11 Stars Who Turned Down ‘Real Housewives’ Roles

Find out why these stars said no to reality TV…

Christina Applegate says she was once asked to be on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills but she turned down the opportunity. When she later became friends with the show’s executive producer, they both agreed that she wouldn’t have made a great Housewife anyway. 

“I was asked to be a Housewife for Beverly Hills. They asked me to be one 10 years ago,” she shared on her Messy podcast. “I wouldn’t have shown up to any dinners. I would have been in my sweatpants and I’d be laying in bed. What fun is that? No. I would be the worst Housewife anyway.”

Real Housewives producers were extremely interested in the late Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa joining the cast along with her family. She was asked to sign on several times before Kobe’s passing, but she always said no.

“Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant? We pursued her every year and she was a no. She passed,” Real Housewives of Orange County casting director Jennifer Redinger said in the book Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives From the People Who Lived It.

Tamar Braxton says she’s had conversations about joining The Real Housewives of Atlanta but has turned down the reality show. Looking back, she says she realized “all money ain’t good money” and she knows that other opportunities would come her way. 

“I’ve had conversations but the truth is, it’s just no way I’m going to sit and get a wig put on and get my face beat to argue with a bunch of bitches about nothing. I can’t do it. What does that do for me in my life? What’s the argument?” she said during a live interview with podcast host Carlos King.

She continued, “It’s not worth my mental to sit up here and get into an argument with another Black beautiful woman about nothing so ‘other people’ can think this is what we’re about.”

Chrissy Teigen may be a big fan of the Real Housewives franchise but she doesn’t think she’d be the right fit for the show. On top of not liking confrontation with other people, she explained that she knows too much about the series and would appear to be too much of a fangirl. 

“I love everything about it. Obviously, I love watching the show. I don’t think fans of the show are necessarily good on it because we know too much,” she said on Watch What Happens Live. “They come in, and it seems like they’re too fangirly, so I don’t really think it’s a good idea for me. Also, it doesn’t seem like it, but I don’t like fighting. I really don’t. I would cry a lot.”

During a 2019 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Jennie Garth revealed that she had been approached about a role on RHOBH two years earlier. She later shared that she turned it down because she had no interest in the show.

“That’s one thing I know for sure I would never do just because, no offense to anybody that does it, it’s just not me. It’s not, I’m not comfortable in that environment. And why would I put myself in that environment?” Jennie said on the Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef podcast.

While Paula Abdul has had “joyful” experiences on reality TV shows like American Idol, she says that she wouldn’t appear on any Real Housewives franchise. After previously sharing that she turned down the opportunity to be on the franchise, Paula explained that she’d much rather watch the show than be on it. 

“I’ve been humbled, and I got a kick out of it that I was ever even asked. However, I like to be the one on the couch with the popcorn watching with my dogs," she told Entertainment Tonight.

Meghan Markle has no interest in joining the Real Housewives franchise -- even if the show was made just for her. While chatting with Andy Cohen on her Archetype podcast about the rumors she was joining RHOBH, she joked that the conversation was her audition. Andy quickly told her that no audition was necessary but she said there was no reality show in her future. 

“There will be no reality show,” she said on the podcast. “But I think it’s so funny. No, I never heard that. I never heard about the Beverly Hills [rumors].”

In 2024, Heather Rae El Moussa revealed that she had been asked to join the cast of Real Housewives of Orange County but she turned them down. At the time, she felt it wasn’t the right moment in her life to appear on the series.  

“Well, you know, they may have reached out to me and I’m just too busy right now,” Heather told Us Weekly. “It’s just not a good place in my life to do that.”

Kevin Jonas’ wife Danielle Jonas says she was once asked to join the cast of Real Housewives of New Jersey. She turned it down at the time and Kevin explained that it would be too much “intensity” and like ​​”bringing the lamb to the slaughter over there.”

“I think I would die in it. I think they would, like, they would kill me,” Danielle shared on the LadyGang podcast, adding that she would rather return to the couple’s first reality show, Married to Jonas. 

While Kris Jenner has appeared on RHOBH occasionally as a friend of longtime cast member Kyle Richards, she says she wouldn’t join the show fulltime. She explained that she’s too busy for another show and they don’t need her.

“I would do it just to go on once in a while and be with my friend Kyle Richards. But as far as me doing a show like that regularly, there’s just too much going on in my life,” she said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “And they do not need a Kris Jenner on that show. They are doing just fine.”

Andy Cohen may have once suggested that Monica join the cast of RHOA, but she has no interest in the show. Monica says that she would only sign on for a show where she could be an executive producer with creative control  -- and would much rather work on a project that helps people. 

“I would only join a show that I could also be executive producer of because what my children see me do is important to me. I would only be on a show where I could see everything before it airs and be a full participant in what it means,” she told People. “And my goal, if I ever were to do a television show, would be to help girls like myself or people from the communities that are similar to the world that I’m from.”