Hold onto your lobster rolls, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island is coming.
Bravo announced a suite of new and returning series on Wednesday, including a brand new installment of the iconic Real Housewives franchise that centers on a group of friends from the Ocean State and a novel take on the classic reality series Wife Swap with Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition.
The official logline for The Real Housewives of Rhode Island notes that the series “expands into the world of a tight-knit circle of Rhode Islanders who have deep community roots and families that go back generations. With aspirational lives, thriving businesses, and tangled family dynamics, these decade-long friendships prove that in a state this small, there’s no escaping your past… or each other.”
The Wife Swap–Housewives crossover series is described thus: “When a ‘Real Housewife’ takes off her stilettos and steps into a real housewife’s shoes, all bets are off as two of entertainment’s most iconic franchises are mashed up leading to laugh-out-loud moments, personal epiphanies and an opportunity to see if the grass is truly greener.”
The network is also revitalizing two more series. The first is The Valley, a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules (itself a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spinoff), which is getting a spinoff of its own, The Valley: Persian Style. The second is Ladies of London, a Housewives-esque candid reality series following six wealthy Brits. The latter series is returning after its third and final season bowed in 2017, but with a “new wave of British blue bloods, ambitious American expats, and glamorous international socialites,” per the official description.
The network previously announced that Vanderpump Rules is also getting the reboot treatment and a whole new cast, following the dramatic fallout of last year’s so-called “Scandoval” controversy.
In addition to these new and reimagined series, a group of current series got the official renewal notice. They include Below Deck Med, Below Deck Down Under, Married to Medicine, Southern Charm, Southern Hospitality, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of Potomac, and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
Courtesy of Bravo
The cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ season 14
The Real Housewives franchise kicked off back in 2006 with The Real Housewives of Orange County, and has grown to encompass a dozen additional installments, featuring glamorous frienemies in places like Atlanta, Washington D.C., Dallas, and even Dubai.
Wife Swap originated on the U.K.’s Channel 4 in 2003, with the familiar American remake debuting the following year. Each episode of the series makes good on its title — swapping wives within families that often embody notable contrasts (Christian family-atheist family, liberal family-conservative family, etc.). The series ran for seven seasons on ABC and two on the Paramount Network, with the popular spinoff Celebrity Wife Swap airing for four seasons, from 2012-2016.
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