Real Housewives Couples Who Divorced After Appearing On The Show

The women who join Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise are expected to open up their lives to the show, which means if they are married or have a family, their significant other will also appear on the show. Unfortunately, the reality series has become widely known for having a high divorce rate. Women who come on the show married, often leave divorced or get divorced shortly after. It’s called the reality TV curse! We’ve compiled a list of 15 popular Real Housewives who were married when they joined the series, but got divorced after appearing on the show!

15. Adrienne Maloof

This Beverly Hills Housewife joined the RHOBH in season 1 and was a main cast member until season 3. During her time on the show viewers got to see a lot of her relationship with her now ex-husband, Paul Nassif. The two clearly had their fair share of issues prior to joining the show because they had been bickering with each other on camera ever since they filmed their first episode together. Many thought it was simply friendly banter, but Adrienne even later admitted she didn’t realize how bad it was until she watched the show. Nassif filed for separation in July 2012, then they divorced in August 2012. The two engaged in a nasty custody battle, spewing terrible accusations about one another until the divorce was finalized in November 2012.

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14. Porsha Williams

Porsha Williams’ marriage to former Pittsburgh Steelers star, Kordell Stewart, was short lived. When she joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta in season 5, they were newlyweds, but when she returned for season 6 in 2013, she was in the process of a divorce. Their marriage only lasted two years as the two got married in May 2011, but in March 2013, Stewart went and filed for divorce. Porsha Williams has since claimed that she was completely blindsided by the filing and that she found out about their separation through Twitter. Their divorce was finalized in December 2013 and she received none of his property or earnings in their settlement.

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13. LuAnn de Lesseps

Formerly known as the Countess, Luann de Lesseps has been starring on The Real Housewives of New York City since the show was created back in 2008. During her first season she was married to the Count, Alexandre de Lesseps. The two were married for 16 years, but it only took one year of filming to break apart their marriage. There are rumors Luann and Alexandre enjoyed an open marriage, but Luann has said their divorce came after Alexandre emailed her that met someone else, an Ethiopian Princess, Kemeria Abajobir Abajfar. They got divorced shortly after in 2009 and she remarried on Dec. 31, 2016 to Tom D’Agostino Jr.

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12. Lynne Curtin

When Lynne Curtin joined The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2008 for season 4, she was married to Frank Curtin. The two presented a pretty solid relationship during their two seasons on the show, although they seemed to struggle a lot when it came to parenting their two teenage daughters. Frank and Lynne were also plagued with financial issues which Frank kept private from Lynne until the two were unexpectedly evicted from their O.C. rental. Their marriage pretty much imploded afterwards as she kicked him out of the house. To make matters worse, after the season 5 finale, Lynne was booted from the show in 2010. In 2012 she filed for divorce to end her 22-year long marriage.

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11. Taylor Armstrong

Taylor Armstrong’s story from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is truly tragic. The former Housewife joined the series in season 1 and remained a main cast member until season 3. During the first two seasons she was married to venture capitalist, Russell Armstrong. Her time on the show was plagued with rumors of abuse in her marriage, which were eventually confirmed at the end of season 2. In 2011, Taylor filed for divorce and accused Russell of domestic violence. A photo surfaced on the internet of her bruised and battered face, and she claimed she needed a titanium mesh implant due to damage caused when he hit her. Shortly after she filed for divorce, he committed suicide. She occasionally appears on RHOBH as a friend, and is now remarried to John Bluher.

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10. Vicki Gunvalson

The OG of the O.C., Vicki Gunvalson joined The Real Housewives of Orange County back in 2004 for season 1. For the first six seasons she appeared on the show alongside her husband of 16 years, Donn Gunvalson. It’s hard to tell the extent of their marital problems prior to RHOC, but it’s clear the show brought a lot of their issues to the forefront as they were often caught talking badly about one another to the cameras during one-on-one interviews, and as Vicki’s business grew, these two grew apart. She took steps to divorce Donn on camera in the season finale. These two had a very long and drawn out divorce that got very costly for Vicki. They have both moved on since. Vicki is reportedly still dating Steve Lodge.

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9. Lisa Wu

Lisa Wu joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta for the first two seasons and during her time on the show she was married to former NFL player, Ed Hartwell. They got married in 2005 and had one son together. Wu left the show at the end of 2009 when the couple were having some serious financial issues and in August 2011 Ed filed for divorce. Their divorce was finalized in 2012. She never returned to the show, but Ed Hartwell’s name recently resurfaced in the media after a public divorce from his second wife, Keshia Knight Pulliam. Hartwell filed for divorce from his wife of less than a year only a few days after she announced they were expecting their first child together.

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8. Jules Waintstein

She’s the newest Housewife to join The Real Housewives of New York City, and the most recent Housewife to announce her departure from the show. Wainstein only lasted one season, and throughout her time on the show, it was evident her marriage to Michael had some issues. The two started out strong, but as the season went on Jules complained more and more about Michael not being around or helping out with the kids. When the season wrapped up it was revealed that the two were getting divorced and that Michael was allegedly having an affair (which he denies). Since Michael filed for divorce in June 2016, things have gotten ugly in divorce court, and costly. In September, Michael was ordered to pay $10,000 in spousal and child support until further notice while they each occupy the floor in their Manhattan triplex.

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7. Camille Grammer

Camille Grammer was engaged in one of the most public divorces in the entire Real Housewives’ franchise with her then-husband was A-list actor, Kelsey Grammer. During her first season on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Camille boasted about her perfect life, but near the end of the season it became clear there were some problems in the marriage. When the season wrapped, it was revealed the two were getting divorced and that Kelsey pushed Camille to join the show in order to keep her busy while he engaged in an affair in NYC with his now-wife, Kayte Walsh. Camille filed for divorce in July 2010 and the divorce was finalized in February 2011.

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6. Jeana Keough

No one was surprised when Jeana Keough came back to The Real Housewives of Orange County in season 2 and announced she had separated from her husband, former MLB player Matt Keough. The two had an extremely volatile relationship. He wasn’t caught on camera much, but when he was he was either darting out of the house or insulting Jeana. She allowed him to live in their house during their separation and it took many years for them to actually go through with the divorce. Today, the two are most definitely divorced, but it’s unclear when it was finalized. We do know that in 2010 when she defended him in court after he was charged with his second DUI. They were still legally married.

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5. Phaedra Parks

Phaedra Parks joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta for season 3 and appeared alongside her then-husband, Apollo Nida. By season 6 the two were experiencing marital problems and in season 7 the two are dealing with Apollo’s legal issues. The two had only been married for about five years when Parks filed for divorce in October 2014. Phaedra and Apollo have two sons together, Ayden, 6, and Dylan, 3. The divorce took a long time because Apolla had been arrested and was going through a highly publicized trial. He’s currently serving eight years in prison on fraud charges. In November 2016, she said their divorce was finalized, but Apollo filed a divorce petition the next month, so it’s unclear where their marriage stands now. He’s reportedly engaged to someone else while behind bars.

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4. Ramona Singer

The divorce of Ramona and Mario singer was shocking to many viewers who had watched Ramona sing praises of her marriage for the first six seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City. The two hid their marital woes well. They appeared together on the show seemingly as in love as ever all throughout season 6, which was when his rumored affair took place. Rumors of their separation and Mario’s affair played out in the media while neither one addressed it publicly. Ramona refused to talk about it when Andy tried to bring it up during the season 6 reunion special. We now know that it’s because the two tried to reconcile after his affair, but when she caught him with his mistress again she decided once and for all to follow through with the filing of their divorce. Their divorce was finalized in August 2014 and Ramona has since wrote a tell-all memoir with details about what really went down.

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3. Yolanda Hadid

The divorce between Yolanda and David foster was quite shocking. She joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in season 3 and the every day life in her marriage to David was seen on the show. The two often hosted dinner parties together and Yolanda was portrayed as the most perfect, doting wife. The couple had only been married for about a year when she joined the show, and in 2012, by the time season 4 went to air, she was struggling with her Lyme disease diagnosis. The two managed to stay together as Yolanda’s health deteriorated rapidly, but in 2015 during season 6 of the show, Yolanda and David announced they would be getting divorced. She didn’t return to the show and has since changed her last name to Hadid.

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2. DeShawn Snow

The only people who would remember this Housewife are those who’ve been watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta since season 1. She didn’t return after the first season, but during her short time on the show she was married to former NBA player Eric Snow. The couple had a substantially long marriage with three sons together. Not long after she left the show, the two ended their 12 year marriage. The divorce happened in 2012 and it’s unclear what exactly happened, but there have been reports of an alleged affair. Either way, DeShawn seems to be doing much better now as she’s a published author and lost 30 pounds!

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1. Tamra Judge

The divorce of Tamra and Simon Barney was extremely hostile and messy. Fans watched their marriage slowly fall apart for three seasons on The Real Housewives of Orange County. When she joined in season 2, she was very confident in her marriage to Simon, but by season 4 Tamra was singing a whole different tune. She began sharing with audiences that Simon was extremely controlling in their marriage and that financial hardships had put a strain on their relationship. In the season 5 finale, Tamra asked for a divorce during a heated argument. When she came back in season 6, the process of divorce was underway. A nasty custody battle followed suit with both parents fighting for primary custody of their three children. The two currently share custody, but Tamra’s estranged from her eldest daughter, Sydney, as the teen has chosen to live with her father full-time. She is now remarried to Eddie Judge who appears regularly on the show.