Real Housewives Who Fell From Grace

It feels like I have been watching Real Housewives forever. I am the kind of person who tunes in whenever there's a new episode and wastes her life whenever there's an all-day marathon. To say I am "invested" in this franchise would be the understatement of the century. I have started to talk about these women as if they're my actual friends. And just like with people in real life, my opinions of the Real Housewives have fluctuated over the years. And I'm sure I'm not the only super fan who has gone through this. There some Real Housewives that I used to love, but am so over.

Hating on certain cast members is really not my intention, it's just that us fans are tired of some of the antics from a few of the Housewives, and this especially goes for ones who have been around a long time. I also have to point out that us dedicated Real Housewives super fans go through these like/dislike cycles many times with the same Housewives, so as soon as I'm "over" one of the ladies, it's not impossible that they'll do something redeeming to make me fall in love again.

Here are some of the Real Housewives who have really fallen from grace over the years.

1. NeNe Leakes

Real Housewives of Atlanta quickly became the NeNe Leakes Show. She was so funny and had the best one-liners. All of the ladies were clamoring to be friends with her and she became the queen bee. Everyone loved watching NeNe and cared about everything from her career to her romance with her husband, Gregg.

But then the tides changed, NeNe would not stop talking about her money. All she did was brag about her acting gigs on now-cancelled TV shows and took every opportunity she could to tell the other Housewives that she was better than them. Meanwhile, Kandi Burruss has always been making way more money than all of the other RHOA ladies and is always kind to everyone. Aside from the bragging, NeNe just really started embodying her "so nasty, so rude" catchphrase. I get it. She's "rich, bitch," but she could be a lot nicer about it.

2. Vicki Gunvalson

Vicki Gunvalson will always have a soft spot in my heart. After all, she is the only original Real Housewife remaining in the franchise. But the lovable, neurotic Vicki isn't around as often as fans would like. She has become super condescending to her cast mates and has put down stay-at-home moms one too many times for me to overlook it. Aside from that, she has taken it upon herself to criticize everyone else's job and constantly declares that no one works as hard as she does 100 million times.

Then there's her whole relationship with Brooks Ayers. Aside from no one liking him, she was involved in what was arguably the biggest Real Housewives scandal of all time, when many of the Housewives questioned whether Brooks was faking his cancer diagnosis, and also questioned Vicki's involvement in what they claimed were lies. (Brooks has maintained that he does have cancer.)

Vicki even had the audacity to compare herself to Jesus Christ when she said, "I’m being nailed to the cross like Jesus was and he did nothing wrong. He’s Jesus Christ and he did nothing wrong! That’s how I feel.” That was the last straw for sure.

3. Jill Zarin

Jill was the queen of Real Housewives of New York City when it first started. It seemed like all of the ladies were cast based on their connection to Jill, and it just worked so well. She was an adorable mom from Long Island who everyone loved. She and Bethenny Frankel were the epitome of #BestFriendGoals before that hashtag even existed.

Then, Bethenny started becoming super successful and did not have as much time to hang out, and Jill seemed to become pretty resentful. In one of the best RHONY scenes, former Housewife Alex McCord said to Jill, "You are a mean girl and you are in high school and while you are in high school I am in Brooklyn." And if I'm keeping it real, Alex was saying what we were all thinking. I'm not at all surprised that Jill was booted from the series, especially after she even had the audacity to hate on the king of Bravo Andy Cohen on his own talk show.

4. Lauri Peterson

We all loved Lauri when RHOC started. She was a single mom trying to keep her family afloat and had a very endearing personality. We all rooted for her when she struggled to discipline her children. Then we all swooned over her fairytale wedding to her husband, George Peterson, and were super sad when she left the show.

But she returned with a vengeance. Lauri came back looking to stir the pot and was dropping gossip bombs left and right. She even alleged that Vicki cheated on her husband Donn and had all these wild threesomes. And then she would be shown in the next scene being BFFs with the women she was talking smack about.

Vicki eventually confronted Lauri on top of a mountain when she screamed, "I have never had sex with multiple partners in my life!" and it was just iconic. Lauri would have been an interesting cast member on her own; she did not have to throw the other women under the bus.

5. Brandi Glanville

This something that I do not whole heartedly agree with, but I do get the change in fans' opinion on Brandi Glanville to a certain extent. When Brandi joined Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she was a breath of fresh air. She was younger than the other women and very candid. She always had everyone laughing. Then her antics got more and more outrageous and, as a viewer, I thought it really did make for great TV. Then it seemed like Brandi crossed one too many lines when the other women really started hating on her.

Brandi "jokingly" threw wine in Eileen Davidson's face. She was "joking" once again when she slapped Lisa Vanderpump in the face. Although many people (mainly the RHOBH ladies) are over her antics and I get why, when she wasn't being too wild, she made the show. As polarizing as she is, we really need Brandi Glanville — the original Brandi Glanville — back. And if this happens, let's just hope that she's more apologetic than usual.

6. Gretchen Rossi

When Gretchen Rossi joined RHOC was beautiful, fun, and hilarious. It was enjoyable to watch her and you couldn't help rooting for her when the other women questioned her life. Then, she began a relationship with serial Housewives dater Slade Smiley and that set her back a few points with everyone. Around the same time she was really focused on creating and bragging about her Gretchen Christine brand of beauty products and accessories. It just became a little bit too much. Then, she became so involved with her attempted empire and her polarizing relationship that she didn't really get along with anyone anymore.

We all loved the old Gretchen, but the woman we last saw on Housewives before she left was just way too caught up in her own stuff. Hopefully, some time away from reality TV has helped bring her back to reality and she is that same Gretchen we all used to root for. But seriously, Gretchen is still trying to be on reality TV whenever possible, even if she is not a Real Housewife anymore.

7. Jeana Keough

I loved Jeana Keough when RHOC started out. She was the most relatable out of all the Housewives and she was also in the minority as a brunette in a show full of blondes. She had a lot of real problems that did not just revolve around her wealth, and she brought a lot of great story lines to the show. But she went from being a cool mom that we all loved to a major instigator.

Jeana inserted herself in the middle of Tamra Judge's divorce from her ex-husband Simon Barney and would not stop talking about it publicly, so I totally get why Tamra threw wine in her face. Jeana is not a Real Housewife anymore, but whenever she comes around she is always spreading gossip and igniting controversy. Even when she's not on the show, she acts like she still is a part of the Housewives fold with her trouble making on Twitter. I think I can speak for all of us when we say we miss the old Jeana Keough.

Truth be told, we all get in our ruts and do things we are not super proud of, but not all of us broadcast these not-so-flattering moments on reality television. I feel bad that these ladies' worst moments will be rebroadcast forever in Real Housewives marathons, reblogged as gifs on Tumblr, and live on forever in Internet memes, but it is what it is. Hopefully, these women can make comebacks and become the Real Housewives that we used to love the most.

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