Most Frustrating Storylines For Real Housewives Fans

The following article includes references to sexual assault.

Not all seasons knock it out of the park — and not all cast members have what it takes to keep us hooked week after week — but being a fan of the "Real Housewives" franchise means taking the good with the bad. Whether it's the laughs, the drama, or the opulence that first reeled them in, most fans of these shows know that the best versions have a mix of all of the above. They have those big, explosive fights but also moments of levity and the exhibition of true friendship. While there is no formal recipe for what makes a season pop, good storylines are a must — and not all storylines get the fans' stamp of approval.

Much like sports fans, "Real Housewives" fans can be loyal to a fault, but they also have strong opinions and are not afraid of vocalizing them. There are countless Instagram accounts, Facebook groups, and podcasts devoted to discussing the "Real Housewives," but most of the chatter happens on Reddit — and you don't need to look long to find out what people think about what works and what does not. At times, the fans collectively get extremely annoyed by plot points that go on too long, feel fabricated, or are simply boring to watch. Most things on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" work, for example, while recent seasons of "Real Housewives of Orange County" have been quite polarizing. Here are some of those storylines that "Real Housewives" fans have found especially frustrating.

We have to start our list with the most recent storyline that has "Real Housewives" fans up in arms, and that is the black eye storyline on "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City." All season long, Bravo has been advertising it as if somebody punched Heather Gay in the face. They even teased a clip of someone knocking at her door in the middle of the night but then later revealed that the injury occurred after this visit (which was from other drunken cast members). And not only did Gay not reveal what happened the day after it occurred, she still has not named the culprit. Even Newsweek has covered the distressing plotline, and celebrity fans like Meghan McCain have also spoken out via Twitter.

Part of the frustration comes from the fact that Gay has been all over the place with her explanations, sometimes saying she does not know what happened and others indicating she does but is protecting someone. The amount of joy she seems to derive from teasing the audience is nothing if not infuriating. As noted by The Sun, some fans think Gay may have injured herself, while others believe a castmate beat her up. Most signs point to Jen Shah, who has a known temper. Per Reality Blurb, who has the screen captures, Shah denied this in her Instagram story. That said, this is also the same woman who pleaded her innocence all season and is now headed to prison for 6 ½ years.

If you ask "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" fans which storyline has irritated them the most, Puppygate is sure to be up there for most. Not only was it a boring plot that played out for the entire season, but it also led to the demise of Lisa Vanderpump, one of the show's GOATs. The major scandal was that Dorit Kemsley returned a rescue dog, Lucy Lucy Apple Juicy, to Vanderpump's rescue organization, Vanderpump Dogs, which became the season's anchor story. When the news hit the tabloids, the cast blamed LVP for the leak — confirmed by a show insider in 2021, per Page Six — which ultimately caused her to skip the reunion and leave the show. It also marked the end of her friendship with Kyle Richards, who did not defend Vanderpump and landed squarely on her list of names.

The whole debacle may have been engaging TV for an episode or two, but in typical "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" fashion, the cast dragged it out for all of Season 9. Fans also found it quite befuddling, as evidenced by Reddit threads such as "Puppy gate is still so confusing to me" and "Puppygate made no sense to me. How is Dorit the victim when she abandoned the dog?" — both of which were posted years after the fact. Everywhere you turned, someone was pulling out text messages or a dude named John (there were multiple), leading TV Guide to call it "the Most Divisive Drama of the TV Season" for 2019.

Most "Housewives" have a bum storyline here and there, but there are a few who are known for their lackluster plot points. Take "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Melissa Gorga, who has appeared on the show since Season 3. Gorga has long been accused of faking her storylines, which have included a possible long-lost sister that never materialized, a possible new baby that never materialized, and a divorce that — you guessed it — never materialized. While we think Gorga adds something to the show, that special piece certainly does not come from her solo scenes. In fact, without her husband, Joe, we are not sure she would still be around.

At the show's Season 10 reunion, one fan question got right to the point. "Melissa, I'm tired of your fake stories," said a fan, read by Andy Cohen, per NorthJersey.com. "Fake restaurant, fake sister, fake pregnancy! What's real going on in your life?" This echoes the sentiment online, where fans have created Reddit threads such as "Melissa and her obviously fake storylines." As if that were not enough, Gorga has also been called out by other cast members. Jennifer Aydin called Gorga out at the show's Season 10 reunion, as detailed by People, and she has been even harsher on social media. "Your fake baby and sister that never was — and oh wait — Divorce divorce!" Aydin posted in an Instagram comment (screen captured by Reality Blurb). "All they see is your self-absorbed, obsessed, envious behavior!"

According to Deadline, Jennie Nguyen was fired from the "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" in January 2022 after past racially intolerant social media posts she had made came to light. But even before she was let go, Nguyen was not clicking well with a lot of fans, as many felt her discussions with her husband, Duy Tran, were less than authentic. Multiple scenes had the pair discussing a possible second wife for Tran — a storyline that is frequently listed as one of the worst in "Real Housewives" history in online fan conversations. "Jennie Nguyen, and the contrived sister wives storyline. I cringed the entire season she was on my tv. I just wanted to yell 'annnnnnd SCENE!' after each of her scenes. She came off so rehearsed and contrived; it was quite painful to watch," wrote one Reddit user.

To be fair, Nguyen's story about being a Vietnamese refugee was compelling, and her precocious daughter Karlyn was quite entertaining, so much so that Nguyen stuck her on Cameo at a very high cost, per Reality Tea. But the sister wives storyline really did come to dominate much of the conversation around Nguyen, particularly when her niece posted a TikTok video calling her out. "I guess in the recent episode, her husband gave her a sister wife proposition, and his reasoning was that he wants more kids, which doesn't make sense because he didn't take care of his kids when they were little," she said.

We were all for Tinsley Mortimer's quest for love — at first. Seeing her fall for Scott "The Coupon King" Kluth was nice, and we had no issue with the plot the first time around. The on-again, off-again relationship was not the most engaging, given Kluth's reluctance to appear on screen and Mortimer's palpable desperation, but we rolled with it as long as we could. But then, Season 12 of the "Real Housewives of New York City" happened, and it all became too much to handle. Much of Mortimer's storyline that season was that she was secretly dating Kluth again and that she was not being transparent with the other ladies in the cast.

No one was more upset with Mortimer than Dorinda Medley, who made it her mission to out the rekindled romance. That was the most uncomfortable part by far, and what took the storyline from boring to unbearable was Medley's unexplained anger toward Mortimer. "Tinsley and Scott on and off again got boring real quick," wrote one Reddit fan in a thread about the worst storylines. Another thread asked, "Can someone please explain to me why everyone hates Tinsley & Scott together? (Especially Dorinda)," which is something to which we still have no answer. Mortimer left before the end of Season 12, after Kluth proposed, to be with her man in Chicago. In March 2021, the pair broke off their engagement and ended their romance for good, per Us Weekly.

"Real Housewives of Potomac" star Gizelle Bryant has come up with a genius way to make her mark on the show. Bryant rarely shares any of her own life — often keeping relationships and other personal matters off-screen — and instead inserts herself into everyone else's stories. She is known for calling people out and for making herself the center of situations that do not concern her. "Gizelle doesn't realize how she would actually be interesting if we saw her date or spend time with her daughters and parents," wrote one fan on Twitter. "She has an interesting home life, but she chooses to hyper-focus on everyone else's lives. A loser at her core."

Another thing Bryant does is blow up small issues into huge fiascos, which is what fans have called her out for with her Season 7 shadiness. For multiple episodes, Bryant had maintained that Candiace Dillard-Bassett's husband, Chris, made her uncomfortable when he asked to chat privately, despite that they left the door to the room open and that the two were friendly. He also said nothing inappropriate, which has caused fans to feel that Bryant used the opportunity to give herself a storyline. As covered in a Meaww piece, online response to Bryant has been overwhelmingly negative this season, particularly because Bryant waited months — until cameras were rolling — to discuss the issue with Dillard-Bassett. Dillard-Bassett has herself accused Bryant of targeting her husband purely for the storyline (via Access Hollywood).

We get it — it can be very sad for parents when a kid leaves the house to go to college. But that does not mean it makes for riveting TV, and these storylines are some of the most hated by fans of the show. Though a small minority of fans enjoy this trope, it is frequently cited on Reddit when people ask things like, "What is the most boring, overused storyline in RH history?" or ask for the "Worst Real Housewives Storylines of All Time." Perhaps it is the nature of the storyline, or perhaps it is the fact that we have now seen more dozens of kids get sent off to school, but fans are just not into it.

In a Reddit conversation about "BORING storylines that must be banned from all future HW episodes," a comment about kids and college has over 300 upvotes (and another commenter proposes that kids being home from college on break is just as boring). This story has happened on nearly every franchise, but it has been particularly overused on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" (especially if your last name is Richards) and "Real Housewives of Orange County." While we welled up when Riley Burruss left the family home on "Real Housewives of Atlanta," and felt a tingle when Gia Giudice went to school on "Real Housewives of New Jersey," the vast majority of these plotlines do not work as multi-episode stories.

"Real Housewives" fans do not tend to love storylines where much of the drama is kept from us, either because it involves those not on the show or because it happened outside of filming. So, it is not surprising that most people did not enjoy the side plot about "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" cast member Crystal Kung-Minkoff having lost 14 friends. It is not even Kung-Minkoff's fault since she is not the one that brought it up, but the accusation became a recurring storyline that was totally unfulfilling. "#Rhobh Boring Crystal storyline ... ugh. Reaching for a storyline," tweeted former cast member Camille Meyer.

We first heard about the accusation from Sutton Stracke before the rumor was confirmed by Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna, who said they had heard the same thing. Still, no one had any good tea about why these alleged friends dropped Kung-Minkoff, only alluding to her behavior without giving any facts. Outside of the show, we did learn a bit more — including that Kung-Minkoff is actually the one who shared the story with her castmates and that it is only three friends that were lost due to Kung-Minkoff joining the show, per Entertainment Tonight. According to All About That Tea, much-disliked former "RHOBH" cast member Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave discussed the allegations on her podcast, explaining that Kung-Minkoff got in hot water with her friends after saying she would never appear on the show and later changing her mind. Yawn, is that all?

Whereas some cities in the "Real Housewives" franchise have casts that can elevate even the most lackluster seasons — like "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," which has never delivered a true clunker — others have shown they need the right recipe for things to pop. "Real Housewives of Orange County," in particular, has struggled to find the ideal mix of cast members in recent years, and the quality of the show has left many fans exasperated. Though it has not been at its peak in years, Season 15 of "Real Housewives of Orange County" is when fans really started to rebel. No one gelled with newbie Elizabeth Lynn Vargas, Kelly Dodd became almost insufferable in her final season, and the other women were simply too boring.

When cast member Emily Simpson asked fans what they thought about the Season 15 finale on Twitter, she received a slew of negative feedback about the entire season, with "boring" being a common keyword (per Monsters and Critics). Dodd, Vargas, and Braunwyn Windham-Burke were fired before Season 16, which also saw the return of Heather Dubrow and the introduction of Noella Bergener and Jen Armstrong, but even that did not fix the dynamic. "Season 16 Fail — Low Viewership Reveals Fan Disappointment," read a Soap Dirt article, while SportsKeeda published a summary of fans' critiques regarding an episode where Dubrow and Gina Kirschenheiter visited New York City. Neither new cast member hit with fans, and many felt the especially dull Armstrong never belonged there in the first place.

We cannot blame someone for their parents' actions, but we can certainly blame them for bringing their parent onto TV and broadcasting those foul comments and behaviors to a national audience. That is exactly what Aviva Drescher did when she chose to include her father in many of her "Real Housewives of New York" storylines. Drescher's father, George Teichner, is frequently cited amongst the "worst storylines," with Reddit commenters referring to him as everything from "slimy" to "revolting" to "disgusting." Some have even branded him a "sexual predator" based on the behavior he displayed on the show, which many have re-examined in the #MeToo era.

We could not possibly cover every instance of Teichner being gross, but let's get into the high (or low) lights. He literally assaulted women on multiple occasions — first when he poked Sonja Morgan with his penis while the women visited Miami, and then again when he grabbed Kristen Taekman's breasts at his engagement party. His sexual conversations with his daughter were extremely creepy, and his comments to the other women were beyond inappropriate. Teichner rightfully took up multiple spots on Bustle's list of worst comments ever seen on "The Real Housewives," which called out remarks like the truly nauseating "Baby, you really have a beautiful tan. If I wasn't your father, boy, I'd be after you," and "I'm gonna lick my lips and put my hand on your vagina." The latter comment was about what Teichner would do to Ramona Singer's body at her funeral.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

There have been a lot of storylines about "Real Housewives" debating having a baby, with most of them being duds that feel entirely fabricated for the sake of the show. For instance, Ramona Singer jumping to the conclusion that she was pregnant because she was late was a far reach given her advanced age of 53 at the time, and no one on Earth was buying that Melissa Gorga was actually debating a fourth child on "Real Housewives of New Jersey" Season 10. But the most ridiculous non-existent baby storyline occurred on "Real Housewives of Orange County," where Tamra Judge decided to test out motherhood by way of a robot baby. No, seriously.

"Is This the Most Insane Plot the Real Housewives Has Ever Had?" asked Ok! Magazine of the artificial baby, named Astro, that Judge and husband Eddie took care of during Season 9 of the show. Fans are still talking about the plotline nearly a decade later, both on Reddit — "To this day it was the dumbest thing I've seen on TV in my life. Astro," wrote one user. Seeing as how Judge already has four children, we did not even understand the practicality of the experiment, though Judge has defended it multiple times. "You forget what it's like to have a newborn. I killed it twice," Judge told Glamour. "At this age, when you're sleeping, you need to sleep." The Astro storyline was so bad that it almost made Judge's baptism storyline seem halfway entertaining.

Pink dog food is not a good "Real Housewives" business idea, and it is similarly not a good "Real Housewives" storyline. A non-viewer might assume we were making this up, given how ridiculous a product it is, but Kameron Westcott did, in fact, create a pink-hued dog food and showcase it on "Real Housewives of Dallas." Westcott is known for her love of pink, which influences everything from her fashion to her home décor, and we barely blinked an eye when she introduced her dog food idea at first. But then, the storyline went on and on, and its ridiculousness gave way to monotony and an unbearable level of haughtiness. Fans did not respond well, which caused Westcott to target them. "I mean, I didn't even realize how many haters there are in this world; it makes me so sad," she told Entertainment Tonight.

Westcott is one of the least down-to-earth "Real Housewives" ever to appear on any of the shows, and never was that more apparent than when she tried to convince people they needed dog food that, per the Dallas Observer, is not even really pink. "Everyone who eats Lucky Charms hates the boring cereal part and buys it for the few marshmallows. This is the dog food equivalent. For about every 20 boring brown pebbles, there is one pink one," wrote the author of the piece. To make matters worse, SparkleDog food is actually quite bad for pets, and there are many consumer comments about how dogs have fallen ill after eating it.

Gretchen Rossi is coming back to the "Real Housewives" franchise for "Ultimate Girls Trip 4," and we cannot wait to see what she will bring to the table. After all, Rossi had some highs as a cast member of "Real Housewives of Orange County" from Season 4 to Season 8. That said, she also had some lows, many of which have come to dominate the way fans remember her. One storyline — her proposal to Slade Smiley — has gone down in history as one of the cringiest, most manufactured storylines the franchise has ever seen. The proposal in question featured both a helicopter and a terrible song written by Rossi, neither of which landed with viewers.

"They knew she was gonna get fired, so they came up with this, and the viewers hated it and knew it was staged," wrote one Reddit user on a thread about the franchise's "Most Contrived Storylines." "Gretchen proposing to Slade," posted another user in a thread about the show's "cringiest" scenes. "She's wearing white, and she flies him in via helicopter. My face turned red with secondhand embarrassment watching that." Rossi's own castmates called bull on the proposal, and even Andy Cohen said it felt like it was all done for the show, per the Daily Mail. As of now, the couple still has not gotten married in the decade since the proposal (which aired in a July 2013 episode), which only solidifies the idea that the proposal was fabricated for TV.

We hate to pick on the "Real Housewives of Orange County," but it turns out that many of the most hated, most boring, and most manufactured storylines have come from the same place. But really, in a part of the country where plastic surgery is everywhere, we really should not be too shocked when things ring artificial. One of the series' worst storylines occurred when the women went to Ireland in Season 11. While the trip itself had some good TV moments, the entire premise of the trip — the idea that Meghan King (then King Edmonds) wanted to find long-lost relatives — was absurdly phony and blatantly unnecessary. Quite often, "Real Housewives" will come up with a weak reason for going on a trip, but none have pissed viewers off more than this one.

King's Irish family goes by the name O'Toole, so one could expect that she would have gone to a genealogist to research this family name. And she did, but what fans remember more is when she stood in the street and asked random people if they were O'Tooles. King had some fabulous moments on "Real Housewives of Orange County" — like the work she did in exposing Brooks Ayers' fake cancer — but this was not a high point. "It's so cool. I've always been interested in my ancestry and, especially, well, I'm Irish, and I've always grown up celebrating my Irish heritage," King said in a Bravo.com video. That's cool for her, but for fans? No bueno.