Not since the Season 3’s “Scary Island”: the episode of “The Real Housewives of New York” where Kelly Bensimon had an on camera breakdown has RHONY gone so far on film. By now, we all know that “the girls” really can’t stand each other, yet there is always a new exotic trip to be had where they are sequestered together like mice in a maze. This time, Season 9, Episode 16 they were at the gorgeous Casa La Vida Dulce in Punta De Mita, Mexico.
From the first, things didn’t look good. Bethenny was visibly ill, Ramona had just had a chemical peel and was heading for a beach vacation (exposing her raw face to the super strong Mexican sun no less) and the rest of the gang just seemed tense and bedraggled and that’s when the hard core tequila drinking began. This was put down to the fact that they were in Mexico and everyone knows to really enjoy a holiday you need to get plastered on Tequila, preferably the Skinny Girl brand. Okay, so it’s Mexico and this is reality TV but there were one too many cringe worthy moments for me. Mostly these occurred when the Housewives and villa staff were on screen together.
First, just about everyone is yelling to make their point heard as the nice bell master is trying to show them the breathtakingly beautiful rooms. The staff was rudely interrupted as the girls were fighting it out with Ramona and Sonja planting their butts in Dorinda’s room and refusing to go see their quarters.
Secondly, nobody is fooled by Ramona saying that she is “making friends” with the staff. No, she is flashing some cash so she can be a bully and order the employees around like a tyrant including snapping her fingers at one nice woman who was understandably “nervous” who was trying to help this entitled princess unpack. I had to rewind it–did she really snap her fingers at the maid? Yup, she did! Since the show started, I have loved riding the Romanacoaster as much as the next fan, but this time I was literally ashamed of her. I wanted to contact that maid and say that I apologize on behalf of all women from New York, and I’m just watching it on TV!
Dinnertime was no better, where we see the staff cooking up such visually appealing, mouth watering delicacies for the group. They all showed up 90 minutes late. The staff just had to stand by and be on hand and ready to serve as soon as they all wandered in. Bethenny had an excuse, she was so ill that I was yelling at the screen for her to just go to bed but the rest were just lolling around putting on makeup, impervious to the fact that dinner was scheduled for 7 pm and it was 8:30! Dorinda didn’t miss a thing by not coming to the table as all they did was yell at each other because Tinsley was so shocked that Page 6 had a less than flattering story about her. She has worn thin with me as she says she wants to escape the gossip but is on the RHONY show and lives with Sonja Morgan. I don’t feel bad for Tinsley– she has more money than she knows what to do with but she has to live like she’s Kato Kaelin in the 90s?
I was so upset for Luann. When she fell in the bushes the first time, and the villa staff (those poor guys) had to heave her inebriated body up it was time for the cameras to stop rolling. She was totally drunk and not at all in control of her coordination. A producer or camera person should have stopped filming and escorted her to her room for her own safety. But on reality shows, they keep rolling and the second time she fell hard on concrete. Her body took quite a hit and she could have broken her neck, never mind a hip. Her grown children will see this. It’s not funny–it’s ugly and sad. Luann’s hollow leg filled up. I like that she made no excuses, she told the truth that she had drank way too much. She’s a class act and made light of it later with Andy Cohen but that had to have hurt at least the next day. This was not entertainment, it was scary.
The show used to be about a group of New York ladies who were actually friends or at least made it look like they were. If some of this was scripted, it’s bad writing. If it really went down like that, it’s pathetic.
Video Luann’s First Fall (Second one no clip available)
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