The Best Real Housewives of All Time
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140.5K votes
8.6K voters
Voting Rules
Who are the best housewives? It's up to you to decide!
Using the word "best" with The Real Housewives is a dicey affair. Not only does the Real Housewives franchise elicit passionate, polarizing opinions from its fans, but it somehow manages to warp the entire notion of good and bad behavior.
Is the best housewife someone that the viewers identify with, agree with, admire, and aspire to be? Or is she a lady who is so quintessentially integral to the drama and craziness of the Housewives that losing her would be an unthinkable travesty?
Yes, the line between love and love-to-hate is blurry at best, but that's probably the appeal of The Real Housewives in the first place. The following list features the biggest fan favorites. Some are hilarious, some are ridiculous, some are impossible divas, and all are great television.
Most divisive: Camille Grammer
Over 8.6K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Real Housewives, Ranked
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15,248 VOTESLisa Jane Vanderpump (born September 15, 1960) is a British restaurateur, philanthropist, author, actress, and television personality. She is known for her appearances on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules, and ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Vanderpump and husband, Ken Todd, have owned 26 restaurants, bars and clubs in London and Los Angeles, including The Shadow Lounge, Bar Soho, SUR, and Villa Blanca.- Photo:
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24,276 VOTESBethenny Frankel, an accomplished American television personality, author, and entrepreneur, has carved a unique niche for herself in the entertainment and business world. Born on November 4, 1970, in New York City, her journey from a challenging childhood to stardom is nothing short of remarkable. Raised by her mother, Frankel faced many hardships early in life, but these experiences only served to strengthen her resolve to achieve success. Frankel first gained public attention as a contestant on NBC's reality show The Apprentice: Martha Stewart in 2005. However, it was her appearance on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City that truly catapulted her into the limelight. The authenticity she brought to the screen was refreshing, making her a fan favourite and paving the way for her spin-off shows, Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After. Aside from her television career, Frankel is also a successful businesswoman and author. She created the Skinnygirl lifestyle brand, which started with low-calorie cocktails and expanded into a wide range of products including non-alcoholic beverages, food, and kitchenware. In addition to building her empire, Frankel has penned several self-help books and cookbooks, further solidifying her status as a multi-faceted entrepreneur. Despite her bustling professional life, Frankel is also known for her philanthropic efforts, notably through her B Strong initiative, which provides disaster relief to those in need.More Bethenny Frankel
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33,976 VOTESKyle Egan Richards (born January 11, 1969) is an American actress, socialite, television personality, memoirist and philanthropist. She began her career as a child actress, appearing in a recurring role on Little House on the Prairie, and in several horror films, including The Car (1977), Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive (1977), and John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). Since 2010, she has appeared as a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and as of 2019, is the last remaining original cast member on the show. She was a contestant on The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as The Celebrity Apprentice 8), playing for the charity Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She was the 5th contestant fired, finishing in 12th place and raising $25,000 for her charity.More Kyle Richards- #2 of 18 onThe Best Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
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42,908 VOTESKandi Lenice Burruss-Tucker (born May 17, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, television personality, actress, and business woman. Burruss first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the American vocal group Xscape. In 2000, She won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for her writing contributions on the TLC hit song "No Scrubs". Burruss currently stars in the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta since its second-season premiere on July 30, 2009.- Photo:
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53,305 VOTESLinnethia Monique "NeNe" Leakes (; née Johnson; born on December 13, 1967) is an American television personality, actress, presenter, author, and fashion designer. Born in Queens, New York and raised in Athens, Georgia, she is best known for appearing on the reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta as an original cast member and for her recurring character Roz Washington on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee. She also played Rocky Rhoades as a series regular on the sitcom The New Normal on NBC until its cancellation in 2013. She has also participated on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice and ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Leakes made her Broadway debut as Madame in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2014 and in 2015 played Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago. She was one of the regular panelists on ABC's revival of the 1950s game show To Tell the Truth. In addition to her television projects, Leakes has launched a clothing line on Home Shopping Network, and has a national comedy tour entitled "So Nasty, So Rude".- Photo:
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63,458 VOTESSonja Tremont Morgan (born November 25, 1963) is an American socialite, television personality, philanthropist, and businesswoman. Morgan is most notable for appearing on Bravo's reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City. She was previously married to John Adams Morgan, whose father was the co-founder of Morgan Stanley and great-grandfather was J.P. Morgan. Morgan started a fashion line called Sonja by Sonja Morgan in 2015.- 72,435 VOTES
Dorinda Medley
- 83,415 VOTESCarole Ann Radziwill Polish pronunciation: [ra'd͡͡ʑivʲiww]; (née DiFalco; born August 20, 1963) is an American journalist, author, and reality television personality.More Carole Radziwill
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93,676 VOTESCamille Grammer-Meyer (née Donatacci) (born September 2, 1968) is an American television personality, most known for starring in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She started her career as a dancer, model and actress, and worked as a producer and writer for Grammnet Productions. She was married to Kelsey Grammer from 1997 to 2011.More Camille Grammer- #1 of 12 onFamous People Named Camille
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103,154 VOTESTeresa Giudice is an American reality television cast-member, known for starring in The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Besides appearing on the show, Giudice has written three New York Times bestseller cookbooks and was featured on Donald Trump's The Celebrity Apprentice. As of 2015 she lives in a federal prison, while her husband and four daughters reside in Towaco, New Jersey. She is known for her extravagant lifestyle and highly publicized financial and legal troubles leading up to her 15-month sentence in federal prison. In 2014 Giudice was the second-highest paid star of the The Real Housewives franchise. She has also been called the breakout star of the franchise, along with Nene Leakes.- 112,443 VOTESLisa Deanna Rinna (born July 11, 1963) is an American actress and television personality. She is best known for her roles as Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and Taylor McBride on Fox's television drama Melrose Place, and as one of the stars of Bravo's hit reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. From 2002 to 2006, she was the host of Soapnet's talk show Soap Talk. Rinna has also been a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars, and she had guest roles on Entourage, The Middle, Veronica Mars, The Hogan Family, Community, and 8 Simple Rules.More Lisa Rinna
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122,899 VOTESShannon Beador
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- 131,789 VOTESEileen Marie Davidson (born June 15, 1959) is an American actress, author, television personality and former model, best known for her performances in television soap operas. Davidson is best known for her roles in soap operas as Kristen DiMera on NBC's Days of Our Lives, and Ashley Abbott on CBS's The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2014, for her role in Days of Our Lives, Davidson was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the second actress to win a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of "Lead Actress" for the soap; and in 2018 she won the award again for her role on The Young and the Restless. Davidson also starred in the film The House on Sorority Row (1983), had a leading role in the short-lived CBS crime series Broken Badges (1990–91), and wrote a number of mystery novels in the 2000s. In 2014, Davidson joined the cast of Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with record salary of $750,000 per season.
- 141,729 VOTESHeather Paige Dubrow (née Kent) is an American actress and television personality. She portrayed Lydia DeLucca in the television series That's Life in 2000, and starred on the reality television series The Real Housewives of Orange County from 2012 to 2016.
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153,247 VOTESLuann de Lesseps (born LuAnn Nadeau; born May 17, 1965) is an American television personality, model, author, and singer. In 1993, she married French entrepreneur and aristocrat Count Alexandre de Lesseps; they divorced in 2009 but she retained the courtesy title "countess" until her remarriage in 2016. In 2008, de Lesseps came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City, which documents the lives of several women residing in New York City. Luann began headlining "Countess and Friends," a cabaret show of her own making, in 2018.- Photo:
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162,901 VOTESRamona Singer appeared in TV series The Real Housewives of New York City.- Photo:
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Erika Girardi
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182,523 VOTESKimberleigh Marie Zolciak-Biermann (born May 19, 1978) is an American television personality and singer. In 2008, she rose to prominence as one of the original housewives that appeared on the reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta aired on Bravo. Zolciak-Biermann left The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2012 during the fifth season of the series. Earlier that year, she received her own spin-off show titled Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding, which focused on the preparation of her wedding to football player Kroy Biermann. The series was subsequently renewed for a second season with a shortened title, Don't Be Tardy. The fourth season of the show premiered on August 16, 2015. In 2015, she was one of the contestants of the 21st season of the dancing competition series Dancing with the Stars.- Photo:
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192,327 VOTESPhaedra Parks (born October 26, 1973) is a lawyer, model, and reality TV personality, known for appearing on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta.- Photo:
203,748 VOTESYolanda Hadid (born January 11, 1964) is a Dutch-American television personality and former model. She is best known as a star of the American reality-television show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She is mother to models Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, and Anwar Hadid. She was formerly known as Yolanda Foster.- Photo:
212,155 VOTESCaroline Manzo (née Laurita; born August 23, 1961) is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is best known for starring in the reality television series The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and her own spin-off show, Manzo'd with Children.- Photo:
221,092 VOTESPorsha Dyanne Williams (born June 22, 1981) is an American television personality, model, and actress. Williams has starred on the television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta since its fifth season in 2012 and Dish Nation since its second season in 2013, and finished in eighth place on The New Celebrity Apprentice in 2017. Her marriage to football player Kordell Stewart was featured on Platinum Weddings, although they divorced in 2013. She is currently engaged to Dennis McKinley.- Photo:
232,646 VOTESVictoria Gunvalson (née Steinmetz; formerly Wolfsmith) (born March 27, 1962) is an American reality television personality and businesswoman best known for a starring role as a housewife in the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Orange County since its first season. She is the founder of Coto Insurance.- Photo:
241,397 VOTESMelissa Gorga is an American reality television personality and singer. She is a member of the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, joining the show in its third season.- Photo:
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253,201 VOTESGina Liano
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26490 VOTESKaren Huger
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271,968 VOTESTamra Barney
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281,230 VOTESAdrienne Maloof (born September 4, 1961) is an American businesswoman, television personality, shoe designer and co-owner of the various business holdings of Maloof Companies, which include a 2% stake in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada; Maloof Productions, Maloof Music and the retired Maloof Money Cup skateboarding event.- Photo:
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291,692 VOTESJill Zarin (born November 30, 1963) is an actor, who is best known for appearing on Bravo reality show The Real Housewives of New York.More Jill Zarin- #7 of 15 onThe Best Real Housewives Of New York
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301,180 VOTESHeather Thomson
