The Most Shocking Bravo Moves of 2024
this was a tumultuous year in the bravosphere
There are few things I love more than an end of year roundup. I don’t know if it’s the millennial in me to love listicles, or the fact that I am a sucker for nostalgia but I love looking back and reflecting on all the things that happened this year.
Last year, I did a few end of year wrap ups and I figured I’d do the same thing year, with a slight twist. Over the next week and a half, I’ll be looking back at my favorite pop culture and Bravo moments of the year.
We’ll do the traditional ‘best moments’ but I wanted to kick off the series with a slightly different post. 2024 was filled with some great moments in Bravo history, but it was also filled with a lot of shocking moments; they were moments that made us stop in our tracks, made us gasp or made us reminisce on the good ol’ days.
I’m dubbing these moments the ‘most shocking Bravo moves’ because some of these were done by the network, other’s affected the network greatly and the others were of course, the doing of our Bravolebs.
Shall we take a walk down memory lane?
*Also, let me say…these are all my opinions. They were shocking to me but could’ve not been shocking to you! I would love to hear about your most shocking Bravo moves in the comments
Vanderpump Rules Rebooted
This could be classified as recency bias but I disagree. For two years, Vanderpump Rules has been the most watched show on Bravo. It scored the network it’s first Emmy nomination (for one of their more ‘reality’ shows vs a competition) and it put the cast on a national media stage; it was a money maker, so it came as a huge shock when Bravo announced a few weeks ago that they were firing the entire cast and rebooting VPR with new SURvers and a new cast.
After watching Season 11, I wasn’t surprised that the original cast was getting the boot. The season finale felt like a series finale, fit with flashbacks, a slowed down recording of the theme song, and a look back at the cast’s first confessionals. It had all the makings of the final nail in the coffin so the fact that Sandoval & the gang won’t be back wasn’t shocking.
What was shocking was that the network was taking the RHONY road and rebooting the cast. I do think it will work better than RHONY (even though I LOVE the nuRHONY) because the cast will have a built in relationship.
It will be sad to say goodbye to everyone but we’ll always have the best days of our lives.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Casting
Real Housewives of Atlanta was put on a little bit of a pause after their most recent season, and Bravo knew they had to make some big casting decisions. A lot of people (Shereé and Marlo included) got the boot, and fans were left twisting their hands on how Kandi, Kenya and Drew were going to carry a show. That’s when the first blow happened…Kandi left the show, which was long overdue. That opened the door for Phaedra to come back & after a standout performance on The Traitors, was a no brainer.
Then, they announced that Porsha Williams was on her way back to holding a peach, and everyone rejoiced. THEN, Kenya got fired and THEN Phaedra was back in action with Frick & Frack at the center of the show.
We don’t have a trailer or premiere date, but I’m sure it will be eventful whether in a good or bad way.
The Year of Law Suits
This could be it’s own post but 2024 was the year of SO MANY LAWSUITS. Whether it was former Housewives suing the network or each other, so many relationships were tied up in court. It got to the point where we weren’t even surprised whenever a new headline from TMZ popped up, signaling the next legal battle we were going to be following.
There was Caroline Manzo suing the network for sexual misconduct allegations on the Ultimate Girls Trip Morocco season. Leah McSweeney sued Andy Cohen & Bravo, accusing them of forcing her to drink when she was sober, and said that Andy does cocaine with Housewives.
Then, we took our talents to the west coast where Faith Stowers popped up again, suing Bravo for racism & Brandi Glanville sued Andy and Bravo for sexual harassment and this turned out to be the only claim that Andy spoke out against — probably because it was so outlandish, he had enough.
The artist formally known as Raquel Leviss decided to pursue legal allegations against Tom Sandoval & Ariana Madix for distribution of the video that exposed the affair. Then, Sandoval made the idiotic attempt to sue Ariana for invasion of privacy.
And finally, let us not forget the main attraction of Season 18 of Real Housewives of Orange county— John Jansen suing Shannon Storms Beador for a $75K ‘loan’ for a ‘facelift’.
It seems that the lawsuits have died down for now, but there’s still a few more days left in the year.
Lindsay Hubbard’s Pregnancy
This time last year, we were waiting with baited breath to see the fallout of Lindsey and Carl’s relationship on Summer House. What we didn’t expect was for just a few months later, right after the reunion filmed and mere moments before Summer House season 9 began filming, that HubbHouse would announce her pregnancy. She was pregnant by her boyfriend of only a few months but it didn’t seem to matter — everyone, including Paige & the other bed bugs, were overjoyed for Lindsay and we’ll see that play out in just a few weeks on the season premiere. Lindsay has longed to be a mother & went through the egg freezing process a few years ago, so when I heard the news, I was really excited for her. Now, she’s welcomed baby Gemma into the world and all feels good.
There’s a few honorable mentions I’d like to include, mostly of which surprised me the most:
Todd & Alexia’s Breakup
I was not expecting the news of Todd and Alexia getting divorced but we got that this year as well (2024 has been incredibly long). The pair announced their separation earlier this year, and Alexia made it very well known that it was not her choice and she was shocked by the news. It seems the pair is trying to repair their relationship, and I’m sure we’ll get more insight when Real Housewives of Miami premieres later in 2025.
LVP and Stassi Teaming Up on Vanderpump Villa
I had a feeling we would getting a Stassi Schroeder Clark reality show at some point (which we are) but I definitely was not expecting her to appear in season 2 of Vanderpump Villa, alongside old boss Lisa Vanderpump. The show is not a Bravo property, and in turn, Stassi’s new show won’t be on an NBCU network either — both will be on Hulu. Stassi and LVP have always had an odd, on & off relationship, and I wasn’t aware that they were on this good of terms that Stassi would go back to her former employer in this way. We haven’t heard any other news about these shows since the announcement so I’m hoping we get more insight soon!