'Real Housewives' Divorces Plague Reality Show

By Tara Taghizadeh Posted Feb 18th 2011 03:25PM

Divorce in Hollywood is as common as botox and whitened teeth. For decades, the theory has been that if you're a celebrity, you'll probably venture in and out of relationships more frequently because, face it: Life in the glare of the spotlight, amongst the glitterati, can serve up many temptations.

But the benefit of being say, a blockbuster film star, is that although you're a public figure, publicists go out of their way to keep the details of a failed relationship under wraps. A joint statement of mutual respect and friendship (ahem) is typically issued by both parties, while fans inevitably read tabloid accounts of infidelity and heartbreak.

But the new breed of celebrities -- namely, reality TV stars -- face new problems. As we've seen with many of Bravo's 'Real Housewives,' lives are captured on film and aired to millions of viewers who can witness firsthand the unraveling of marriages and relationships. After the jump, a look at the housewives who have endured the televised failure of their marriages.

Camille Grammer

Perhaps the most famous divorcee of the 'Housewives' clan, Camille faced a rude awakening when celebrity hubby Kelsey Grammer opted to put an end to their 13-year marriage and marry his new love interest, Kayte Walsh. During the 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' reunion show, Camille said she and Kelsey were not on speaking terms, but as the divorce was recently finalized, she wished the couple well.

NeNe Leakes

This season, Atlanta's outspoken housewife shared the scenes of her problematic marriage with viewers. What surprised us most was that NeNe and Gregg appeared to be a happy couple on previous seasons, and the sudden souring of their relationship seemed to come out of nowhere.

According to several news sources, it's still unclear if their divorce has been finalized.

Cat Ommanney

The brash and witty Brit certainly livened things up in 'The Real Housewives of D.C.,' but at home, trouble was brewing between her and her husband, acclaimed photographer Charles Ommanney, who put an end to their brief marriage. Charles' discomfort with appearing on a reality show was later conveyed in an August 2010 New York Times article.

"In a way, I was naïve and foolish to sign off on doing this," Mr. Ommanney told the newspaper. "But, at the end of the day, it was innocent. I wanted happiness for someone I was in love with. I put all my reservations aside and said: 'Go for it. Do it if it makes you happy.' Then I regretted it. I lost touch with everyone, and mix that with my marriage falling apart and the show taking over, it was very sad."

Numerous 'Housewives' of Orange County

Divorce and marital tensions seem to be most rampant in Bravo's slice of Orange County, where three of the housewives -- Jeana Keough, Tamra Barney (pictured at left) and Vicki Gunvalson -- have all separated from their husbands.

Jeana's troubled marriage and eventual separation came as no surprise. The tension between Jeana and her husband was evident from the start. Tamra and Simon also had a number of ups and downs, particularly last season, which led to a nasty fight between the two, with Tamra shouting, "I want a divorce" in the final episode. According to news reports, however, it was actually Simon who filed for divorce. The surprise here was Vicki Gunvalson and nice guy Donn, who even had a re-commitment ceremony last season and seemed to mend a few marital fences that needed repair. The pair seemed devoted to each other, and it surprised fans to hear that they had decided to divorce.

LuAnn de Lesseps

The countess had to contend with great embarrassment as her philandering aristocratic husband reportedly whiled away his time with another woman overseas. According to Bravo clips and news stories, LuAnn has moved on and fallen for a French wine distributor, who will appear on the new season of 'The Real Housewives of New York City.'

So many of our favorite housewives have had to contend with marital woes playing out on the small screen, which begs the question: Does life in reality TV-land put an end to the privacy of your marriage and lead to its downfall? Stay tuned to PopEater for the follow-up, where marriage experts dissect the dilemma.

Camille Grammer tells PopEater she believes she'll find love again:

Tags: Camille Grammer, Nene Leakes, Real Housewives

Comments

(15)

Friday 18 February

By Mike

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The husbands just don't want to put up with the divas anymore. I wouldn't give 2 cents for the phonies.

By chartman

camille says she will find love again,what does she mean again. she never loved kelsey. she was money hungry gold digging porn star.

Tuesday 22 February

By katydid579

Vote down Vote up Report this

Maybe her "friend", Nick, will soon be getting a divorce, too.

By Cathy

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The ONLY one I feel bad for is Cat. The rest are such self-made divas they probably spent more time trying to get themselves air time than they did paying attention to their families. You forgot Vicki from Orange Co., It's funny how Tamera and Vicki who both professed to love their mates so much last season, are now divorced or getting a divorce. They both are real b......s! NeNe, well there isn't enough to say about her! Tried to watch Piers Morgan on Valentine's Day, but once NeNe was on there she tried to take over and they didn't lower the sound on her mike so if she wasn't trying to act like I don't know what to call it, you could hear her sayind "Ya, Sure, Uh Huh" it was so irritating I had to change the channel. I read she was wanting to move to LA. NeNe: LA OR BUST!!!

By laughin@skanks

their nothing but a bunch of old skanks not attractive at all

By Sammie

LOL..Jealousy is soooo not pretty.

Saturday 19 February

By judy warren

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

the only one I feel sorry for is NeNe she gave him so many chances the rest were out for Money and The countis fron NY Houswives get over it your no longer a countess

By Popreader

I think the only thing these shows are cursed with are clueless women with way too much time on their hands who spend alot of money on beauty and botox only to end up looking like they were hit with the ugly stick.

By fayeh

I've never seen an episode of any of the Real Housewives shows and probably never will. But I do wonder, who watches this stuff? That goes for a bunch of other reality shows. There really isn't much worthwhile on most of them. I get the shows like Surviver and even the talent contests but when the show is nothing but a bunch of women basically trashing each other or a bunch of Jersey kids getting wasted, what on earth is the point?

Gee, what a surprise Donn finally had enough abuse from Vicki. Looks like Vicki and Tamara will have to leave the hood and their pampered lifestyles. Pity.

Monday 28 February

By JDevin

Vicki won't have to move out of the hood, she is the bread winner in that home.

Friday 25 February

By dan

I swear that Tamra would still be married to Simon if he was still making a lot of money. I think her attitude about Simon changed right after he was not making as much money as before. She was certainly content with him then.

Wednesday 02 March

By Dr. M

As for Vicki G.: I always thought Don was weak and seemed along for the ride. I never did figure out what the heck it was he was supposed to be doing for a living. I didn't bat an eyelash when the news of her impending divorce was released. Like - that's supposed to be a big surprise?

Tamra B.: A typical O.C. rich-bi*%h as well. Don't worry, tho. She'll find another victim in no time, unless she already has.

The rest of those women - puhleeze! And now they have a bi-sexual "wife" as part of the new, yet-unseen season? This is the best the the producers can do? What about having a REAL WIFE, not just someone shacking up with their boyfriend? Wow, wouldn't that be a shocker?

Sunday 06 March

By Donna

Vicki should get along great with the bi-sexual!!!!

Thursday 10 March

By Clare Davis

The women on these shows that have been affected by divorce are the ones that are LOUD and OBNOXIOUS and think that they deserve a lavish lifestyle without them getting their hands dirty.
Tamra will find another man who has money but I guarantee you that the relationship will not last long-- he will use her for his pleasure and be done with her and spit her out.
Nene, again, the epitome of LOUDNESS and OBNOXIOUS behavior. She will NOT find a man because she is a ball-buster and according to her, she hates to "work for se_x" in the bedroom- enough said.
Camille is as cold as a fish. She'll date but will not get into a serious relationship for long time. Camille does not know the meaning of "love".
The Countless has found love...yet again.. and this time with a much younger man......a foreigner no less while her daughter(s) and son(s) are being raised by "nannies" lol hilarious!
Cat the Brit who loves to put everyone down cries like an infant when the table is turned on her.. another foolish foreigner who desperately needs to learn a lesson in humility & how to get along with others.
These shows are very entertaining and we are glued to the screen every week to watch the latest gossip and chaos. Every week six girlfriends and I watch together and absolutely loveeeeeeeeeee the hate and bitterness these women portray even the edited parts! Thank you God for making my life simple and yet rich not with monetary items BUT blessed with a great & healthy family and beautiful friends!

Page 1 of 1