Whether you love or hate the show, The Real Housewives franchise has become a force to be reckoned with in the landscape of reality television. It has been almost ten years since the franchise began, with The Real Housewives of Orange County debuting on Bravo in 2006. Since then, the series has expanded to New York City and Atlanta in 2008, New Jersey in 2009, Washington, D.C. and Beverly Hills in 2010, and Miami in 2011. The Real Housewives has even expanded internationally to places like Athens, Vancouver, Melbourne, and Cheshire.
With reality TV comes the opportunity for reality stars to make lots of money for "just being themselves" and having their lives constantly filmed. There are lots of Real Housewives to keep track of, but here are the most up to date figures on what some of them are making per season.
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The Real Housewives of Orange County
Vicki Gunvalson – Vicki makes $500 thousand per season. She calls herself the original housewife and says that she plans to stay relevant even with all the spin-offs and interesting housewives.
Tamra Barney Judge – Tamra brings home $600 thousand a season. She got married for third time on the Bravo special Tamra's OC Wedding and calls herself the "hottest" housewife.
Gretchen Rossi – Rossi earns $375 thousand per season and is engaged to co-star Slade Smiley.
Alexis Bellino – $175 thousand per season.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
NeNe Leakes – Leakes is the biggest earner of The Real Housewives franchise, making $1 million plus bonuses per season. She also had her I Dream of NeNe wedding special on Bravo and is the most recognizable wife on the highest rated housewives version.
Kandi Buruss – Buruss takes home $550 thousand per season. She is also a singer and music producer and got her own Bravo spinoff The Kandi Factory. Buruss even runs a sex toy company called Bedroom Kandi which makes her a real entrepreneur.
Kim Zolciak – $500 thousand per season.
Ramona Singer – $500 thousand per season.
LuAnn de Lesseps – $500 thousand per season.
Phaedra Parks – $375 thousand per season.
Cynthia Bailey – $375 thousand per season.
Sheree Whitfield – $250 thousand per season.
Sonja Morgan – $220 thousand per season.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Teresa Giudice – Giudice is the second highest paid housewife and makes $700 thousand per season. Teresa owes more than $400 thousand in restitution for her fraud conviction. Maybe she should borrow from Donald Trump, who she "worked for" on The Apprentice.
Melissa Gorga – Gorga brings home $350 thousand each season and is the sister-in-law of Teresa Giudice. Melissa is writing a book about how to "maintain a sexy marriage" with her husband Joe.
Caroline Manzo – $400 thousand per season.
Jacqueline Laurita – $275 thousand per season.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Lisa Vanderpump – $350 thousand per season.
Kyle Richards – $225 thousand per season.
Eileen Davidson – $750 thousand per season.
Brandi Glanville – $175 thousand per season.
The Real Housewives of Miami
Adriana de Moura, Marysol Patton, and Joanna Krupa all reportedly make anywhere from $55 thousand to $75 thousand per season.
The Real Housewives of New York City
Sonja Morgan – $220 thousand per season.
Aviva Drescher – $200 thousand per season.
Heather Thomson – $175 thousand per season.
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