In October 2021, Dave Quinn (a digital editor at People Magazine and former NBC theater reporter) wrote a 496-page tell on The Real Housewives, titled, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of The Real Housewives From the People Who Lived It. The book had interviews with current and former Housewives, producers, editors, and even Andy Cohen.
The book was incredibly juicy and got the inside scoop on each franchise, and became a New York Times best-selling book. Not All Diamonds and Rosé broke down storylines, arguments that weren't shown on camera, and the Housewives' real thoughts on various situations. Some revelations were incredibly shocking.
The Richards Sisters Wanted The Infamous Limo Scene Edited Out (RHOBH)
At the end of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 1, Kim and Kyle Richards got into a blowup fight on-camera in the back of a limousine. From the start of the series, Kim and Kyle admitted they always had a bumpy relationship, which made fans want to learn more about the Richards sisters and their youth. Everything came to a head at Taylor's party.
Kim and Kyle started arguing in the limo when Kyle dropped a bombshell: Kim was an alcoholic. Cohen said in the tell-all that Kim and Kyle begged to "take the scene out of the show." Bravo, however, continued to air it.
Everyone Had Red Flags About Brooks' Cancer (RHOC)
Vicki Gunvalson will forever be known as one of the longest-running original Housewives in the franchise, but she'll also be known for dating a man who pretended to have cancer. Brooks Ayers claimed in season 10 that he had stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, his stories, treatments, and the names of doctors didn't make sense to a few of the women.
Shannon Beador recalled in the book that Brooks even went so far as to show a fake bill for his chemotherapy treatment. "What he did was he went on Google and he searched ‘chemotherapy bill’ and basically copied the first one that came up. It was an inflated chemotherapy bill, with every single number on his exactly as the one on Google," Beador said.
BTS Of The Kenya & Porsha Feud (RHOA)
In the season 6 reunion of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kenya and Porsha's feud continued in the worst way. The bitter Real Housewives enemies aired lies they heard about each other, but Kenya took it to a villainous level when she showed off the props she brought: a scepter to point in Porsha's face and a megaphone. Porsha was so frustrated that she lunged at Kenya and dragged her to the floor. Porsha cried after, embarrassed by her actions, and Kenya stormed off stage. The Housewives supported Porsha because they felt like Kenya instigated it.
Kenya, however, told the book that she was the real victim. She said, "[Porsha] was the first one to start with me, saying crazy, nasty things. Porsha called me a sl*t. Porsha said no man would have me. People don’t want to see that — because I was the villain, right?”
The Start Of The Reunion
After every season of The Real Housewives, Cohen hosts a reunion to talk about everything that happened over the season. But at the start of the series (when Orange County was the only city), the reunion was not like it is today.
In the book, Cohen said, "[Bravo] kind of gathered everyone to shoot at Vicki's backyard to see what everyone had been up to since the show premiered. It was quaint." There was one monitor, no host, and no drama. Compared to today's Real Housewives reunions with the beautiful outfits and playbacks, this is vastly different.
Production Had No Idea About Danielle Staub's Book Before Filming (RHONJ)
At the start of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the women were nice to Danielle Staub and wanted to learn more about her, but there was a wild rumor around town that her backstory was published in a book called Cop Without a Badge: The Extraordinary Undercover Life of Kevin Maher by Charles Kipps. In the book, the women found out Danielle was involved with some shady characters and had a dark past. This led to iconic feuds in the series between Danielle and the Housewives.
In case fans thought production knew of Danielle's past (and the book), they had no idea until the women brought it forward. Executive producer Carlos King said in the book, "We did not sign up for that s—t. What the f—k is happening here?"
Robyn Was Not Pleased With Ashley Digging Around In Her Family's Business (RHOP)
According to Reality Blurb, The Real Housewives of Potomac's Robyn Dixon told producers that the only thing off limits while filming were her husband's personal business and finances. But former Housewife, Katie Rost, said in the book that Robyn went "crazy" when she heard Ashley Darby was Googling private information about Juan Dixon to use against her.
"I wish they had a camera because this girl got out of the car, went over to Eric, and flipped out on him," Katie said in the book. “[Robyn] was like, ‘I told you not to f**k with me like this and not talk about my sh*t! I trusted you, and you guys are mother f**king liars!'" Apparently, Ashley was unaware that topic was off-limits...
Scary Island Was Scarier Than What Was Shown (RHONY)
In the third season of The Real Housewives of New York, the Housewives went on a vacation that was anything but relaxing. Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel were not on good terms and argued the entire trip. More than their fights, Kelly wasn't making sense. The women agreed that Kelly was saying some outrageous things.
Executive producer Matt Anderson said in the book that the Scary Island trip was "the hardest cast trip I've ever done for any Bravo show." Sonja Morgan reiterated, “Something was wrong with Kelly. She was off that whole trip. She thought Bethenny was trying to kill her!”
NeNe & Kim Were Fake, Fake, Fake (RHOA)
Nene Leakes and Kim Zolciak-Biermann appeared to be close friends on RHOA. They admitted they've had a bumpy past but they genuinely loved being around each other. But according to the tell-all, the two former friends couldn't stand each other and pretended to get along for the show.
King noted in the book, "The arguments between Kim and NeNe were always next level. All season 2, they went back and forth, fighting and making up." King said things took a turn off-camera. "There was an incident that happened off-camera where NeNe allegedly tried to choke Kim in a Target parking lot.”
Lisa Vanderpump Was More Calculated Than Fans Knew (RHOBH)
When it comes to Lisa Vanderpump's villainous tendencies, she has always seemed to plead innocent — and Not All Diamonds and Rosé has proven that.
Executive producer Chris Cullen said in the book, "Brandi [Glanville] was the first example of Lisa recruiting other people to do her dirty work for her." Cullen noted that Lisa was threatened by other Housewives and needed the storylines in her favor.
Vicki Didn't Apply To Be On The Show, Her Son Did (RHOC)
Vicki is known as one of the first-ever Housewives, which is why she made such a production when she was fired from the show. In the tell-all, Vicki admitted that she was angry because she knew she made great TV.
In the book, Vicki said that it was actually her son who wrote to the show, not her. "In [Michael's] letter, he talked about coming back home in between semesters of college to train with me to become a successful insurance agent. And Scott Dunlop contacted me saying, ‘We want to talk to you! Most women in this area don’t work!’" The rest was history after that as Vicki had some of the most memorable episodes.