10 Real Housewives Stars Who Have Been Fired

Find out why these Housewives got the axe…

In 2022, Jennie Nguyen was fired from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City after resurfaced controversial social media posts. In her posts, she was seen sharing memes in opposition to the BLM movement, following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Some read “Blue Lives Matter” and “White Lives Matter,” while others referred to “BLM Thugs” and “thug rioters.”

She also appeared to question the Covid-19 vaccine, showed support for Donald Trump and criticized Kamala Harris and the Obamas. The posts were mostly memes and article shares with no commentary from Jennie herself. She was fired shortly after.

“Bravo has ceased filming with Jennie Nguyen and she will no longer be a cast member of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," the network said in a statement shortly after.

“We recognize we failed to take appropriate action once her offensive social media posts were brought to our attention,” it added. “Moving forward, we will work to improve our processes to ensure we make better informed and more thoughtful casting decisions.”

Alexis Bellino was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Orange County on seasons 4 through 8 but then made her return to the series after a 10 year absence for season 17. Unfortunately, after the season wrapped, she was not asked to return and was fired from the show.

“I can’t say it came as a shock, it did not come as a shock,” Alexis said on the Reality with the King podcast. “It was a hard conversation. I guess I wasn’t really prepared [because] I didn’t think contracts were coming out -- like, I thought we had more time. [So] it was a shock when the call came, but I was never shocked about that information.”

“It was a little bit of a relief,” she added. “I mean nobody wants the rejection, and no one wants to [hear] you’re not asked back. But it already happened to me. It happened to me in season 8.”

Back in 2017, Phaedra Parks was fired from her role on Real Housewives of Atlanta after an explosive season 9 reunion. During the show, it was revealed that Phaedra was the person who created a rumor Kandi Burruss and husband Todd Tucker wanted to drug and rape Porsha Williams. Andy Cohen later shared that none of the women wanted to work with her after the revelation and she was let go.

“The question that we look at now with Phaedra is, when the reunion ended, none of the other women wanted to have anything to do with her. So that’s what you have to look at,” he told E! News. “How do you shoot a show about a group of friends when no one is speaking to one of the friends?”

After starring on Bravo's Married to Medicine, she later returned for RHOA's 16th season.

Dorinda Medley had been a cast member of Real Housewives of New York since season 7 but in 2020, she was given the boot. After a particularly rough season that featured drunk outbursts, Dorinda thought she would get the chance to redeem herself the following year. Unfortunately, Bravo decided it was the end of the road. While her exit has been called a “pause” by Andy, Dorinda doesn’t feel that way.

“Listen, I had a rough season. But that’s what we do as Housewives. We have good seasons. We have bad seasons. We come back and we change it up," Dorina said on Bethenny Frankel’s Just B podcast. “I was looking forward to coming back this year. I was looking forward to having that moment.”

“So it really was, you know, no one likes rejection,” she added. “I was ready to go back. I was excited about going back. I was planning on going back. And I thought I would have a great year. I wasn’t given that option.”

Brandi Glanville left the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills following a tumultuous fifth season where she fought with many of her co-stars including Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Eileen Davidson and Lisa Rinna. While she previously explained that she left the show on her own accord, she has later said that she was fired.

“I’m not on Real Housewives anymore… I got fired,” she said on her Brandi Glanville Unfiltered podcast. “Then they hired me back for other s--t.”

She later appeared on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip for two seasons, one of which might never air following an alleged incident between Brandi and Caroline Manzo.

Alex McCord was a cast member on the first four seasons of RHONY but in 2011, she was fired from the show. While she said she parted with the network on good terms, it definitely wasn’t her choice to say goodbye.

“After four seasons on Real Housewives of New York City, Simon and I are moving on. It’s a completely friendly departure and while it was their decision and not ours, we are in close communication with both Bravo and the production company about our next move, in addition to fielding outside offers,” Alex said at the time.

She continued, “Four years is a long time in TV land and we had no idea when we auditioned in 2006 that we’d still have been on air in 2011. It’s been a bumpy ride; sometimes great and sometimes not, but it's been an experience that I don’t regret having done.”

Teddi Mellencamp was a cast member on RHOBH from season 8 through 10 but wasn’t asked back for any further taping. It was rumored that she was given the axe because she couldn’t provide “enough drama or content” to continue on in the series.

“I recently found out that my contract as a Housewife is not being renewed. Of course I could give you the standard response of, ‘Oh we both came to the decision that it would be best.’ Nah, I’m not going to do that -- that’s not who I am,” she shared in an Instagram video.

She continued, “Of course when I got the news I was sad. It feels like a breakup, almost because you develop such strong relationships with the cast, with the crew and you get to do incredible things that you’d probably never get to experience without the show.”

Despite denying that she was going to be fired from RHOC for years, Kelly Dodd was finally booted from the show ahead of season 16 in 2021. Kelly explained that she was “blindsided” by the decision from the network. The news came shortly after Kelly shared a private text with Elizabeth Vargasand Braunwyn Windham-Burke where she blamed Braunwyn for bringing “all that political ‘woke’ BS” to the show.

Kelly admitted that her conservative political views may have been a reason why the show didn’t ask her back, although the network said they just wanted to take a “different direction.”

“Ultimately, I got fired because of myself,” she said on Jeff’s Sirius XM radio show. “I’m the one who got myself fired. I was like Howard Stern with WNBC ... I was causing [executives] a lot of grief. I was causing them a lot of trouble. And, you know, I’m sorry about that. I feel bad.”

Back in 2011, Cindy Barshop was fired from RHONY alongside Alex McCord. Cindy was only on the show for one season and said that the network’s decision wasn’t mutual, despite Bravo painting it as a friendly parting of ways.

“Following the reunion it was clear that the women genuinely didn't like each other anymore," Cindy shared with ABC News at the time.

Robyn Dixon was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Potomac for eight seasons but ended up getting fired from the show. Despite being one of the franchise's original cast members, the network made the decision to move forward without her. Looking back, she called the experience a “fun, amazing, stressful, crazy, wild journey.”

“Yes, I will not be returning to season nine of The Real Housewives of Potomac," she said on her Reasonably Shady podcast. “It’s reality. The network did not invite me back. I was fired, for lack of better words. I will not sugarcoat the situation and say, ‘Oh, I am walking away and this is a break’ or anything like this. This is a network decision.”

She added, “Thank you to the fans who have watched us from day one. I do want to especially thank all of the fans and viewers who have supported me, showed love to me. Whether you directly sent me love or you prayed for me or you have positive thoughts around me, I appreciate you. And I hope I inspired you -- the viewers, the fans -- to live your life authentically, to not feel pressure to change for anyone or impress people, and just to be yourself.”

Jill Zarin took part in seasons one through four of RHONY but was not asked to return for season five. Years later, Jill revealed that an email she sent may have been part of the reason she wasn’t asked back.

“One night... I think I took a sleeping pill, and I typed out an email to my producer and three out of the five Housewives. And I said, ‘I’m leaving the show. I want to leave on a high. I’m in a good place right now.’ I kind of got cold feet the next day, and I said, ‘Ah, that was stupid, I shouldn’t have sent that email out.’ So, when I got the phone call from my production company, I knew,” Jill said on an episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now?