Mention It All - The Summer House of Horrors & Rhode Island’s Big Debut

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

Still reeling from a week of scandalous Summer House news, Dylan sits down to unpack everything we’ve learned. He starts with some important highlights from the timeline of events, culminating in a dramatic reading of the joint statement side-eyed ‘round the world. He spends some time theorizing on where Summer House and In The City go from here, and recaps the key moments from this week’s SH episode. From there, Dylan moves onto something more uplifting: the premiere of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island. He shares some insights from meeting the cast, and dives into introducing our most interconnected Bravo cast in years. Later, he also has some thoughts on the season premiere of The Valley. Go to the BravoByBetches YouTube page to watch full length episodes every Tuesday & Friday: Youtube.com/@BravoByBetches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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See Store Online for details. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Mention It All podcast. You know, not much going on this week. I wasn't even sure if we needed to record. It just felt like with, you know, with the lack of news that there's been in the Bravo world, maybe we could skip it. But no, we're here. We're doing a Friday episode.

And so I guess we can talk about the most important news of the week, which is that Jen Shaw Broker Silence in an interview with People Magazine's Dave Quartz. Wyn, who's been on the show before. I mean, Jen Shaw talking about being on poop duty with Elizabeth Holmes. Not what I was expecting at the beginning of the week. But no, I know that's not why any of you pressed play on this podcast episode. So let's just get into it. So you may have heard.

You might have caught wind. There's been some developments in the summer house world. and I don't even really know how to start talking about this. Because since last week, you know, since last Thursday afternoon when I sat down to record, shit has hit the fan in ways that I didn't really know shit was capable of hitting fans. I mean, Jen Shaw doing poop duty. Maybe she saw shit hitting the fan in a way similar to this, but this is new for me. And I think it's, it's been a complicated, a complicated thing for all of us to kind of live through together over the last week.

So I want to talk. First, I'm not going to do like the beat by beat breakdown of everything that has happened because I feel like everybody has already done that. We have one up on our, you know, betches, socials that breaks down a lot of the, the timeline of events. Everybody's been analyzing it. It's a lot. But I just want to say. So last week, I recorded on Thursday. And Thursday was when it really felt like this story started to take a shape that seemed a little bit more like a real physical object rather than just like some some whisperings on the wind. Because I heard from not one, not two, but at least like three different people last Thursday. the same or similar story about my friends, friends, co-workers, sister's friend, knows some girl who doesn't even really watch Summerhouse. But she lives across the street from Amanda.

And she saw through the window, West and Amanda together making out canoodling. I don't. She took a photo. It's very Alfred Hitchcock rear window vibes. I mean, this is Shaila Buff's disturbia. Like, we're peeking through the blinds. And when I heard this story from not one, not two, but, you know, a few people, it was also on Des Moines, this story really started to make the rounds. And it was odd because it was something so specific, you know, the neighbor through the window saw the thing and that she had showed it to Sierra to, to, to, to,

you know, inform her, that it felt like either, okay, this is either something that is true, in which case, what the fuck, or this is something that is being deliberately planted and disseminated very effectively to start a rumor, to make people upset, to ruin someone's, I don't know. But at the time, it still felt so hard to believe that this was just a real thing that was happening. Because what do you mean? What about Sierra? What about all the goodwill that Amanda has?

What about West being on this two-year quest to get both the fans and the women in the summer house to not hate him? what about all of that? What about Amanda? What about in the city? There are so many, there are so many different complicating factors that just made this seem like

why on earth would they ever do this? What, like, what would be the reason? And don't say, like, they're in love. Because grow up. Who cares?

Like, what is, What is love? What's love got to do with it, quite frankly? But no, so there were other little signs and signals. There was an Amazon Live thing last week that Amanda and Sierra were supposed to do together that they ultimately did separately. But, you know, that could be schedules. They could be, oh, somebody's Wi-Fi, can I, oh, they didn't want to leave the house. I don't know. I've never done an Amazon Live. I hope to never do an Amazon Live. I don't think it sounds very fun. son. Page loves it. Kyle Richards loves it. Well, I mean, they like making money. You would do it too for it. Maybe I would do it too for a check. No, but so there was the Amazon Live thing.

And then over the weekend, what I was seeing the most online was people kind of putting out there like, if this is real or if it's not real, either way, why aren't they saying anything? because nobody from the Summerhouse cast had spoken publicly about this other than, you know, West was asked on watch what happens live. People had been asked and kind of said no, we're giving these, you know, non-answers, whatever. And to me, I was thinking, okay, they're in season. Their show's airing right now. They have reunion coming up in two or three weeks. They have another show in the city coming up after that they've already filmed.

it would be so unsurprising to me if the Bravo publicists who, you know, are doing the Lord's work every day. I love the Bravo publicists. If they were like on the phone being like, don't you dare fucking say a thing. Keep you mouth shut. We have a reunion and three. We have a season. We got to keep it tight.

Because over the weekend there was so much interest and questions and everything. and then you're thinking, okay, the reunion is going to be must see TV. But then Sunday into Monday, it feels like the tide starts to shift a little bit, and we start getting these cryptic vague, but not too vague posts from Lindsay, from Carl, from KJ. You know, people are cropping up on their Instagram stories mostly. It's like, we don't want to put it on the grid, but like, I'm going to, I'm going to, like throw a little like piece of chum into the water for these little piranhas.

And it's these, these, you know, sort of reaction images of them looking disgusted, looking shocked, looking offended. And so everybody's kind of like, okay,

it's on. It's happening. Something has transpired. And then Tuesday afternoon, we get the joint statement. The joint statement, I have to read it. I know you guys have all read it. I have to read it. I love a dramatic reading. And this is a statement for the ages. So let's go. We've seen the growing online speculation. So while this is still

very new, we wanted to provide some clarity. It was never our intention to purposely hide anything. Given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it. We've shown up for each other as friends over the years through all the highs and the lows, and what's developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, long-standing friendship, which made it especially important for, for us. us to approach this with care. As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling. We also recognized that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless.

We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this. It's not great, right? Like, it's tough. Because there's, okay, there's a few things I want to, I want to just like touch on. Not to belabor the point. But, okay, first of all, I think that if you are going to break the silence when there is an absolute hurricane of speculation and questions and rumors and nastiness, if you're going to break the silence, why do that if you're not going to be specific? Why do that if you're not going to perhaps apologize? Why do it if you're not going to give any of the actual clarity that you say you want to give? They're saying they want to provide some clarity.

They're saying they needed time to understand exactly what they were feeling. They're appreciating the understanding. And I just want to say, I don't understand anything. You want to know exactly what you're feeling. what exactly what are you feeling? You want to provide some clarity. Where is the clarity? I just read four paragraphs.

I'm no more clear. I'm I guess clear on the fact that some bullshit was going on and that there is a there there. But are you in a relationship with each other? Are you putting up a united front for the next three weeks and then you're never going to speak again like Tom and Raquel? are you just admitting that you like fooled around once or twice and needed to let it develop and then it did?

Like what is what is the answer? Because this isn't an answer. This is a, this is a statement that doesn't state anything except that we were all rooting for you and you threw it in the garbage. it's just so frustrating because if you're going to play in my face, be honest about it. Own it, baby. Like, what are we doing? I mean, at the time of recording, this is all we've gotten from Amanda and West.

So we still don't have an answer. We know that the reunion is supposed to be taped in a couple weeks. it seems like they are not really being allowed to do press for the time being, which is, again, not surprising. But it's like, so now do we just spend the next month watching every episode of Summerhouse and being like, I wonder where they are today? Like, it's a weird situation. And I mean, yeah, you're on a reality show. It makes things complicated. Maybe that's why you shouldn't do the thing that you know is going to reverse all.

possible goodwill for you and make people literally like be, you know, out for blood. It's just the level of poor decision making here, regardless of feelings, I'm sorry, at a certain point, like, if you're feeling something, hold it in. We've done it for hundreds of years, you know, in certain societies, it's the norm. Just don't act on your fucking feelings. Sometimes that's okay. It is, man, it's tough. And then the sort of shitty ice cream on, icing on the shitty cake was this photo that came out of Sierra sitting on the meatpacking district, like outside the Hermes boutique.

Like, why are we there? What's going? If you, if you're like a knower of New York City, it's like, mama, why are you on like 11th Avenue? what's going on over there? I don't think Sierra, does Sierra live in the meatpacking? She can't. She can't. But there's this photo of her like sitting up against the wall on the sidewalk with a guy like talking in her face.

You know, you can't really, really see, but it looks like she could be upset in the photo. And so this starts circulating as like Sierra minutes before the announcement right after she found out. And it's just like, first of all, like a mess. but also like, girl, go inside. You don't need to be, I feel, I feel bad seeing that photo. People would be Team Sierra regardless of if there's a photo of her looking distra on the sidewalk. So I would rather just not have the photo. But yeah, so the last couple days, you know, we've gotten, you know, there's been some additional, you know, people speaking out.

Kyle talked to someone, you know, did like, like interview on the street yesterday. He said that Carl's a mess over this. Kristen Doty was in New York for Watch What Happens Live this week, and she and Lindsay Hubbard were together and Lindsay posted a video of them that was like Detective Doty and Inspector Hubbard on the case. It's been a very chaotic week in the world of Summerhouse, and what is weird about it is that it just doesn't feel like there's going to be any kind of good closure coming here because we have reunion, but before that, we still have probably half a dozen episodes of this

season of Summerhouse left. And I, you know, I was watching this week's episode and, you know, taking some notes on it and thinking about like, okay, like, you know, I've pretty much been talking about this show every week, recapping and, you know, talking about the developments and things. And watching this episode, it's just kind of like, um, does this matter anymore? because we're watching, you know, we pick up where we left off last week, which was, you know, the, oh, it's Kyle's worst episode ever. And like, certainly I'm not here to give Kyle any kind of more credit than he deserves or to, you know, you know, the things that happened last summer still happened last summer. It's not like, it's not like all of this is just like washed away with the tide. But watching it just feels different. That you're there at this like old lady party. And, you know, Kyle's saying that he needs to talk to, or no, West is saying that he needs to talk to Kyle because he, of what he said to Amanda was just so messed up and there's no excuse. And, you know, Sierra's talking to Amanda and, you know, basically encouraging her to to think about this sort of trial separation with Kyle because it just doesn't seem like it's going in a good direction. And it's, it's a really tough coincidence that this week of all weeks,

there's like literal scenes with each of the connected players in this situation where West is trying to talk some sense into Kyle and Sierra is like trying to to root for Amanda to live her best life and it's just like well that um that didn't go according to plan that was I don't think that's what Sierra was hinting at when she said that Amanda should try separating from a husband for a couple weeks man moves pretty quick, doesn't it? It's just like, wow, a lot to consider. It's such, it's like a mind fuck watching these episodes. And I know people are doing the thing where they're like, you know, zooming in and doing the like, you know, CSI enhance, enhance, enhance, enhance, and trying to really

be combing through this season now for any inkling that West and Amanda, you know, was something happening over the summer? When was this? Was there a, you know, is it a, you know, we're ingrained by something like Scandival, where it was happening right before our eyes, to wonder, to think, to look for, to pursue. And to me, with every bone in my body, it still feels so unlikely that Amanda was like cheating on Kyle with West while they were in the summer house together. But the thing is, just because I think it's unlikely, doesn't mean that it's impossible. and because of what has happened now, they have opened the door to all of this suspicion and questioning and accusations.

And it's just never going to feel good again. Maybe that's dramatic. Watching this season is never going to, you're never going to be able to watch this season without the mental context of like, and then six months later, this is what we know was happening. It's tough. It really just feels like they screwed the poach. Amanda was poised for like her, she was going to have her, her Arianomatics moment.

And now suddenly she's Raquel and Sierra's the Ariana in the room. Why on earth would you fumble that bag? And I mean, if West and Amanda are, are like together forever. It'll be like cursed, but I guess like go get your man. But like, tough, tough stuff. You know, this week's episode, there's some other, there's some other stuff going on. You know, there's like Dara's talking to Bailey at Lindsay's housewarming about, you know, what she said about her being in Ben's room. That's kind of like a to be continued. all the guys are like sitting around talking about Kyle and Amanda after they've gone to bed and it's just like now I kind of don't want to see this.

Kyle finally apologizes to Amanda for how he talked to her the week before and she's like we should talk when we're sober and it's like I guess I don't know. Does it matter? Does any of it matter? It's just like I mean in the grand scheme of things like we're talking about Bravo shows like does truly any of it matter? I don't know. We'll talk about Real Houseways of Rhode Island. And if few minutes and it's like that feels like it doesn't matter in the absolute best way. But with this, it's just like, what's the point? What are we doing? What do we do? Kyle and Carl are talking about, you know, the lack of investment in softbar. Kyle says that lover boy could be bankrupt in like three months.

That's tough. Sierra, one of the best moments of the episode or what should be one of the best moments that would be episode. No, I'm going to give it to her because I don't want. I don't want this to take away. Sierra has such a lovely moment when we hear that she has bought her grandparents' house in North Carolina, that she grew up going to, her grandparents lived there her whole life, and she was able to buy it.

And it's been something that she has wanted to do to keep this house in her family for future generations. And she knows that's what her grandparents, you know, would have wanted and would have been so proud of. and feeling, you know, the pride that she's been able to, you know, save her money and be smart about things and do this for her family. And watching at the table, Mia really giving her those flowers and telling her that, you know, you're downplaying this because, you know, you don't want to take the moment. But like, really you should feel so proud of yourself in this moment. And the way that the way that Mia and Sierra have been there for each other this season has been really amazing to see. And I hope that that is a relationship that is, you know, real and continuing in the current moment because it really seems like Sierra needs somebody like that around her probably.

But then that same moment is like, it still is a great moment. But then Amanda is on the other side of her being like, yeah, you should be so proud. It's like, girl, shut up. And it's just so it's crazy because like two weeks ago, I was team Amanda. I was team west. I wanted everyone to get along. I wanted everything to be good. And it's just it can't happen anymore.

And it's unfortunate, but it is what it is. And, um, you know, we'll see where summer house goes, um, in, in future weeks. My other kind of, you know, big questions, because there's a lot on the docket, it's like, what happens at reunion? If they still film it in a couple weeks like they're supposed to, are Amanda and West showing up, like, holding hands united front, this is what's happening. We're sorry about the way that it happened,

but like mommy and daddy are in love. Is it going to feel like the Scandival reunion? I've sort of lost interest in like comparing the situation to Scandivac. And of all on paper. Because it's just, I mean, they are different scenarios. And we've watched enough of both of these shows that it's like they can just be separate things. But in terms of the moment around it and in terms of how specific situations are handled, I do

still think it's a helpful comp in terms of what does the reunion look like when this thing has just happened recently? What does next season look like? what does the public perception of it, the opportunities that somebody is going to get after this, is this really going to be a downfall of Amanda on our screens? Like, we never saw Raquel again after that reunion. Rachel, sorry not to, you know, Rachel, Rachel, it's Rachel. We never saw her again.

Is that what's going to happen here? It seems unlikely because the other wrinkle in the fabric is that we have a whole other fucking show in the city that was filmed in the fall. It's been in the can. It's probably, I mean, they're probably like almost done editing that. We still, we haven't seen, you know, a stitch of footage, but presumably that was kind of in the pipeline ready to pop off right after summerhouse ended this season. and now it's like, what do we do? How do we, do we, do we watch that and just, like, do we watch that and just, like, I can't even,

like, is everything they shot for that show just kind of like irrelevant now? Do they pick up cameras for that show? because it would make more sense for them to pick up cameras for that show rather than Summerhouse because it's coming out after. But then West and Sierra aren't even really on that show that we know of. They're not in the main cast. It's just Kyle, Amanda, and Lindsay that have been announced. Presumably there are other kind of new people in their lives.

It's a weird, weird situation. And it's crazy because up until last, week in the city seemed like such a slam dunk because the way that this Kyle and Amanda storyline was going to dovetail perfectly with the transition between these two shows and people have been loving Summerhouse this season. Summerhouse to me in my day-to-day life is probably aside from Real Houseways of Salt Lake City, Summerhouse is the Bravo show that the most people talk to me about. people in my light friends, people on social media, you know, people that I meet out and about,

Summerhouse is one of the most talked about shows in recent years in a really positive way. But now it just feels so up in the air. And I don't envy, you know, the production teams, the editors, the marketing, publicity, everybody who is having to figure this out because there's, I feel like there's a fine line between when you have everybody invested in something where they're eating out of the palm of your hand and where you have everybody obsessed with something,

but in a way that actually doesn't serve the show. And I, it's, I'm sure they're going to get, you know, great peacock viewership for the reunion and stuff. but then I'm like, are we watching 12 episodes of The Amanda Show? I don't know. It's hard to envision. But we will figure it out together. So good, so good, so good.

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Now, okay, can we, let's sage the room a little bit. Let's, let's have a cracker. Let's have a lobster. And let's go to Rhode Frickin Island. Because this show, I'm really excited about it. I've seen the first two episodes. You've probably seen the first episode, if you're listening to this, if you haven't, go watch it. It's a delight. It is a pleasure to have in class. It's a breath of fresh air. It is, it feels like something really new, but also really classic in a great way.

A Real House of Rhode Island premiered this week. I had the pleasure to go to their premiere event on Monday earlier this week on the red carpet. I got to talk to all the women. I got to talk to Andy. I even got to talk for the first time. I've never gotten to meet her. I got to speak to Francis Berwick, who's like the head head honcho at Bravo, like the big exec at NBCU that kind of oversees all of this. And talking to her about the 20th anniversary of Real Housewives and, you know, bringing a new show into. to the fold and what that means and how they kind of decided on this and hearing Andy kind of talk about the same thing where they're casting all the time. They're looking in all these different places. And when they decide to take the plunge on a new Housewives franchise, it's a big

decision for them. And I actually, I asked Andy when they have a new show like this coming out, does he get nervous? Like, what does he feel about these shows? put out into the world. And he said, you know, I always get really nervous when I'm sitting down to watch the first cut of the first episode. Because at that point, and I was like, when are you coming into this process? How far along are they? It's after shooting is over. They're done filming. Everything's, you know, on tape. They're cutting together the footage. And this is what the introduction to the show is going to be. And he said, that's when I get the most nervous. And with real houseways of Rhode Island, my nerves went away instantly because I was watching it and I could just tell that this was going

to work. And I kind of felt the same way. When I sat down to watch the first episode, the vibe that they have found, what they have sort of unearthed, they've dove down to the bottom of the ocean and found a clam with a pearl inside. And I love, in the, in the opening titles, they're holding clamshells with pearls. Who got the sense of clam? I just, I can't wait for like a decade of drama over who's, who's holding a clam, who's earned their clam, who lost the clam, like, bring it on truly. But I think that this show feels like it has the balance between an OG New Jersey vibe where there are deep connections. There are family relationships tied together with multiple people in the cast.

And they've known each other for a long time. They go back decades. Many of them go back decades. And also there's Italians like Jersey. But then it's sort of combining that essence with the feeling of discovery. and the feeling of going to a place where there's a specific vibe that maybe you've never been aware of, maybe you've never thought about, you've almost certainly never seen it on a TV show like this. And in that sense, it really reminds me of Salt Lake City, of Potomac, these shows that are

really feeling like they are zooming in on a place that you have never thought about. Because for me, when I think of Rhode Island, I'm thinking like when Taylor Swift would be like in Newport all the time when she was dating the Kennedy guy like years ago. And it was like her and I don't know fucking like Carly Clause running around and like high wasted bikinis and just like America. I don't know. I'm thinking of like the Gilded Age. They're at the mansions in Newport. I don't know this, Rhode Island. And it is so fun to find out about something new.

And right off the bat, meeting all these women on Monday, it just felt like they were all so excited to, like, have their moment. And with the obvious exception of Ashley Yacanetti from The Bachelor, and of course, Dolores, who, you know, we know in love over here, all of these women feel like they are just being kind of plucked from relative obscurity and being put on this platform, which might I remind you, is kind of how housewives started. There was no, I mean, of course, you had, you know, your Richard sisters and, you know, people coming on kind of later in the run. But thinking about people like Teresa, people like Nini Leaks, like Shire, people like Ramona and Luanne and Bethany, thinking about those kind of like iconic figures, I mean, of course, Vicky and, you know, the whole Orange County crew, these aren't famous people. These are people who,

you know, have a little bit of money and maybe a little bit less taste. And it's just, it's great to watch. I, off the bat, I am obsessed with Alicia. Alicia is so Rhode Island through and through her accent when she's talking about a crackers and the pizza restaurant. And, oh, she says, in the premiere, there's a moment when she's with, uh, Rosie and they see, I think it's like a heron, like one of the, the bird, the small bird with like skinny legs. She goes, oh look, it's like a swine and a Zempec. Perfection. What more could you want? And she has these like six aunts that are coming over to her house. And so she, I'm not especially familiar with Rhode Island geography. So we're getting a good lesson.

They're flashing up the map on the screen a lot. And the map on the screen, I will always be thankful because there are, you know, there are certain franchises where I feel like it's more or less relevant. But like thinking about in Potomac, it is important to know how fucking far away Wendy lives. In, you know, this season on Potomac when they were in Colorado, tracking where everybody was on that car ride from hell important. And in Rhode Island, it's very important because these places, you could be far away, far away in Rhode Island. and it's a 15-minute drive. Alicia's aunt's complaining about, why can't you move back to Cranston?

We don't want to drive all the way to Providence. We would have been to your aunt's four times at the time it took us to drive there. And they flashed on the screen, 15-minute drive. Perfect. That is what I want to see on TV. They're complaining about, oh, why can't you?

She's been engaged for her eight or nine years, still not married. They have restaurants. She is, her husband being like, you made me open this like girly pizzeria. I'm like, I want to know everything. I want to know everything. And one of my favorite things on these first couple episodes is just hearing all of them describe in their own words, how they know each other, where they met, how far they go back. And it's like the levels of intricacy here. It's like, oh, well, I know. She's like, Liz was there when I was

born and then I've known Kelsey because I went to high school with her boyfriend who's older than her but then the two of us met when we were in high school and I was in the same class as her sister and her husband and her sister was dating her husband and then they got together and then also I know Rosie because her best friend was my Botox girl and it's just like that is exactly what I feel like housewives is at its best is like these complicated webs of like, who the fuck are these people? Where did they come from? How are they connected? I want to know everything. I feel like I need a cheat sheet of like who's who, but they're all different personalities that are really fun. And right off the bat, I'm loving Alicia. I'm loving

Liz. Liz is the Dolores lookalike. More than the rest of them are Dolores lookalikes. Like there's, I feel like all of, on a scale of one to Dolores, all of them are like on the scale. but Liz is like one degree of separation from Dolores. And she is, Liz is Dolores's friend. So it makes, it's easy to remember that like, Dolores is friends with Dolores version 2. It's like when you like are saving a file and it's like Dolores version 2 point dot times 0 times final, final, final,

we have real Dolores, that's like the final, final, final edit. And then Liz is like the version right before. They share a surgeon. They share a dentist. They met at a cannabis convention. Liz is the queen of weed. Her husband owns the largest dispensary in the state. It is kind of funny.

You have to recalibrate what you've, what comes to mind when somebody on this show is like the largest in the state or like the most successful in the state or like, oh, every, it's been going around the state that, you know, this, her husband was cheating on her. It's like, okay. So like, it's going around. the state, which means like 12 people have heard the rumor. Like, like if you live in, you know, New York or California or, you know, Texas, it's like, oh, it's going around the state. This must be, wow, it's traveling hundreds of miles and, you know, from far and wide in Rhode Island. It's like,

okay, 15 minute drive. Somebody heard about it. That's the state. I love it. This is making me want to go to Rhode Island. But my, the most kind of like important drama that we find out about in first episode kind of revolves around Kelsey and Joellen and Rosie. And so I want to try and break it down a little bit. I'm not going to recap beat by beat because the summer house stuff took a lot out of me. But Kelsey is 31. And I think, I haven't done a full check on this, but I think that makes her our youngest, not youngest at the time of casting, but our most recently born housewife. Because if she was born in 94, 95,

I remember when Rachel Fuda had that title and she was born in 91. We have not had a lot of 90s housewives. Kelsey's 31 and she's been with an older man for 11 years who is pretty, you know, on paper, her sugar daddy. He has given her a nice lifestyle. She lives in a a beautiful large home.

And six months out of the year, she is fully alone because he spends half the year living in Miami. And when he's there, in her words, he's with someone else. It is so wild that you're in 2026 coming onto a show where it is going to be a topic of conversation. And the first thing that we are learning about you is that you are in a, sugar baby relationship with an older man who has another girlfriend and you have to have like a time share with the other woman. I mean, God bless. Thank you for your service, Kelsey. Who else is doing it like this? Not only is this man not on the show because he's in Miami because it's those six months out of the year, I guess. We can't say his name. We can't say his name. We

can't see his face. They are flashing up couples photos on the screen of them and ripping out his face from the photos. Like it looks like somebody tore a scrap of paper out of the photo. I'm like, you're coming on real housewives. And we're not allowed to see the face of your boyfriend of 11 years? Your current boyfriend. I mean, people are going to figure out who this guy is. I was trying to Google because, you know, as I'm recording this, the show was airing to night. So people haven't like watched it yet. So there isn't a lot of information at this moment. But I'm like, if this guy is really part of the one of the most prominent families in Rhode Island, people are going to know who this is. Clearly all the women in the cast know who it is.

So it's just, it's interesting to me to come on a show with like that big of a thing that you can't talk about. But it's like, well, I guess. But so this has become a topic of conversation because Rewinding a little bit. So Rosie is a little bit rough around the edges. She's also a little bit younger. She's only been married for a year. It kind of feels like she has a little bit more like up-and-coming energy to her. She was a newscaster and now she has her own lifestyle show,

road-tripping with Rosie, that Joellen... Joellen looks up one of the episodes in her confessional and she's like, it has 243 views. I'm like, okay, well, I won't judge every, you got to start somewhere, you know, we're, go, go subscribe to our YouTube channel. But no, it's, Rosie is trying and she has less kind of existing connections with the group than some of these other women. And it does feel like Joe Ellen holds the keys to the kingdom a little bit. So Rosie wants to kind of get in with Joe Allen, but also there's, it's like everybody in the state knows that Joe Ellen. is a bitch, this is just like understood.

And I'm like, okay, wow, imagine having a statewide reputation of being a bitch. Kind of iconic. Kind of like chic. It's like, oh yeah, that's Joe Ellen, the state bitch. It's like every state has like a state flower, a state bird, a state motto. Every state should have a state bitch. And if Joellen is the state bitch of Rhode Island, I think that's an honor. But anyway, Rosie is a little,

annoyed with Joe Ellen right off the bat because there was this event that happened before the start of filming or, you know, before they're positioning the start of filming, where Rosie brought Joe Ellen, we're told it was a $6 bottle of wine as a hostess gift. And Joe Ellen didn't think that was a great, great gift, which, you know, $6, we could, I think, like 20, spend 20 at least. But so she overheard her. She thought she couldn't hear. And she overheard Jo Ellen talking shit about her. But then Rosie's hosting this posh picnic because she's getting it for free for a segment on road trip in with Rosie.

You know, you got a hustle. And she invites Jo Ellen to the picnic because she wants to be the bigger person. And they're at this picnic. Kelsey's not there. And she's like, oh, like, what's up with Kelsey? And Joanne's like, oh, she's going through a lot. And Rosie interprets this as like, talk. talking about Kelsey's relationship.

And suddenly it's a whole thing because Rosie's asking questions about polygamy. And Jo Ellen's like, I don't know about you should ask her. And then later at Joe Ellen's Fourth of July party, it's a whole thing. And Kelsey's like, I heard you were talking about my relationship. And Rosie's like, no, Joe Allen was the one who talked about your relationship. So go talk to your friend, Joellen. And Joellen's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I there's just so much to look at right off the bat i haven't even i mean dolores is there um you know

there's there's more women in this cast i haven't even spoken about yet we haven't even talked about Ashley I she's at the coffee shop with Jared and he's working 100 hours a week and she's crying about how he's not home more and she's like getting emotional and he's like Kevin I have your latte yeah i know it's tough I haven't been there Regina your drink is ready it's tough you got to You got to hire somebody else to be the barista. You can't be the barista and be the house husband. Pick a lane. You can work like one shift a week to be like, oh yeah, like I still pitch in.

You got to have some, get some like high schooler to work at the barista job. If the coffee shop business is bad enough that you can't afford to hire like a 17-year-old, to make a latte. It might be time to pack it up. But yeah, it's stressful. Audreys isn't making enough money. Even though they don't need the money, she's like, we are influencers and we could have wonderful careers without the coffee shop.

I'm like, are we going to do the whole season about the coffee shop? Because that, I don't know if that's like whole season material. Ashley is an interesting case because it does feel like she's, is the one, I mean, it doesn't feel like she is the one with the least connections to the cast. She's not from Rhode Island. Her husband is, so she's lived there for a few years. They've started a family. Obviously, she has this existing following from being on TV before. So I think she makes sense as a casting choice to start this new show, similar to how they have Dolores there. Obviously, that's giving them a little bit of a boost of eyeballs on a brand new show.

but after watching two episodes, and I won't spoil the second episode, I'll talk about it next week, but I am really curious how Ashley is sort of going to do as a housewife over the course of this season, because it just feels like she is maybe a little less comfortable getting her hands dirty. and because she isn't that like road island girl that really everybody else in the cast is, they talk about how like having those Rhode Island roots is really important. And if they haven't seen it around since kindergarten, that's a strike against you. Like this is clearly a community and a space where like that actually matters and like people know and care. And I'm just curious for her like if she's,

she's really going to be able to, like, have fun with it. Because it feels like everybody else is going to have fun with it. And that's what I want. And so I like Ashley. I'm not saying I think she's, like, a poor casting choice or isn't going to be good on the show. I'm just sort of wondering, like, how into this is she going to be? Because The Bachelor is an extremely different assignment than housewives. It's a different world.

It's a different style production-wise. It's a completely, I mean, not a completely, it's a fairly different audience. Kind of what plays well with the audience, I think, is quite different in Bachelor world. You know, we're not, we don't have a Bachelor show currently to compare it to because somebody else screwed the pooch in a different way than Amanda and West. But, yeah, it's an interesting kind of crossover. And I hope that Ashley can sort of thrive. in this environment.

But a little jury is still out. We also, in the premiere episode, don't meet our final housewife Rula. I will just say, stay tuned for episode two because we certainly do meet Rula. And there's a lot going on. But Rhode Island, I really enjoyed episode one. I've watched it a couple of times. I really enjoyed meeting the women at the premiere. I asked them all a couple of questions.

that I thought would be a little bit illuminating. I asked them who they thought was going to be the main character from this season. A lot of Liz, a lot of people said Liz. We got some Joe Ellen, a little bit of Rula. A couple of them, I think, thought main character was like a bad thing. Like, who's going to be in the hot seat? A couple of them, like, weren't, like, didn't want to say. And I'm like, okay, this is not that, like, deep of a question.

I also asked them who they thought might blame the edit, which is a little more shady of a question. And a lot of them didn't want to give a specific answer, but we're like, oh, you'll know. You'll find out. So that I'm intrigued by. And then I was asking them also if they had favorite housewives, like from before they were cast on the show. A lot of Teresa, a lot of Dorit. Derreit's a popular answer. Ramona came up a couple times.

and interestingly enough, which I actually thought was refreshing, these women, many of them, are not shy about the fact that they loved Dolores before they met her. And I was wondering kind of how that would be handled because it's a housewives show in 2026. These women are very much the type to know who Dolores is. But I was wondering if they would kind of play it cool and be like, oh, yeah, like I had seen her once or twice, but whatever. no multiple of them when I talked to Alicia

she was like oh we love Dolores before we met her and when I found out that she was going to be filming with us I couldn't believe it I thought it was a joke I loved that that honesty I think this cast feels like they're going to be very authentic and like

open with what saying what they're thinking and feeling and I would just say ladies keep that energy but I'm excited Good sleep is everything That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theonine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. You're racing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance.

Find Ollie's sleep solutions for the whole family at ollie.com. That's OLLL-Y.com. 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 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. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. The last thing I want to just touch on quickly is our other premiere of the week, The Valley. It's back.

Not a ton to report from the premiere. I feel like this season might be like a little bit more of a slow burn. because we don't have Jacks performing, you know, multiple types of abuse on and off camera, which is nice. It's a good change. Brittany's finally free. But I am interested. So she's seeing this new guy, Brandon.

And they've just come back from five days and cobbl out together. And she's got her sparkle back. And I'm glad that she's got her sparkle back because I think that's important. But I was interested to learn. I don't know if other people knew this already. This guy, Brandon, that she's seeing, who has said that he's looking. who has said that he loves her, but she has not agreed to be his girlfriend yet, even though they did spend five days in Cabo together. We're feeling it out.

To find out that this guy actually was somebody that Brittany met in Kentucky when she was like 22 and has known him all this time and they've sort of reconnected in the last year or so. hearing that made me a little nervous only because we know the type of person Jacks Taylor is. And I always am nervous when something like that happens and you have a toxic X because it is it is like the perfect situation for Jacks to accuse her of like having something going on with this guy from her past. and like whether it's like cheating on him with Brandon or having some sort of like emotional affair. That's a big, you know, Mormon wives, they love an emotional affair. I just am like, oh, I hope that Jacks isn't like watching this and like making notes of things that he can use against her. Even if they're like fully imaginary because I just, I don't want her to have to like deal with that. And some people in the in the group are worried that Britney is like moving on too quickly and, you know, kind of putting all her eggs in.

another basket so fast. To me, I'm like, she'll be okay, I think, I hope. Like, she, I think it's healthy for her to have that boundary of like, he's not my boyfriend. We see each other. He lives like three hours away. Don't have a boyfriend that lives three hours away. That's, that's when you have a friend that you go to Cabo with and it's fun to see and then you go about your lives. Don't, don't, don't push it. But like, she's fine, right? Please be fine. The other thing is just that Janet and Kristen still can't fucking stand each other. I mean, it's shocker. But right before filming, it sounds like there was this pool party at Britney's house that they were both invited to. And according to Kristen, Brittany told her that Janet, like, 99% wasn't going to come. But Janet says that when

she showed up, Kristen was there and she basically got like verbally abused by Kristen and it was so bad. And she's upset now with Brittany for not, you know, taking her side. I definitely feel like I need more kind of information on both sides of this story. But at the end of the day, I'm like, are we really doing a full another season of Kristen versus Janet? What are they fighting about at this point? Like, is it still that Janet is like a fucking fan? Do we have like real, I don't know. Jesse's new girlfriend Lacey's on the show now.

I know Kristen really likes her. We're being told by Michelle that she's like. like, you know, Satan incarnate. Some interesting threads to pick up on The Valley. I'm excited to talk about it more. And, you know, of course we have other shows going on. But man, this week, we just had to talk about Jen Shaw's interview. And that was really the only thing I wanted to talk about.

And Summer House, of course. That's where we're going to leave off for today. Don't forget, we have The Real Housewives of Atlanta premiere this Sunday and another episode of Rhode Island. Sunday is going to be the normal day. Of course, next week we'll be back talking about so much more because there's just a lot going on right now.

And we'll probably have some summer house updates to, in the meantime. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe on YouTube.com slash at Bravo by Betches or wherever you listen or watch. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool.

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