The Year in Bravo: The Mashups, The Mishaps, And So Many Memes

What didn’t Bravo give us this year? That’s the real question we should be asking, because what the network did provide was enough content, gossip, and general entertainment to keep us on our toes nearly every day of the year.

The channel that once specialized in shows that moms watched at the end of the day with a glass of wine became ubiquitous in all areas of life this year. We should’ve known what was in store when the Southern Charm reunion (yep, somehow that was this year!) essentially ended a high-profile celebrity engagement and thus gave us the nostalgic celebrity couple of our 2002 dreams, the return of Bennifer. But that wasn’t the only mashup we were blessed with. We can also credit Austen Kroll for taking part in the Southern Charm/Summer House spinoff series Winter House along with fellow Charleston pal Craig Conover and a handful of New York City models. It was the booze-drenched hookup series we needed after the heaviest year in reality show history.

The network then paired reality TV with true crime, as all eyes (even Harry’s!) were on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this season as the women learned of, reacted to, and argued about Erika Jayne’s neverending legal mess (and use of non-waterproof mascara). It was compelling, it was icky, and it was unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in this capacity. Oh, and it’s not over yet — for Erika, or for Bravo. Because once RHOBH ended, we rolled right into The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City where Jen Shah is also dealing with her own legal drama that is so outrageous, it never would’ve made it into a scripted series. Watching the feds swarm the Beauty Lab + Laser parking lot as the women learned of their friend’s fate while riding a luxury van to Vail is just…special. It was jaw-dropping, it was sad, it was exciting, and it was taking the franchise to a whole new place in real-time.

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In fact, 2021 was the year in which Bravo embraced the real-time reactions on social media and understood to bake them into the on-screen drama we would watch, often several months after the internet went wild with each new headline — for better or worse, as this piece in The Cut explains. Between receipts and memes, the only thing both talent and viewers could do this year was lean all the way into everything the internet had to offer. “The blogs” became their own Housewife, cast member, and storyline in a variety of ways, across every single show. We’re seeing it now on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip on Peacock (the ultimate reminder of why we love these shows in the first place), how important social media can be, both to those involved in the shows or simply watching from home. Watching Bravo now extends so far beyond the couch — there’s a component on your phone with social media, in your ears in the form of podcasts, and in speaking to all your friends who are just as hooked.

Hell, even Nicki Minaj’s obsession with The Real Housewives of Potomac landed her in the host’s chair during this year’s reunion, the first time Andy Cohen scooted his buns behind the camera to watch. However, he helped to seamlessly transition Watch What Happens Live back to the iconic New York City studio, proving the pandemic couldn’t batter around the late night show too badly. Less fortunate was The Real Housewives of New York, perhaps this year’s biggest fail in the Bravo lineup (Vanderpump Rules is a close second, though). Minus that time Sonja Morgan drank wine through her mask, of course.

In 2021 we welcomed the first Below Deck baby courtesy of Jean-Luc and Dani on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, in a Maury-style celebration, no less. It was that show that also gave us one of the most promising new personalities in ages in the form of chief stew Daisy Kelliher. We also became reacquainted with old friends as Heather Dubrow made her triumphant return to The Real Housewives of Orange County, and next week The Real Housewives of Miami returns on Peacock — so don’t cancel that subscription just yet. The network also tried an interesting experiment with Below Deck Mediterranean this year, premiering episodes on the streaming platform one week before they aired on TV. Was it mostly confusing? Yes. But are we ready for the next installment, Below Deck Down Under in 2022? Also yes.

Being a Bravo fan in 2021 required a lot of reading: of legal documents (we’re all lawyers now, promise) yes, but of books too. Not one but two books became required reading in the form of Brian Moylan’s The Housewives and Dave Quinn’s Not All Diamonds and Rosé (the latter was published by Andy Cohen’s imprint). The content just kept on coming.

All this is to say, Bravo was more relevant in mainstream pop culture than it has ever been — and that’s not even in a year with a BravoCon, which was sadly canceled due to the rise of the Delta variant this summer (lol, remember her?). These shows are the definition of zeitgeist as we work towards calling out the rich, bringing about justice, and then, at the end of the day and most importantly, doing our best to escape it all.