Earlier this month, The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis hit a serious milestone in iconic-ness. Throughout its extremely anticipated season 4 finale — the collection’ highest-rated episode since its premiere in 2020 — fan favourite Heather Homosexual outed new forged member Monica Garcia as one of many customers behind the Instagram troll account @realityvontease2, which had been focusing on the ladies on the present for years.
Like a scene straight out of Huge Little Lies, Homosexual delivered this bombshell to her fellow unique castmates, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, and Meredith Marks — all wearing robes on a windy seashore in Bermuda. Later within the episode, the Dangerous Mormon writer carried out an Oscar-worthy rant that’s since been quoted by an precise Oscar winner and a member of Congress. (Homosexual additionally claimed that former castmate and convicted felon Jen Shah was chargeable for her mysterious black eye final season.) Social media, more and more accustomed to leaks and spoilers, had no thought these revelations had been coming.
General, Garcia’s unmasking made for a superb hour of tv — and certain will probably be lauded because the funniest reunion the franchise has ever seen.
On the identical time, RHOSLC’s finale underscored a distinguished difficulty that looms over Bravo within the age of social media: An important separation between actuality exhibits and their fan bases has been misplaced. Audiences have extra entry to their favourite — and least favourite — actuality stars than ever earlier than, via podcasts, via fan occasions, via a relentless drip-drip-drip of leaks from tea accounts on social media. Now a stan has stirred up their very own drama as a forged member of a present. What occurs to actuality TV as a style when it turns into this penetrable?
The fourth wall on Bravo has been obliterated for some time now
The rise of social media has given actuality TV audiences an excessive amount of energy over the previous decade. Within the Bravo fandom, viewers spend an ungodly period of time on Instagram and on X, the location previously generally known as Twitter, analyzing storylines like Charlie Day in that one It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia GIF. Consequently, followers have additionally turn out to be an integral a part of the exhibits they fervently publish about.
On the Actual Housewives franchise and different flagship packages, like Vanderpump Guidelines, you possibly can count on a good quantity of drama to contain the plenty of (normally offended or incessantly curious) followers on the web. As the ladies have turn out to be an increasing number of well-known, it’s turn out to be tougher to disregard the surface noise that’s affected their lives and, often, made for some irresistible drama. In truth, a number of storylines involving social media chatter are enjoying out proper now.
On The Actual Housewives of Potomac, Robyn Dixon is at the moment upset with Candiace Dillard Bassett for “weaponizing” social media in opposition to her after she hid a scandal involving her husband, Juan Dixon, throughout final season’s filming. In the meantime, on the Miami franchise, viewers are being pressured to observe Larsa Pippen and new beau Marcus Jordan, son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, poorly file a podcast, Separation Nervousness, in response to on-line criticism of their relationship. (Pippen is 16 years older than Jordan and famously the ex-wife of Michael Jordan’s teammate and former good friend Scottie Pippen.)
Over on Beverly Hills, Kyle Richards appears to be getting pleasure out of indulging in TikTok theories about her romantic life — primarily hypothesis about whether or not she’s relationship a queer nation singer nearly half her age.
With social media commentary so usually proving too juicy to disregard on Bravo, it’s no surprise the web has turn out to be a supporting character in these franchises, the best way New York Metropolis is the “fifth character” on Intercourse and the Metropolis. Nonetheless, these storylines not often make for a compelling narrative, just because viewers know what to anticipate as a result of they’ve witnessed it on their timelines. Plus, the execution is normally underwhelming. (Take a look at the previous 5 seasons of RHOBH in case you want proof.)
Bravo has discovered methods to make use of social media to its benefit, the frenzy round “Scandoval” being a main instance. Nonetheless, the outsized position of social media has made the existence of a fourth wall more and more tougher to handle.
It’s particularly tough with the media equipment that surrounds Bravo: press, blogs, podcasts, DeuxMoi, and fan and troll accounts devoted to dissecting each enhancing alternative and exposing behind-the-scenes tea. If a Actual Housewives or Vanderpump Guidelines star needs to do PR after a tough season, they’ll go to a podcast and even create their very own to share the “actual” aspect of the story.
What’s extra attention-grabbing, although, is how social media customers have discovered to have interaction with Bravo as a result of their the community has indulged their reactions. Followers aren’t simply commenting on the ridiculous antics or vexing forged members they watch on a weekly foundation. In lots of instances, it looks as if they need to take part within the manufacturing of the present itself. Monica Garcia’s entry onto RHOSLC is probably the most excessive instance of this.
Whereas working as an assistant to Shah, Garcia started exposing the now-felon’s abusive conduct towards her workers and different merciless feedback in regards to the forged via posts on @realityvontease2, which had been mentioned on the present. Her reporting jumped up a stage when she grew to become a witness within the FBI case in opposition to Shah, detailing her boss’s wire fraud to the feds. Quickly after, she grew to become a forged member on the Bravo present herself.
A part of this phenomenon is Bravo’s personal doing. The cable model — delivering leisure “for the individuals” — has inspired fan involvement by that includes shady viewers questions at reunions and through Watch What Occurs Dwell, the late-night discuss present the place Bravo mastermind Andy Cohen and friends break down the community’s goings-on a number of nights per week. On that present, producers additionally ballot viewers about whose aspect they’re on in a Housewives feud or which Summer season Home member they assume is the most well liked. And at BravoCon, the community’s annual conference, followers can converse on to their favourite or most loathed Bravolebrities, usually creating viral moments within the course of.
However lately, Bravo lovers (and reality-TV followers on the whole) have additionally used their collective voices to problem government decision-making and the exhibits’ casts. Followers have pressured forged members to tackle their relationships, who they voted for in 2016, and their posts on Fb. In probably the most extreme instances, fan outcry has resulted in a number of firings (though the overlords at Bravo most likely wouldn’t admit to that).
“We’ve seen a whole lot of profitable mobilization on the web for good and bonafide causes,” Joan Summers, gossip reporter and co-host of the Consuming for Free podcast, tells me.
“I believe what Bravo followers have realized with social media is which you can management the story now. You may produce from your property the present that you simply need to see, whether or not that’s making an attempt to whip up individuals to get forged members fired or making an attempt to double down on tales,” she stated.
To be clear, this isn’t a lot an remark about “cancel tradition” or a “mob mentality” that exists throughout the fanbase — anybody who’s been fired from Bravo for some offensive wrongdoing has usually deserved to be fired. Somewhat, it’s fascinating to see how followers have discovered to infiltrate and alter this explicit medium to their liking. As a substitute of sitting again and having fun with the chaos because it involves them, viewers have come to deal with actuality TV as an interactive format, gamifying the character of those network-sponsored parasocial relationships.
Monica’s fourth-wall second made good TV, however how lengthy can audiences keep entertained?
Within the case of RHOSLC, Garcia’s social media storyline was genuinely fascinating to look at. For one, there was a refreshing factor of shock. In a uncommon feat, not one of the forged members ran to the press beforehand. Bravo additionally went above and past to verify the revelation didn’t leak, even axing the forged’s panel at BravoCon this 12 months to make sure nobody would spill the beans.
Kara Berry, host of the Everybody’s Enterprise however Mine podcast, additionally credit Garcia for being an enthralling, advanced character exterior of the revelation that she was simply one of many avid stan accounts we scrolled by on our feeds every single day.
“With out the Actuality Von Tease reveal, Monica nonetheless would have had a stand-out season,” she says. “She was brilliant, scrappy, prepared to confess issues like sleeping together with her brother-in-law, and had a relationship with a mom that’s Salt Lake’s reply to Mommy Dearest.”
The revelation within the finale was additionally a testomony to good manufacturing and Homosexual’s oratory expertise. It’s typical on-line hyperbole to name a Bravo monologue “award-worthy.” However Homosexual’s efficiency was so convincing that it didn’t matter whether or not she spent an hour in her toilet getting the timing of “Receipts! Proof! Timeline!” excellent. And as soon as it was clear this may be an iconic second, the remainder of the ladies rose to the event.
On the reunion, it was equally amusing watching Homosexual and the remainder of the forged’s efficiency be uncovered as simply that — a efficiency. In making an attempt to sentence Garcia for her dishonesty and fakeness, the ladies solely underscored the more and more synthetic world of actuality TV all of them play in. Even host Andy Cohen admitted that there was technically “nothing flawed” with Garcia plotting her approach onto the present.
Sure, Garcia has confirmed to be untrustworthy. However over the course of 4 seasons, these Housewives have proven themselves to be one of the crucial calculated and strategic casts on Bravo, usually utilizing the gossip mill to their benefit. This was highlighted through the dialogue about Homosexual’s black eye: Cohen gently scolded her for all of the deception ways she used — together with suggesting producers harmed her — to hide Shah as her alleged assailant. By the tip of the reunion, Garcia didn’t look so horrible in comparison with a few of her friends.
Going ahead, it’s onerous to not see Bravo persevering with on this weird, meta path. And I can’t say I gained’t oblige. At first, although, it needs to be thrilling TV.
