On The ‘Real Housewives,’ Wealth Is Never Enough

Essence Magazine:

By Shelby Stewart ·Updated May 12, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

The Real Housewives franchise has always been about the performance of wealth—aspirational, excessive, and just believable enough to keep us watching. When The Real Housewives of Orange County debuted in 2006, it wasn’t quite the high-gloss machine it is now. The women were adjacent to wealth, not entirely consumed by it. That distinction didn’t last long.

As Housewives expanded,

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