When stars of the Real Housewives signed on to their respective franchises, they opened up their lives — including their relationships and marriages — to be looked at under a microscope. While cameras have documented the good times for these reality TV couples, they’ve often captured the cast members’ worst moments as well.
From The Real Housewives of New York City’s Luann de Lesseps and Tom D’Agostino to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Camille and Kelsey Grammer, here are the Bravolebrities who have endured major cheating scandals in the public eye.
Luann de Lesseps and Tom D’Agostino Jr. — ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’
On the Wednesday, August 3, episode of RHONY, Bethenny Frankel alleged that she had photographic evidence of D’Agostino hooking up with another woman just days after he asked for de Lesseps’ hand in marriage.
The Skinnygirl founder, 45, claimed that she had knowledge of the Class With the Countess author’s fiancé making out with a “Playmate or a Playboy bunny” at NYC’s Regency hotel for “over an hour.”
While de Lesseps, 51, has yet to comment on the drama, a source tells Us Weekly that she has decided to stick by her man’s side ahead of their upcoming New Year’s Eve nuptials.
“Tom and Luann are actually in love, they seem really perfect for each other,” the insider tells Us. “Luann really doesn’t care about anything other than having this wedding.”
Jules and Michael Wainstein — ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’
Franchise newcomers Jules and Michael decided to pull the plug on their eight-year marriage earlier this year after the Manhattan-based wife discovered her man’s alleged affair with another woman. Michael filed for divorce on May 13.
During an August 3 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Jules’ pal and costar Dorinda Medley said that the Modern Alkeme founder was an acquaintance of Michael’s alleged mistress.
In an exclusive statement given to Us on June 17, Michael’s attorney Mark Jay Heller suggested that the pair’s relationship had been fraught for years and claimed that Jules once physically abused the venture capitalist with whom she shares son Jagger, 5, and daughter Rio, 3.
“In the winter of 2012, Julianne brutally and viciously assaulted her diminutive but brave husband,” the lawyer alleged. However, a rep for Jules told Us that “this is not the truth, and the truth will prevail.”
Kristen and Josh Taekman — ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’
In August 2015, model and entrepreneur Kristen Taekman’s husband, Josh, admitted that he signed up for an Ashley Madison account. Last summer, a widespread hack of the adult site — created for married people to cheat on their spouses with people they meet on the social media platform — showed that several celebrities (including Josh) were among Ashley Madison’s many users.
At the time, Josh issued a statement to Us, apologizing for his misguided actions — but implied that he never strayed from his model wife, 39.
“I signed up for the site foolishly and ignorantly with a group of friends and I deeply apologize for any embarrassment or pain I have brought to my wife and family,” the 46-year-old E-boost founder told Us. “We both look forward to moving past this and getting on with our lives.”
The parents of Cassius, 7, and Kingsley, 4, remain married.
Ramona and Mario Singer — ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’
After learning of husband Mario Singer’s affair with socialite Kyle “Kasey” Dexter, who is 28 years his junior, in 2013, Ramona Singer attempted to fix her decades-long marriage with the father of her 21-year-old daughter, Avery. Despite her efforts to keep their romance alive, the Ramona Pinot Grigio founder, 59, decided to officially call it quits in January 2014 when she filed for divorce.
“I left him a note saying, ‘Please don’t come to the house in the Hamptons, and please get an apartment. I don’t want to see you anymore,’” she shared with Us in August 2014. “And that was it.”
Ramona has since dipped her toes in the dating pool and believes that going through a painful split has made her a better person. “Being betrayed by your spouse is probably the worst thing that can happen to a person,” she told HuffPost Live in April 2015, “and it humbled me big-time.”
Cynthia Bailey and Peter Thomas — ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’
Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey’s marriage to Peter Thomas was rocked after an incriminating video of the restaurant owner getting too close with another woman hit social media in June 2015. In the clip, Thomas is seen grazing another woman’s cheek and talking closely with her at his bar, Bar One, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
At the time, Bailey, 48, told Us that she did not plan to part ways with her husband and fully intended to “deal with this issue.”
“I felt the video was inappropriate and embarrassing,” the model added. “I expect him to accept full accountability for his actions.”
When split rumors surfaced in March 2016, Bailey suggested that she and Thomas’ six-year union might be coming to a close. “I am spending time with my daughter and taking some time for myself,” she told Us. “Whatever the future holds for my marriage, I have given over to God. I appreciate everyone’s kind words and prayers.”
Shannon and David Beador — ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’
During the June 2015 season 10 premiere of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon Beador revealed that David, her husband of more than 20 years and the father of her three daughters, cheated on her.
“After I found out about the infidelity, we had some bumps back and forth and we finally ended up at a place called Couples Retreat,” the reality starlet, 52, told Us in June 2015. “They have a 90 percent success rate with repairing marriages, and we went through the process and it was eye-opening for the both of us, and we received some tools that would help us repair our marriage.”
Though Shannon admitted that David’s unfaithfulness was “devastating,” she made the tough decision to return to TV for her third season on RHOC so she could show other couples dealing with infidelity that it’s possible to get back on track.
“What’s important to both of us, as corny as it might sound, is we want to give other couples hope that even if there is infidelity, or something devastating in a relationship, if you both work and make the effort and love each other, you can get out,” Shannon told Us last summer.
The pair have maintained a united front and are continuing to work on their relationship issues as documented on season 11 of RHOC.
Joanna Krupa and Romain Zago — ‘The Real Housewives of Miami’
In 2012, The Real Housewives of Miami’s Joanna Krupa believed that her then-fiancé, Romain Zago, had been seeing another woman after she found flirtatious text messages and emails between the handsome businessman and a South Beach–based dancer.
During a memorable episode on season 2 of RHOM, the blonde beauty, 37, confronted Zago, 43, about the inappropriate exchanges she saw on his phone and computer.
However, Zago insisted that things never got physical. “I just wanted to leave you, and there was no better way for me to leave you than to hook up with somebody else,” he told Krupa over a tense dinner date. “Try to, obviously, because I didn’t.”
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit stunner eventually forgave her beau and married him in a romantic California ceremony in June 2013.
Camille and Kelsey Grammer — ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
Toward the end of the inaugural season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2010, Camille’s 13-year marriage to Emmy-winning actor Kelsey (with whom she shares daughter Mason, 14, and son Jude, 11) burst into flames thanks to the Frasier alum’s affair with his now-wife, Kayte Walsh.
During a 2014 Watch What Happens Live interview with Andy Cohen, the dancer turned TV personality, 47, candidly called her ex “a d–k.” “He’s an ass,” she added at the time. “I can say it!”
In another interview with Cohen, 46, in January 2016, Camille said that her relationship with Kelsey, 61 — who now shares two children with 34-year-old Walsh — is a total mess.
“It’s very difficult, because he refuses to communicate with me and coparent with me on any level,” she claimed. “So what I do is: My kids go to therapy, I go to therapy. I used to think that there would be a day that would come along that someday I could coparent with him, and he would be willing to talk to me because it would only help the kids.”
Michaele and Tareq Salahi — ‘The Real Housewives of D.C.’
After the short-lived Washington, D.C.–based franchise ended in 2010, series standout Michaele Salahi blinsided her then-husband, Tareq Salahi, in 2011 to pursue a romance with Journey guitarist Neal Schon.
As previously reported, an insider told Us that Michaele, 50, and the “Don’t Stop Believin’” rocker, 62, were reacquainted on September, 4, 2011 when the RHODC starlet and Tareq, 47, attended a Journey concert in D.C.
“They met in 1995 when Journey was on tour and they maintained a relationship as friends ever since,” a Journey spokesperson told Us at the time.
Nearly two years after Michaele abruptly cut the cord on her 9-year marriage to Tareq — the couple famously crashed a White House party back in 2009 — she tied the knot with Schon on December 15, 2013. Their elaborate San Francisco wedding ceremony was made available to watch on Pay-Per-View.
