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Justin Sylvester, an Emmy-nominated host at E! News, claimed that Bravo “incentivizes Housewives” to not post about the show. He also shared why, and revealed how much is their “bonus” if they follow the rule.
Before new seasons of Real Housewives (including Real Housewives of Orange County) castmates are strangely mum about their drama while filming. This is dramatically different from shows like Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, whose castmates post about their fights in real time.
“Bravo incentivizes Housewives to not tweet about the show. So they get a bonus,” said Justin on Chicks in the Office. “Like if you don’t tweet any spoilers or you don’t fight online, they give you X amount of dollars to let everything air out.”
According to Justin, this policy should happen with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, who frequently post spoilers.
Justin then shared why Bravo doesn’t want co-stars to start drama online.
“Because at times, they were giving [the storylines] away,” he explained. “Because they were trying to defend themselves before the show came out.”
“You can’t talk about anything that hasn’t aired yet,” he continued. “And they put that ban on them and gave them – I think it was like – $30,000 or $40,000.”
Back in 2020, shortly after Tamra’s exit from RHOC (before she was hired back two seasons later), a source told Radar that a salary dispute led to her decision to leave the show.
“Bravo bosses wanted Tamra to be a bridge from the old cast to the new in season 15 and she refused,” said the source at the time. “Tamra got her pick-up contract letter last, after the other ladies, and it had major conditions in it. She was even more than demoted to a friend role. She’d have very little camera time. And it meant she would earn next to nothing in reality TV terms.”
“She would go from $900,000 a season to $20,000 an episode for just three show appearances, which would add up to $60,000 total,” the source added. “It was humiliating… so Tamra walked away.”
New episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County air Thursday nights on Bravo.