Mention It All - The 2023 Honorable Mentions (Plus Alexis Bellino’s Promise Ring)

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

It’s the final episode of the year, and Dylan celebrates the occasion by giving out some very real awards for Bravo achievement in 2023. But first, he discusses Alexis Bellino’s chilling Christmas gift from John Janssen, and why it’s especially ironic given her comments at BravoCon. Later, he names the nominees for categories like Ill-Fated Attention Grab of the Year and Best Love Triangle, before getting to the top prize for Franchise of the Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Exclusions apply for licenses see Home Depot.com slash license numbers. Betches Media presents Ha ha laugh funny Mention It All A Bravo by Betches podcast We don't say that but now we said it With me Dylan Hafer Who's going to check me both

Hey everyone Welcome back to the Mention at All podcast I am Dylan Hafer And for one final time In 2023 We're back With another episode I am coming to you

Semi live from the week between Christmas and New Year's, and I don't know what day it is. I don't know what shows are or aren't taking a week off. Trying to keep up with Bravo this week. It's like, okay, so Potomac's taking two weeks off. Beverly Hills is taking one week off. Miami doesn't get a week off.

You know, Roney Legacy is coming out left, right and center because it's Peacock and who the fuck cares about the holidays. it is safe to say we are in sort of a twilight zone week. And so I thought today would be the perfect time to take a step back, to take a look with the long lens at some of the best, worst, most crazy, whatever moments of 2023. And so we're going to be giving out some awards. It's the 2023 honorable mentions.

You know, usually the honorable mentions are the ones that don't quite make the cut. But here we mention it all. So we're honorable mentioning. So many moments from this year. But just real quick, we need to talk about the most shocking thing I saw while I was off this past week, which was a post from one, Alexis Bolino. On Christmas Eve, no less. She, of course, as of late, is dating John Jansen, Shannon's ex,

who may or may not be coming up in one of these award categories. She just posted a picture of her hand with a big old ring on it and said, words cannot. Actions do. I will no longer feel guilty. I will not apologize. Love will create its own story. I love you, Johnny J.

Hashtag love wins. Hashtag not engaged. Hach, L.O.L. Hashtag promised. Hashtag Merry Christmas at Van Cleef Arpels. when I tell you, I didn't see this until, you know, she posted this the night of Christmas Eve. Very, you know, romantic, I suppose. So this was, I kid you not, the first thing I saw when I woke up Christmas morning at like 7 a.m.,

I opened my phone, I, you know, click on Instagram. What's going on? I want to see my friends, my loved ones, enjoying their family time for Christmas. And what do I see? Alexis Bellino's manicured hands with a promise ring from John Chanson. John Jansen is a man in his 50s, 60s? Alexis is a woman in her 40s?

Am I being generous? How old is Alexis Polino? She's 46. She is 46, and she got a promise ring. From a man that she has been with for weeks, months, there's a story on people from December 5th. That is this month, Alexis Bellino is officially dating John Jansen.

This promise ring that he gave her is, according to page six, worth a little over $16,000. Like, what is happening here? I just don't understand if you are, okay, John Jansen is apparently like 60. If you're a grown adult and you are entering into a relationship, I understand the timelines might be a little different. You know, it's not like your first boyfriend in high school where you're going to take things slow perhaps and, you know, things progress.

I get, you're at a different phase in life. But why does that phase in life include a promise ring? What are you promising? That he's going to help you take the kids to school? That hopefully his daughter will dislike you less than she did Shannon? I like Alexis. I'm just sort of at a loss for words for what this even means. Also, don't forget.

Not two months ago at the Bravo's during BravoCon, when Alexis appeared alongside Lori and Gretchen and Joe De La Rosa to present Vicky with her Wifetime Achievement Award, Alexis was the one who went off script to make a joke about how she was the only woman on stage who had not slept with Slade Smiley. And now, here she is, not engaged, but promise. to a man that just a few months ago was involved in a years-long back-and-forth mess of a relationship with Shannon Bador, who, by the way, I don't think she ever got a $16,000 promise ring. What makes John Jansen any better than Slade's Miley? He probably has more money, if we're being honest, but it does feel a little bit pot calling the kettle black. I am just so curious to see what's happening with them. And God damn it, Alexis

better be on next season of Real Housewives of Orange County. That is what I have to say about that. But without further ado, because it's the holidays, everybody's busy. Let's get into these awards. The first award we're going to be presenting is the ill-fated attention grab of the year. And the nominees are Teresa's performance at the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion. where she famously said that Melissa would be leaving the show. Vicky, saying on the record that she will never return to Real Housewives of Orange County as anything other than a full-time housewife. Reportedly, her contract did not show up in the mail.

The Married to Medicine cast kicking Quad off the show. This just happened last week. So maybe it's not ill-fated yet, but I just have a feeling this won't stick. And also, as a viewer of Married to Medicine, they should want quad on the show because she is just good TV. And the final nominee, whatever Brandy did in Morocco, are we ever going to see that season? That will be a question for 2024.

But in the meantime, certainly it's caused quite a shit show logistically over at Peacock headquarters. And the winner, by popular decision, I'm just picking the winners, you guys. It's Teresa's performance at the Real House of New Jersey reunion. And, you know, I think Teresa has a fair claim to say that she has been, you know, instrumental in the history of Real House stories of New Jersey. But you always got to be careful. When Bravo Leberties start to throw around the my show this, my show, that, they're not making the decisions. And at the end of the day, you don't get to choose who's on the cast with you. They've filmed the whole season and trust and believe Melissa is right there, as is Teresa.

so, you know, we'll see how that plays out, but certainly Teresa did not get her way in that regard. The next category is the Love Triangle of the Year. Starting off with the nominees, we have Scandival, of course, Rachel, Tom, Ariana, Southern Charm, Taylor, Austin, Olivia, and below-deck sailing yacht. Remember that with Gary and Daisy and Colin, I will say, putting these nominees together, really scraping the back of the back of the my brain to be like, what happened before October of this year? As much as I want to talk about Angie Kay's sunglasses, like, that can't, it's not representative of the full year. So I did, I did my best to reach back toward the beginning of 2023, even if it does seem like truly so much has happened just in these last few weeks. The winner, it's got to be Scandival. Come on. Nothing penetrated

the public consciousness this year like Scandival. It did. something to our brains. It got our non-Bravo watching friends and family texting us about Vanderpump Rules. It re-invigorated a show. It spelled the end of Rachel on Vanderpump Rules. It spelled the end of Raquel as we know it. You know, now she's Rachel again. Truly, Scandival was, you know, the story of the year. And I don't, you know, it's kind of boring to talk about in every category. But come on. There's no real argument. Remains to be seen Vanderpump rule is coming back just just a month or so from now how they

move on from that but I'm excited to see it but love triangle of the year. It's got to be scant of all. So good, so good, so good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman

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by Dr. Tiffany Moon and Nicole Martin. Robin, putting her marriage drama on her Patreon and subsequently making everyone more concerned about her marital situation. Bethany's increasingly hairbrained attempts to bring down Bravo and Shannon Bador trying to convince everyone that her relationship with John Jansen was finally. mine. Never forget the party where they were supposed to dress up as another cast mean, so she's running around in a wig going, I have completely normal fights with my boyfriend that paralyze me.

By the way, Anna Marie, sorry, she did clear up the pronunciation of her name in an Instagram comment that I saw. She said, it's spelled Anne, but it's pronounced Anna because it's a Dutch name. So once and for all, I can stop worrying about it. You can stop worrying about it. And we can just move forward, Anna Marie Wiley. I will surely mess that up, but I will do my best. And honestly, thank you, Anna Marie, for clearing that up because I was talking to Sarah Galley about that. And it just was, it was driving us a little bit crazy. But in the meantime, the winner is Bethany. Bethany's increasingly hairbrained attempts to bring down Bravo. No luck yet. It hasn't happened.

Reality has not reckoned. Nobody has stormed the castle of 30 Rock. It's actually been pretty wild to watch over the last six months. And I know we talked about it on many different episodes, so I'm not going to belabor the point, but, you know, the different kind of phases that this has gone through to just completely get nowhere. I'm so curious to see sort of what Bethany's trajectory is from here, because it does feel like she's at this sort of, strange point in her career and her public persona where she isn't really doing anything notable. She has her podcast, of course, and she's having, you know, some housewife guests, some Bravo people on her podcast that, you know, we'll get some headlines here and there. But she's not on a show.

she doesn't seem to be sort of actively crushing it in the business space the way that she has in the past. It just sort of feels like she's at a point where her only real avenue of staying relevant is doing ridiculous things on social media or on her podcast to get attention and to get headlines. And that's not really a sustainable model or I can't imagine it's that like, fulfilling for her, considering all the stuff that she's done in the past. So I am super curious in 2024 kind of what Bethany cooks up to do next, because I just don't think the podcast and the TikTok are really the full extent of what she wants to be doing. And I don't know what that's going to look like or if it'll succeed, but Bethany is not somebody who wants to just sort of fade into the former reality star background. And I have to imagine that she's kind of working on

her next move. But we will see what that is. But in the meantime, yeah, it's the she thought she did something moment of the year. The next award, the vibes are off award. Lots of vibes were off this year. I would say overall the vibes were sort of off this year. But I came up with four in particular, that we're especially off. The first, Kyle Richards, Maricio Umanski, and Morgan Wade. This could have been a nominee for Love Triangle of the year, but that felt a little too messy.

Instead, let's just focus on the general awkwardness and strange energy that comes into play whenever two out of the three of these people are on screen together. I can't get a handle on what's going on. Maricio's weird little kiss that felt like Kyle was trying to wriggle away from him. The tattoo scene, don't even get me started. Maybe the new year will bring more clarity on this situation.

I love seeing Doreet kind of be like, well, do I have to get your initial tattooed on my body to matter as a friend? Because, yeah, it's weird. The vibes are off. No doubt about it. The next nominee, Louis Ruelas. The way that things were handled on this past season of Real Housewives of New Jersey with the private investigator, the bodeal of it all, the weird, vague threats, the strangeness around whatever happened with the job that Frank Jr., Frankie Katania had, there were just a lot of question marks, and it felt like none of the questions were answered

instead it was sort of like we were being told to shut up about it or else we might have like a horse's head in our bed. Allegedly, I don't know. Allegedly. We have not gotten to the bottom of what's going on with Louis. And I feel like the longer he stays in the picture, both in real life with Teresa and on the show, it just feels like a ticking time bomb. of something that's going to come out or something that's going to happen, there's no way if things are even half as sinister as they feel, there's no way that that stays under the covers forever. Obviously, we know about certain things in his past relationships, things that have come up on

social media, that weird fucking video that he explained away. But I think that the vibes are definitely, most certainly off with Louis. And it's kind of... kind of only a matter of time before we got some more concrete information behind it. Next, we have Ramona Singer. The Vox have been off with Ramona Singer for a long time, depending how you look at it. But this year, things really came to ahead with her, of course, leading up to BravoCon, leading up to this season of Real Housewives' Ultimate Girls' trip that's airing right now. And you could say that Ramona sort of got what was coming to her, maybe a long time over

do when she texted that page six reporter, half of a racial slur that she had been accused of saying. She of course got it uninvited from BravoCon. She was not in attendance. She hasn't been doing press for this season of Rony Legacy. She lost her real estate job, I guess. It does feel like time is up for Ramona Singer, at least in the kind of mainstream reality world. And yeah, the vibes were never great to begin with. And I don't know. I guess we only have a couple more episodes of said vibes left. And then finally, the last nominee for the Vibes are Off Award.

It's just all of Real Housewives of Atlanta. It pains me to say, but this whole season just felt like kind of a chore, like a foregone conclusion that, yeah, it probably wasn't going to be great. But I guess this is what we have to do. and for a franchise that for so long was kind of the pinnacle of Housewives' excellence and really the framework and the blueprint for so much of what happens on Bravo. It was tough to see kind of where this franchise had gotten to. And there were certain bright spots. There were certain moments I enjoyed.

But at the end of the season, watching the, I mean the reunion, a two-part reunion, I believe, it just felt like there was absolutely no momentum. It didn't really feel like we knew why we were there. And I don't know what's happening with Real Housewives of Atlanta currently. I don't think they've begun filming a new season yet. Certainly some cast reworking to be done there. And I'm curious to see, of course, in the New Year, what ends up happening with that iconic, iconic franchise.

But the vibes were most certainly off for Real Housewives of Atlanta this year. But overall, the winner of this category, I got to give it to Louis. I got to give it to Louie. Nobody else in this category was threatening their fellow cast members. And therefore, the vibes were most certainly off with Louis. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin is, isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it.

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a little bit with new people on Housewives shows. We've had some false starts in OC. We've had some false starts in New Jersey with some women that didn't even get to be full-time housewives. They've struggled in Salt Lake up until this season to cast new women past the original group. You know, obviously it took a long time to get the Roney reboot off the ground. You know, Atlanta hasn't had the best luck with new housewives. It really has been a struggle over the last few years. when you look at the broader picture, but this year it felt like things, for the most part, clicked into place

with new casting. So the nominees are Jen Padranti, Real Housewives of Orange County, Monica Garcia from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, just, she burst onto the scene. The entire new Rony cast. Of course, you can pick and choose

who you like the most, who you like the least. But overall, as a group, this Roney reboot exercise could have gone so off the rails. It could have been so unwatchable, so disappointing. And the fact that they were able to put together this group that really took off, and I think even if you didn't enjoy the entire season, I felt like it kind of lost steam a little bit toward the end. Overall, I think that reboot was such a success. And I think they have so much to build on in the next season and beyond. And I think that even though maybe a couple of them don't have the highest potential,

I think that each person contributed to the success of this season. And I want to recognize that. And similarly, the final nominee is all three of the New Jersey ladies, Rachel, Danielle, Jen Fessler. I think all three of them brought something great to this season. Obviously, Jen, in her friend of role. Great comic relief, really just a breath of fresh air in that cast. I think Rachel and Danielle brought kind of that young, fresh energy. They each kind of gravitated toward different members of the cast. It seems like next season, Danielle is going to kind of switch sides a little bit. I think that's interesting. I think that's a good sign of a healthy franchise when people can kind of shift places within the group and it not be so detrimental. Because part of the

problem is with Jersey, it's gotten so strongly one team versus the other team. And that's, it's a tough, it's a tough way to move forward. And so I think Rachel and Danielle and Jen have the potential to kind of be the future of that franchise. And I'm so excited to see where they go from here. But maybe this is a hot take. My newcomer of the year is Jen Padranti. Orange County was in a tough place going into this season. I think they had had a few kind of weird, bad, whatever seasons leading up to it. They'd had some new cast members. Remember Liz Vargas? No, you don't. Remember Jen Armstrong? Barely. But I think that Jen Padranti was really able to hold her own this season. She felt like a natural fit with the group. Her personal storyline was

probably one of the most compelling of the year on Real Housewives. I think we sort of complain a lot about personal storylines that are boring or seem a little bit fake or just kind of suck the air out of the show. And the fact that whatever was happening between Jen and her boyfriend Ryan was not only a personal thing that she was dealing with, but was such a source of tension and drama and conflict within the whole group, not many people can say that, especially in their first season. And I think her playing off of Tamara returning to the show was an amazing dynamic. I think that she seems like an interesting kind of nice person who seems like a good friend, but also there are some question marks. I hope and assume and think that she's going to stay with the show. And I think that

really, she is set up to be kind of a key player in this next era of Real House House of Orange County, and I can't wait to see it. So hats off to Jen Padrante. Next up, the comeback season of the year. This was a year where coming out of the COVID era and a lot of these shows kind of reaching the age of maturity, you could say. We have a lot of shows that are in that 8, 9, 10 plus season realm, and it's tough for things to stay fresh. It really is. And, you know, in the case of one of these shows, not even that far down the road, it was tough for things to stay fresh. But this was a year where a lot of these franchises that had sort of been sagging a little bit, got a much-needed boost. And so the nominees for comeback season of the year are Southern Charm,

Vanderpump Rules, Real Housewives of Orange County, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. I think all four of these sort of speak for themselves. If you watch the shows, you know that they just sort of found a new path forward this year. I think with Vanderpump rules, obviously there was, you know, Scandival really set things off in a way that was unexpected, maybe not planned for, but kind of this wonderful accident. Salt Lake City, I'll talk about more in a second, but, you know, just kind of surprisingly was able to put the pieces back together without. Jen Shaw. But my comeback season of the year, it's Southern Charm, because I think more than any other show of these four, I had sort of written off Southern Charm as this past its prime thing that

kind of, if you've watched all of Southern Charm, those first few, four, three, four, five seasons really do feel like this perfect storm of messiness and, you know, and, you're personalities and the whole kind of saga with Thomas and Catherine is its own thing that is just so particular and peculiar. And I think once that storyline kind of expired, it sort of felt like, okay, what are we really doing here? Like, do I care about any of these people? Are these relationships, you know, interesting enough to follow? These guys just are never going to grow up. There was that feeling, particularly in the last couple seasons, of like, has this sort of just run its course? And if so, do we really need to keep paying attention? And this season, they proved that they

still have it. This love triangle, the situation, whatever, between Taylor and Austin and Olivia and Shep, just was so fascinating in a way that I would, if you had told me on paper what was going to be happening. I would have said like, okay, sure. Cool. They're doing something. But watching it week to week, it's just so good. And it's the comeback season of the year. I don't know where they go from here. It might be a flash in the pan. Season 10 of Southern Charm might be terrible. But right now, right now, it's on a good track. And for that, I'm grateful. Well, it is that time. It's the final award of the night or the year, whatever. I don't know. you're listening to this, the Housewives franchise of the year. This was a tough one,

because, you know, we have some franchises that have been in a little bit of a tough spot, namely Potomac, Atlanta. Depending on who you ask, Beverly Hills, hasn't been amazing, though I think the last few episodes have been quite watchable. So the four that really solidified themselves as the top of the pack to me, We're New Jersey, Salt Lake City, Miami, and Orange County. We did not get a new season of Dubai this year. Who the fuck knows? I don't even...

What's going on with that? Who could say? Roney, I enjoyed for the most part. I didn't think it really warranted inclusion in this top four. But all of these shows, I think, really had great, interesting, fresh seasons. Miami has just brought it so consistent. consistently since their reboot. Orange County really got back to a high level this year in a way that I wasn't sure

it ever would. New Jersey, I think those new cast members were just what it needed. And it felt like the Melissa and Teresa stuff sort of climaxed in a way where I'm not sure we'll ever kind of get the active fighting between them again, which is probably for the best. But the Housewives franchise of the year, for me, and I think for a lot of people, is Salt Lake City. At the beginning of this year, with Jen going to prison, this cast was down to like four people. Who knew what would happen? Angie Kay was, you know, barely registered last season. Heather, Whitney, Lisa, Meredith. Who cared? Jen was gone. We didn't think we were going to marry back.

We had never heard of Monica yet. The way that they were able to... to regroup so quickly, might I add, and deliver a season, you know, we're coming up on the end of the season, there has been hardly a week episode, hardly an hour of filler, in a season that I was low-key dreading. Because for those first three seasons, Jen sucked up so much of the air in the room. of course you had great moments from other people in the cast, but it was sort of always the Shaw Show. And so it made sense that when she was leaving, you were kind of like,

what is the show without her? But what turned out to be so great is that when she left, you realized, oh, we haven't had room for all this other stuff. And the way that Angie has kind of turned it around this season, and the way that Monica has just, you know, coming like a bull in a china, shop. It's amazing. I just had such a great time watching the season of Salt Lake City. And I think everybody else has, for the most part. And I think they just deserve their flowers. And I'm giving

them their flowers. And that's the Housewives franchise of the year. And those are the honorable mentions of 2023. Do you agree with me? Do you disagree with me? Let me know in a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. But anyway, thank you guys so much, everyone, for listening this year. for being in the DMs, for commenting, for everything. It's been such a wild ride, and I can't wait to do it again in 2024. There's so much more to come. I mean, think about all the people I've talked to this year, all the stuff we've watched together. What a journey.

Thank you so much. Truly, truly, truly, truly, thank you. Until next time. Until next year, don't forget to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo. by Betches, you can follow me at Dylan Hafer. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool.

Mention It All is produced by Dylan Hafer, Sean Kilby, Jorge Morales Pico, and Rebecca Sousmaqat. Editing by Horhe Morales Pico, social media by Dylan Hafer, guest booking by Dylan Hafer and Ali Friedlander. Be sure to follow at Bravo by Betches on Instagram and Twitter. All. Pay off your home. Travel for life.

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