An alleged swinger, an apparent sugar baby, and a former “Bachelor” virgin launch “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island”
An alleged swinger, an apparent sugar baby, and a former “Bachelor” virgin launch “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island”
Sarah HearonFri, April 3, 2026 at 2:15 AM UTC
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The cast of 'The Real Housewives of Rhode Island'Credit: Bronson Farr/Bravo
Bravo may have just hit the jackpot again with The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.
The 12th installment of the long-running franchise — OG series The Real Housewives of Orange County celebrated its 20th anniversary last month — has the perfect recipe for a Housewives show: history between the cast (Alicia Carmody, Liz McGraw, Kelsey Swanson, and Jo-Ellen Tiberi are a "clique"), familiar faces (The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania is a "friend of" and four-time Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti holds a pearl), and a twisted tangle of skeletons in the closest.
Thursday's premiere kicked off with an introduction to Alicia and longtime fiancé Bill, with whom she shares daughter Celina. "She likes everything that I like," Alicia tells the camera of her 9-year-old. "She loves Britney Spears, I love Britney Spears." (Yes, she's being serious.)
Alicia's big Italian family will remind viewers of RHONJ, with her aunts wasting no time listing their concerns about Alicia and Bill not being married. "Billy, I want you to get your swagger back, bang her against the wall or something," one aunt suggests, as another complains about them not all living in the same town anymore.
Alicia has known and been friends with Liz — whom she calls "Queen Elizabeth" — since they were born. "Everyone always says I'm blunt and I bite people's heads off," Liz says in her first confessional, in an accent so strong that "blunt" nearly sounds like "blond."
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When asked by Entertainment Weekly at the premiere party in New York City whether the group is actually funny or the accents deserve the credit, executive producer Andy Cohen says: "I think it's both. And I think in the best way of Housewives, they're inadvertently… They don't realize they're funny. They just are funny."
Liz is married to Gerry. "Gerry and I were married for about six months and that is when the whole ancestry/DNA thing was blowing up," she tells the cameras. "If you look at Gerry and you look at me, no one's ever going to say we are related. But we are related somewhere down the line."
It's a throwaway line on the show, so EW had to investigate. "My mom passed away in 1985, but she didn't realize that her mom had divorced her dad — married this Irish guy for one year, divorced him, and then married my mom who she thought her dad was. So my great grandmother was a McGraw," Liz attempts to explain to EW. "It's distant. Very, very, very distant."
Liz is also Dolores' connection to the cast. The two women met at a cannabis convention and later shared the same plastic surgeon and dentist. "Friends share," Dolores tells EW, matter-of-factly adding: "We looked alike before that. I looked like Liz's mom!"
Kelsey, a former Miss Rhode Island, is a self-described "lady of leisure" who lives in a home with 79 TVs and four kitchens. "Every toilet has a TV in front of it," she adds to EW.
And how does one live such a life of luxury? "Find a man with money," she tells EW with no shame. "That's the easiest path of leisureness."
A group shot from the 'RHORI' premiere in New YorkCredit: Noam Galai/Bravo
Kelsey's boyfriend of 10 years — who she says "dates multiple people" and lives in Miami with "somebody else" for several months out of the year — is not featured on the show, and he's even cut out of photos shown. Still, she tells EW that he's supportive.
"He's a diehard Housewives fan," Kelsey says. "He binge-watches reality TV more than any woman I've ever met. He was very excited for me to do this… He just knew that he could not subject himself to this cast."
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The mystery boyfriend was onto something, as Kelsey’s unconventional relationship quickly sparks chatter among the cast, with the group suggesting she has a second boyfriend of her own and calling her a polygamist and/or sugar baby. (She denies the labels in previews of the show.)
Rounding out the group of existing friends is Jo-Ellen, whose husband dated her sister first. Later in the episode, it's suggested that she's a "swinger" and implied she once dated a salon owner and his wife.
"Are you asking me or Kelsey?" Jo-Ellen jokes when EW bluntly asks if she is indeed a swinger. "I'm not. Gary and I are not swingers. I don’t want to disappoint anybody, that's not a correct rumor. But there are a lot of rumors in Rhode Island…"
Something else she has to clear up? That she knew what was celebrated on the Fourth of July. After suggesting on the show that the holiday was related to Christopher Columbus, she tells EW: "It's our independence from Great Britain! In 1776 — not 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
If you aren't convinced yet, other examples of the humor throughout the premiere include Alicia not being able to pronounce "caricature" and two of the ladies debating whether a heron is "a swan on Ozempic" or "a really ugly flamingo."
Rhode Island newscaster Rosie DiMare, meanwhile, is proud of everyone's grandfathers having "crushes" on her and is married to Rich, who's "a Frank Sinatra singer" — not an "impersonator." What's the difference, you might ask?
Alica and Kelsey on 'RHORI'Credit: Bravo
"The reason it really upsets Rich is because he's not impersonating Frank Sinatra!" Rosie tells EW. "He's not wearing a fedora, he's not acting like Frank Sinatra. He's not even singing all Frank Sinatra songs! He just happens to sing that kind of music and gets paid a lot of money to do that… He's not getting up on stage being like, 'I'm Frank.' He's just singing the music."
She adds: "Let me clarify something right now: I would never marry a Frank Sinatra impersonator. That is so cringe!"
While she has drama with Jo-Ellen in the premiere over gifting her a $6 bottle of wine, Rosie doesn’t mince words when asked about the various relationship allegations on the show, hinting that there will be some backpedaling from the women. "I think the one thing to keep in mind is some of those weren't allegations," she says.
Rosie is friends with Ashley, whom Bachelor Nation met on season 19 of The Bachelor in 2015. At the time, her storyline included opening up to then-lead Farmer Chris about being a virgin. She went on to appear on seasons 2 and 3 of Bachelor in Paradise — where she met eventual husband Jared Haibon — and the short-lived Bachelor: Winter Games. "Everybody's scared for me," she tells EW of joining the Bravo world. "They're like, 'Ashley, you don't know what you're jumping into.'"
Finally, there’s Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, a seventh Housewife who isn't even included in the premiere and is set to weather a cheating scandal of her own as allegations fly in the trailer. "I think the truth will always surface and I think as the season plays out, we're anxious for fans to really realize what's true and what's been sensationalized," Rulla tells EW.
Either way, it's going to be fun to watch. If you don't believe us, take it from Andy. "It's so funny and it feels like an old-school season of Housewives in a weird way," he says. "It's just delicious in every way. And they're untouched by the machine of trying to be a certain way. They're uniquely themselves."
After a special Thursday premiere, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island will airs Sundays on Bravo at 9 p.m. ET/PT, while streaming on Peacock the next day.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
