It Might Be Time To Say Goodbye to the 'Ladies'

It's time to start speculating about the fate of another Bravo reality show. The season finale of Ladies of London aired last Monday night, and Bravo has made no formal announcement about whether or not our favorite bunch of American expats and British aristocrats will attempt to conquer British society once again for a second season. So even though you've probably been losing sleep wondering whether or not cast members Caprice Bourret and Caroline Stanbury will repair their friendship after their dramatic fallout in the season finale, you're unfortunately going to have to wait a bit longer to find out.

However, just because we don't have the official word from Bravo doesn't mean there aren't any hints out there that could tip us off on Ladies of London's future. When the season finale aired last Monday night, I was hoping there would be a preview for a reunion special to air the following week. Unfortunately, there was no such luck, and I was just left feeling empty knowing that this was probably the end of the season for Ladies of London. In fact, there is no reunion planned for the show, according to Bravo's schedule, which isn't a good sign.

When the first season — and subsequent seasons — of a series on Bravo is followed by a reunion or a "tell-all" episode, it usually means that it's getting renewed for another season. Just look at Below Deck, Married to Medicine, and Blood, Sweat & Heels, none of them resounding hits compared to some of Bravo's more senior shows, but all of which had reunion specials and were brought back for second seasons. Gallery Girls and Princesses: Long Island, which were personal favorites of mine, didn't have reunion shows and have not made it past their first seasons on Bravo yet. It obviously makes sense that Bravo would spend the time and money filming a reunion show for a series that has promise and not do it for those that don't. However, I wouldn't count Ladies of London out based solely on this. Shows like Shahs of Sunset and Thicker Than Water were renewed and didn't have reunion specials during their first seasons, so there's hope for Ladies of London yet.

Now let's look at the all-important ratings for Ladies of London. The show premiered to an audience of 1.17 million viewers, dipped a bit during the next three episodes, averaging about 759,000 viewers, increased to 962,000 viewers for episode 5, and then ended at 842,000 viewers for the season finale. These aren't great numbers for the series as a whole. It looks like Bravo tends to renew shows that draw in at least a million viewers per episode and most likely even higher than that. However, Ladies of London's numbers aren't so low that Bravo will be quick to axe the show either.

Unfortunately, the cast of Ladies of London hasn't said anything to make us super confident that there will be a Season 2. However, in an interview with SheKnows, Bourret said that if there were to be a Season 2, the ladies would amp up the drama because all of the women have gotten to know each other by now, which wasn't the case when filming the first season. Was that a tease that there will be a second season or just a plea for one?

From her Twitter account, Bourret seems to be happy to have finished filming Ladies of London for now, so I actually wouldn't be surprised if Season 2 didn't include her. The other ladies have retweeted fans who are hoping for a second season. On the day of the finale, some of the cast members, such as Marissa Hermer, tweeted about how sad they were that Ladies of London was ending. It's hard to tell whether they're saying goodbye to this season or the series as a whole, but there's an air of finality to it all.

I certainly hope Bravo gives Ladies of London another chance. Sure, it wasn't always as crazy as many of Bravo's reality shows, but I think it has potential, especially now that the cast members have seen themselves on TV and have also seen what everyone else has said about them behind their backs. Who wouldn't be able to make some good TV out of that?

Images: Gary Moyes, Laurence Cendrowicz/Bravo