Real Housewives Who Need To Realize They Aren't Famous Anymore

Ever since the first Real Housewives debuted in 2006, dozens of women across the franchise's nine U.S. installments have achieved widespread success. And while those stars may be beloved by fans, there are others who have struggled to maintain even a piece of relevancy over the years. This list includes those Housewives, whose reputations have suffering damaging blows for various reasons, including embarrassing scandals, continuous run-ins with law enforcement, their inability to maintain the public's interest, and more.

Yet, it seems like some of these Housewives just haven't caught on to the fact that they're no longer famous, as they continue to show up to red carpet events to churn up extra publicity or join new shows in attempts of regaining celebrity status. And that's where we come in. Check out our list of all the stars, from Phaedra Parks to Jill Zarin, whose 15 minutes of fame are long gone and most likely never coming back.

Teresa Giudice was one of the breakout stars of Real Housewives of New Jersey, thanks to her larger-than-life personality and her teetering temper. But her reputation went up in smoke in 2013 when she and her husband, Joe Giudice, got hit with a barrage of criminal charges for allegedly hiding their fortune in a bankruptcy filing. According to People, the couple was "charged in a 39-count indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud."

Though Teresa was subsequently sentenced to 15 months in prison for her role in the crimes, she only served about a year of her sentence and was released in 2015 for good behavior. Even so, the following year would prove to be tumultuous, given Joe was still serving out his 41-month sentence.

According to Us Weekly, Teresa is finally set to make her return to the big screen in 2018 for the ninth season of the show, but after such a lengthy hiatus, her reported return hasn't generated much buzz.

At one point, there was never a dull moment with this Housewife, from her kitschy fake wigs to her perfectly timed clapbacks. But when she decided to leave the show in 2018, she did so to little fanfare, including from her own co-stars. Kandi Burruss told TMZ that Kim Zolciak's presence was hardly felt anyway, and NeNe Leakes — an off-again, on-again frenemy of Zolciak's — brutally dissed the reality star on Instagram, writing, "Bye wax figure."

Since stepping away from the show, Zolciak has already started to fade into the background. Yeah, she's still got her spin-off series Don't Be Tardy at the time of this writing, which is centered around the lives of herself and her family. But sources told Celebrity Insider in June 2018 that filming has been "disastrous" in the wake of her "fallout" from RHOA. Radar Online echoed the comments the same month, reporting that Zolciak's attitude is throwing the show into turmoil. Go figure.

Porsha Williams' tumultuous marriage to former NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart is arguably one of the juiciest storylines to grace the Real Housewives of Atlanta. In the wake of their acrimonious split, Williams infamously fueled rumors about Stewart being gay and accused him of being abusive — all in front of Bravo cameras. But when that storyline dried up, so did the buzz surrounding Williams. Things got so boring that Williams was even demoted to a "recurring" cast member rather than a full-time Housewife in 2014.

In the next few seasons, Williams' storylines revolved around her rumored romances with people like an African prince and various sports figures, but she still has yet to attract the same levels of attention as she did during the divorce drama. At the time of this writing, she's filming Season 11 of the show, where she'll reportedly reveal her latest love interest, according to Bravo. So maybe the third time will be the charm? We doubt it, but here's hoping.

Although Jill Zarin is no longer a part of the series, she still appears to try to keep up with the glitzy-glam lifestyle: she walks red carpets, she's reportedly got a hot new boyfriend — the works. But many of us are still reeling from her explosive fallout with fellow Real Housewives of New York co-star Bethenny Frankel to be concerned with her new endeavors.

According to Us Weekly, the friends-turned-enemies infamously stopped speaking in 2010 after a series of fights on the show sparked a vicious feud. At one point during 2015, the Skinnygirl founder even called Zarin a "b*tch" and added that she was "not a person [she] would want in [her life]," which was more than indicative that their relationship would never be what it was.

But tragedy would bring the pair back together just three years later, following the death of Zarin's husband, Bobby, who succumbed to a battle with cancer in 2018. According to Page Six, Zarin and Frankel were even spotted "holding hands," which was exciting news for some of their fans. Unfortunately, it apparently wasn't moving enough to earn her a spot back on Bravo's franchise.

You know her as the charming Southern Belle of the Real Housewives of Atlanta ... or maybe the woman who arguably spread the most vicious lie in reality TV history. If you somehow missed it, Phaedra Parks infamously spread a malicious rumor that Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, had plans to drug their co-star Porsha Williams and then sexually assault her. According to Us Weekly, Parks initially told Williams that she'd heard the plans from Burruss herself, but after a confrontation at the show's Season 9 reunion, Parks walked back the comment and insisted she'd heard it from a still-unnamed source, which made it clear that she'd likely made the whole thing up to begin with.

The revelation led to an explosive spat between the group, leaving Burruss, Williams, and other cast members in tears. Though Parks ultimately apologized for spreading the lie, it prompted Bravo to cut her from the show, according to TMZ.

These days, Parks is reportedly set to return to television for We TV's hit series Braxton Family Values, although even certain stars of that series aren't exactly feeling her return.

This Real Housewives of Orange County star was notorious for trying to one-up her cast members at any opportunity, whether it was related to her career pursuits or her glittery lifestyle. Alexis Bellino was cut from the show after four seasons, but unfortunately, that hasn't stopped her from trying to maintain a squeaky clean image off cameras — like during divorce proceedings with her husband, Jim Bellino.

Jim filed for divorce in June 2018 after 13 years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences," according to TMZ. While you would think it would be a difficult time for Alexis, she seemed pretty unbothered by their split. Just weeks later, on July 4, Alexis took to Instagram to flaunt her status as a newly-single "#independent #woman," and show off her sexy stars and stripes string bikini. The moment proved to be a cover-up though, as Alexis admitted less than two weeks later that the breakup was "extremely painful" in a lengthy statement she also unloaded on the Gram. Perhaps she realized she doesn't have to keep up such a polished act anymore.

Kim Richards' downfall can be attributed to more than a few arrests and increasingly erratic behavior.

In April 2015, Richards was arrested for "public intoxication, trespassing, resisting an officer and battery on a police officer," per E! News, and the alleged criminal activity only mounted from there. She experienced another run-in with the law just months later, in August 2015, when she was arrested for shoplifting after allegedly stealing $600 worth of merchandise from a Target near her California home. But wait, there's more: Richards also got wrapped up in a nasty legal battle with her former stylist, who claimed she had been viciously attacked by the reality star's dog. According to the stylist, Richards refused to call 911 unless the woman said she was attacked by a stray dog, Page Six reported. 

While Richards managed to avoid jail time for each case, her alleged criminal exploits likely did irreparable damage to her career.

We were rooting for Lisa Rinna. We were all rooting for Lisa Rinna. But her continuous fights with fellow Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star Kim Richards weren't much appreciated by fans.

There was the time she spread hurtful gossip that Richards — a recovering alcoholic — might've been relapsing and was being enabled by her sister Kyle. Then she slammed Richards during the reunion special of the show's seventh season, perhaps her most notable spat, which prompted a lot of criticism from fans of the show.

That drama kicked off when Richards decided to return a gift bunny Rinna had given her earlier in the season amid their ongoing feud. Rinna didn't take the move too well, and threw massive shade at her co-star. According to People, she called Richards a "sick woman," and claimed she was her "meal ticket." Other cast members quickly swept to Richards' defense, pointing out that she was one of the original stars of the show — long before Rinna joined the cast. It was clearly the reality check she needed, because Rinna was speechless. 

According to Refinery 29, fans were already on the outs with Rinna over much more than just her beef with Richards, even going so far as to call for Bravo to  boot Rinna from the show. 

Shereé Whitfield — who gifted the world with the classic one-liner, "Who gon' check me, boo?" and ceaselessly feuded with Real Housewives of Atlanta drama queen NeNe Leakes — was as entertaining as they come. Perhaps it was all of her iconic moments that made Whitfield feel as though she was entitled to an equally hefty paycheck as her co-stars for the show's eleventh season. Executives, however, apparently didn't feel the same way, prompting Whitfield to say goodbye to the show in 2018.

Whitfield confirmed her departure from the series in July 2018 on Instagram, telling a fan who asked if she was returning to the show (via People): "Currently living my best life. Was not interested in entertaining the low ball offer that was sent. Know ur worth."

She did, however, hint that other TV options were on the table, adding, "You may be seeing me soon!"

But the question is: is anyone interested without the rest of the RHOA cast? Probably not.