The role of a “villain” is a pretty good one if you can stomach the personal backlash. Reality television lends itself to numerous ways to develop a character, even if the character is yourself. Sometimes the edit takes care of how one is perceived by an audience of viewers. But we all know not to judge a book by its cover unless its cover is blown by a hot mic or voyeuristic camera angle.
Thanks to the fine art of self-production and plastic surgery, you can turn yourself into almost anything these days. Bravo tends to rely on the people who initiate arguments and spill secrets to keep most of us tuning into next week’s episode. We love to hate them and it’s fair to say they can dictate the direction a storyline can go. Let’s take a look back at some of our favorite instigators and pot-stirrers, courtesy of our favorite network.
Real Housewives Of Orange County / Meghan King Edmonds
Sherlock Holmes who? Meghan King took Real Housewives of Orange County and turned it upside down. This woman had the gift of time and she used that gift until her time on the show ran out. Meghan hasn’t been on RHOC for quite a while but the legacy she left behind has yet to be repeated. Meghan did a deep dive into Vicki Gunvalson’s boyfriend’s claim of having cancer. Going only off the feeling of a psychic, Meghan went all up into Brooks Ayers and Vicki’s business and found a multitude of questionable actions.
Vicki and Brooks were humiliated and the cancer scam they so carefully created didn’t evoke sympathy from the cast and fans. It turned the fandom completely against Vicki for being with such a shyster. There were no casseroles for Vicki when Meghan was done on her journey for the truth. And no one was gloating more than Vicki when Meghan’s marriage ultimately failed. On a show filled with some pretty impressive pot stirrers, Meghan proved to be a worthy opponent. These days Meghan spends the majority of her life stirring her ex-husband’s pot on social media.
Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills / Brandi Glanville
It might be best to wonder when Brandi Glanville hasn’t been instigating some type of drama to possibly deflect from herself. Especially when she was on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I don’t have enough fingers to count the times Brandi opened the lid to a can of worms she didn’t close. Among the victims of Brandi’s pot-stirring include, but are not limited to: Adrienne Maloof and her ex-husband Paul Nassif. Former friend, Lisa Vanderpump was also the subject of many pot-stirring attempts. LVP even got a slap in the face for her efforts in attempting to reconcile their broken relationship.
Brandi also made an impression by asking Kim Richards if she had been doing crystal meth in a bathroom during a get-together. We can’t forget about Brandi throwing a glass of wine in Eileen Davidson’s face completely unprovoked. Brandi’s ability to drop bombs with little to no remorse is unmatched, and it could also be the reason why she never got her diamond back. To this day, the question of why Brandi was the match that lit so many fires remains unanswered. What we do know is it wound up working against her in the end. Unfortunately, she burned almost every bridge she had.
RELATED: Classic Bravo Shows That Need To Return
Real Housewives Of New Jersey / Danielle Staub
There will be no article detailing the highs and lows of making people feel stabby without mentioning one of the all-time greats. Danielle Staub was one of the reasons Real Housewives of New Jersey became a force to be reckoned with. Yeah, I know, Teresa Giudice flipped a table. But Danielle gave us… the book. Hate me all you want, Teresa would not be where she is today without Danielle’s contribution of instigation. The victim of hair-pulling morphed into the ultimate hair-puller.
Danielle kept Jacqueline Laurita just outside of the Manzo chokehold which kept her co-stars safe from Danielle’s unsavory past. And her moments taunting Teresa prior to ending their feud are the stuff legends are made of. Poor Andy Cohen still has nightmares of Teresa bodily throwing him into a chair when Danielle lit her up at a reunion. Since Danielle left the building, we haven’t seen members of the Hell’s Angels crashing an event just to further prove she is not the one to mess with. I miss Danielle on RHONJ. She was one of the greatest instigators of all time.
Real Housewives Of New York / Ramona Singer
Wow, Bethenny, wow. You know good and well that a list of pot stirrers is not complete without including one of the GOATs. Real Housewives of New York alum Ramona Singer would essentially dip you into a volcano of lava and walk away whilst cackling quietly to herself. No one was immune to Ramona’s willingness to open her mouth and get someone else in trouble to take the spotlight off of her own dastardly deeds. If she even sniffed a hint of criticism, she would call BFF Sonja Morgan to throw off the scent.
Lest you think Ramona kept it to the New York cast, don’t fret. Ramona gathered her button-pushing powers and took them to Turk’s and Caicos for the first season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Ramona’s body count is very high and I’m sure that number is climbing. She insinuated Teresa Giudice is dumb. She made sure to leave the state of Montana in worse condition than she found it. Every cast trip with Ramona was a lesson on how not to conduct yourself in a group environment. Ramona instigated so much, you might say she ended the entire RHONY OG series. There are still a few vacancies on the treacherous Ramonacoaster but the ride closed when Ramona was axed.
Real Housewives Of Atlanta / Shereé Whitfield
Instigator. Pot stirrer. Bone Collector. These are just some of the titles held by none other than Real Housewives of Atlanta icon, Shereé Whitfield. Where to begin with such a soldier of reality television? Should we talk about the time Shereé let it slip that some in the group questioned the sexual preference of Kim Fields’ husband? Do we remember when Shereé called Kim Zolciak from Barcelona, thereby opening the door to the unforgettable roach video? What about the now-infamous convo with Marlo Hampton where she dropped a dime on Porsha Williams and Phaedra Parks gossiping about Kandi Burruss’ sexuality?
But Shereé’s gift lives to keep on giving. In 2022 she couldn’t even let Drew Sidora fully recover from surgery before engaging in a mess-making situation with Sanya Richards-Ross and throwing Kenya Moore under the bus. Shereé cannot keep a secret and you probably should not trust her, but she works hard for the money.
TELL US- WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE REAL HOUSEWIVES INSTIGATOR? WHOM WOULD YOU ADD TO THE LIST? WHO IS THE GREATEST REAL HOUSEWIVES POT STIRRER OUT OF ALL THE FRANCHISES?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images]