Happy wife, happy life – or not.
Ever since it began in 2006, Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise has been full of messy drama, both on camera, and behind the scenes.
The latest to make a wave is “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Shannon Beador, 59, who was arrested on Sept. 17th on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit-and-run. She was released from jail on Sunday on her own recognizance and paid $2,500 bail after having left a written promise to appear in court.
She’s just the latest star of the reality TV empire to find herself in legal hot water.
Here’s a look at the outrageous antics from other “Housewives.”
Jen Shah
The former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Shah, 49, is currently serving time in prison. The reality star was arrested and criminally charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud. Shah and her assistant were accused of defrauding hundreds of victims — many of whom are working-class senior citizens — in a nationwide telemarketing scheme.
In January 2023, she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, which she began serving in February.
During her time behind bars, she has reportedly become “friends” with convicted Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, 39.
Holmes began serving her own 11-year sentence in May, at the same prison in Bryan, Texas.
“They’re both rehabilitating and have bonded over being on this journey of positive change,” the talent manager, Chris Giovanni, told People.
“Their situations brought them together, and they have a good understanding of one another. They’re getting through it together. Jen’s given her a lot of advice. She’s even met Elizabeth’s baby and held her,” he said, referring to Holmes’ three-month-old daughter with her husband, hotel heir Billy Evans.
Lisa Hochstein
“Real Housewives of Miami” star Hochstein, 41, separated from her husband, Lenny, 57, in May 2022 and had a bitter divorce battle that lasted a year.
Lenny Hochstein’s girlfriend Katharina Mazepa, 28, then filed a petition for a restraining order against Lisa in July 2022, alleging that Lisa bullied and harassed her.
“Lisa Hochstein is far from innocent and has taken the victim narrative too far,” Mazepa, 27, told Page Six in December 2022. “Lisa admitted herself in her own testimony that she did in fact create several Instagram accounts used to maliciously attack me online.”
However, the restraining order was dismissed in December 2022, and Lisa told Page Six that Mazepa’s affidavit contained “nothing but false and fictitious accusations against me … Thankfully, the judge saw through her vicious lies and antics and dismissed the case.”
Hochstein is set to return for “The Real Housewives of Miami” Season 6. So, this didn’t impact her time on the show.
Luann de Lesseps
The “Real Housewives of New York” star, 58, was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2017, on charges of disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, battery of an officer and making threats against a public servant.
She reportedly slammed a door and kicked an officer during her arrest. She also blurted out, “I’m going to kill you all,” according to the Palm Beach Post.
She agreed to plead guilty to battery, trespassing and disorderly intoxication in exchange for the felony charge against her being reduced.
She checked into rehab shortly after.
Per the deal, de Lesseps was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week.
She also got kicked out of a gay piano bar in March 2022.
She “yelled at the other patrons on the microphone” and then was “thrown out for getting aggressive with the bar’s customers,” a source told Page Six.
De Lesseps denied this, telling Page Six, ““I realize I was a little bit tipsy, but we were having fun, and it was getting late. I’d been rehearsing, and I was in the mood to sing a few songs. Then Jim said to me, ‘Lu, I have an early rehearsal,’ and then we left around midnight, 11:30 p.m.”
Her legal drama didn’t impact her career much, since she’s starred in several “Real Housewives” spinoff shows since then, including “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” in 2021, and “Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake,” which aired in July.
Teresa Giudice
In 2014, the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star, 51, and her then-husband, Joe Giudice, pleaded guilty to several counts including bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and failing to pay taxes. They were sentenced to prison.
Bravo aired a “RHONJ” three-part special in October 2015 called “Teresa Checks In,” following the disgraced “Housewife” during her imprisonment.
She served nearly a year of her 15-month sentence before being released on Dec. 23, 2015, and then remained under house arrest until Feb. 5.
This didn’t impact her career too much, because after a two-year hiatus from the show, she returned to the show post-prison, in Season 7.
She also appeared in the “Housewives” 2021 Peacock spinoff, “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.” She will return to “Real Housewives of New Jersey” for Season 14.
Danielle Staub
The former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star, 61, had a scandalous secret past, that came to light thanks to television writer Charles Kipps’ 1996 book, “Cop Without a Badge,” which told the story of FBI informant Kevin Maher, and his ex-wife, Beverly Merrill … a k a Danielle Staub.
Staub was found out to have been arrested in 1986 on charges of extortion, kidnapping and drug possession with her former Miami boyfriend. She was allegedly involved in an outrageous scheme to bleed money out of the rich father of a young man from Buffalo who owed money to her drug-dealing boyfriend. According to court docs obtained by People, Staub cooperated with the FBI, in exchange for a more lenient punishment, and Staub also reportedly denied the accusations, saying she was an “accessory” to the incident.
When her fellow “Housewives” discovered her past, this led to the infamous “table flipping” moment, in which Giudice shoved her hands beneath a table and flipped it.
Staub also got involved in a legal battle with her ex, Kevin Maher, who sued her for $5 million over claims that she defamed him by spreading lies. They reached a settlement in 2010.
She was only a main cast member for the show’s first two seasons, from 2009 to 2010, but she was back on the show not as a main cast member, but as a friend from 2017 to 2020.
Kim Richards
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, 59, was arrested in 2015 after she went on a drunken rampage at the Beverly Hills hotel and was later arrested for shoplifting at a local Target just four months later, in August 2015.
Sources told TMZ that she was taken into custody after allegedly stealing $600 worth of merchandise.
She was given a combined sentence that avoided jail time for both crimes, and she was placed on a three-year probation.
She was also given a mandated 450 hours of community service, which she completed in 2017.
Richards’ alcoholism was part of the show on the first two seasons, as her sister, Kyle Richards, shouted at her in the Season 1 finale, “You act like an insane person. You are a liar and sick and an alcoholic. That’s right. I said it and now everybody knows.”
Co-star Brandi Glanville also accused Kim of doing “crystal meth in the bathroom all night” at a game night, which Richards denied.
Ricahrds’ drama did impact her career, as the show fired her in 2015. However, she’s since returned for guest appearances.
In a 2021 book, Andy Cohen said that when Season 2 aired in 2011, “We considered her family and wanted to work with her to get her better. Bravo paid for her rehab.”
Erika Jayne
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, 51, filed for divorce from her husband, Tom Girardi, 84, in November 2020.
Soon after that, the couple were sued by lawyers representing Boeing plane crash victims, who claimed they embezzled funds meant to go to families of those who lost their lives on Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018.
The couple also faced accusations that their divorce was allegedly a sham attempt to protect their assets.
“While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month, on information and belief, that ‘divorce’ is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom’s and Erika’s money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK,” the lawsuit alleged. Erika denied wrongdoing.
Jayne’s legal issues were even the subject of the 2021 Hulu documentary, “The Housewife and the Hustler.”
On August 29, she was implicated in yet another lawsuit.
According to court documents obtained by Page Six, designer Christopher Psaila alleged that Jayne and her estranged husband tried to extort money from him, and “weaponized the Secret Service to maliciously prosecute” him in 2017 in order to acquire a nearly $800,000 refund from American Express.
Through a lawyer, Erika denied this as being “entirely without merit.”
Jayne’s divorce was a storyline on the show in Season 11, and she was still on the show as of Season 12, even though fans called for her firing — including celeb fan Jennifer Lawrence, who called Jayne “evil.”
Candiace Dillard Bassett
According to TMZ in March 2023, Ashley Darby’s estranged husband, Michael Darby, filed a defamation lawsuit against Bassett, 36. He was seeking $2 million in damages for comments that she made during “Real Housewives of Potomac” Season 7.
“Your husband likes to leave you and go to a man named [bleep]’s house and suck his d – – k,” Dillard Bassett allegedly said, according to court docs obtained by TMZ.
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