming a devout Christian, even apologizing to Jesus Jugs (Alexis Bellino), but her relationship with God disappeared after the episode. Until season 14, when her orange was taken away, Tamra didn't mention Christianity again. It was eventually revealed that the plot line was faked. However, Tamra has continued to insist that her TheReal Housewives episode was genuine.
Sources: Page Six, Behind the Velvet Rope, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jenny McCarthy
