Who Really Pays For The Real Housewives Cast Vacations?
The Real Housewives franchise is known for their luxurious and lavish cast trips (usually filled with drama). St. Barths, South Africa, and Puerto Rico are just a few places the ladies have vacationed together. One trip to Morocco led season 4's RHONY cast on a "trip of a lifetime" where they rode camels, saw a fortune teller, and of course, screamed and cried (via E! News). At least once per season, viewers can expect to see the Housewives travel in style — but are they actually footing the bill?
Andy Cohen, the executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise, recently revealed to OK! Magazine exactly who pays for these extravagant trips.
The Housewives aren't going to spend a dime if they don't have to
"We do," Cohen told OK!, when asked who foots the bill. "Frankly, we do yeah but you know it depends on the vacation actually." He went on to say that there have been some trips generated by production and there have been some generated by the cast. "The women take the planning of the vacation really seriously and so it's a case by case but we have paid for them, yes."
Vicki Gunvalson, from RHOC, told a panel at BravoCon that production does indeed pain for the tips. "It's the truth. I wanted to go to Greece, we went to Florida," she exclaimed (via Cheat Sheet).
If production isn't paying, neither are the Housewives
Ex-Housewife Alex McCord had previously explained on Rumor Fix, "Typically if a trip is happening by the show, and it's not season one, it is put together by the producers." She went on to say that the 2012 RHONY trip to London was covered by the Housewives themselves because it went over Bravo's budget. McCord explained that they were also a little cheap when it came to shopping. Since production wasn't paying, they weren't buying, she said. "No New Yorker is going to buy anything in London because the prices are ridiculous."
Although these wealthy ladies love to flaunt their wealth, it seems they aren't above taking a few free trips, either.