Several Real Housewives have graced our shores in recent weeks, and now an entire cast-full more is to come.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Crystal Kung Minkoff showed Instagram followers a glimpse into her stay in Ireland earlier this month whilst on a family trip to Europe. The Housewife, who is currently starring on season 12 of the hit reality series after joining the show last year, did plenty during her stay here - visiting the Cliffs of Moher, getting a pint in Temple Bar and even having her luggage lost by Aer Lingus.
Former Beverly Hills cast member Teddi Mellencamp also visited Ireland last week, asking Instagram followers for last-minute recommendations of things to do in Dublin. And now it looks like the Real Housewives of New Jersey will be filming a cast trip to our city in the coming days.
Read more: Real Housewife star asks fans for things to do on her last day in Dublin
This isn’t the first time a Real Housewives cast have filmed in Dublin. The Real Housewives of Orange County caused a stir when they took a trip here during their 11th season, which aired back in 2016.
If the Jersey girls bring as much drama as the OC ladies did, our city is in for an eventful few days. And given the Jersey Housewives’ rap sheet - which includes table-flipping, hair-pulling, Christening brawls, a 21-time-fiancée and a literal rap sheet because one of them spent a year in jail - we’re fairly sure it won’t be all Guinness and rosé.
In light of all that, we decided to take a look back at some of the most iconic reality TV moments filmed in Dublin. From home-grown productions to international guests, Dublin has seen its fair share of on-camera fights, quotable one-liners, drunken antics and other gobsmacking or hilarious moments… and these are the pinnacle.
The egg debacle of Tallafornia
The US had Jersey Shore, the UK had Geordie Shore and the Only Way Is Essex, and Ireland had Tallafornia. The only thing better than watching people with thick accents getting drunk or fighting is watching people with your own thick accent getting drunk or fighting.
Read more: Where is the cast of Tallafornia now? Here are some big makeovers and a surprise
Tallafornia gave us plenty of that, but its most memorable moment by far was the argument between Nikita and Cormac on their way home from the supermarket. The whole cast had been tasked with putting together a grocery list that met the needs of the household on budget, and Nikita and Cormac were sent off to Tesco to do the shopping.
Tensions grew when Nikita accused Cormac of veering off the list and buying an unholy amount of eggs. This led to a heated argument in the taxi home, where Nikita demanded to know “who eats that many f**king eggs?”
We then got one of the most quoted lines of the series from the Corminator: “It’s only five eggs per bloke per day.” Iconic.
The pair continued arguing, with Nikita eventually screaming at him to shut the F up and not talk to her. Cormac’s response was another line that is still quoted to this day: “You’re nointeen, shut yer face.” And history was made.
The brutal “you go first” rejection on First Dates
First Dates had been a hit in the UK before First Dates Ireland came to Dublin via RTE in 2016. The Irish version has seen plenty of awkward, funny and heart-warming moments at the Gibson Hotel’s Coda restaurant in Point Square.
Read more: RTE First Dates' head waitress reveals what goes on behind the scenes
One of the show’s most memorable moments came back in 2017, with viewers taking their outrage to social media in response. A contestant broke the unspoken rule of the show: you don’t let your date go first in saying whether or not they’d like to see you again if you know you’re not interested.
Donegal man Richard seemed to hit it off with Timmie from Clare during their date. When it came to the awkward confessional moment where producers ask if they’d want to see each other again, Timmie insisted Richard answer first.
Richard said he would, adding that he felt their dinner went well with a nice flow of conversation. Timmie agreed the conversation was great, then added the dreaded “but”: “I just don’t think there was a spark there” and “I think we’re just better friends”.
Richard became visibly upset after Timmie left their confessional session, appearing to cry into his hands. He later defended Timmie from mass social media backlash that criticised him for seemingly setting his date up for a fall.
Fade Street’s Oxegen woes
Putting Fade Street under “reality TV” feels a little ambitious, but since the cast and crew insisted it wasn’t scripted, we have no choice but to take them at their word. As Ireland’s answer to the likes of the Hills and Made in Chelsea, Fade Street aimed for a more posh, cosmopolitan vibe than Tallafornia.
It was therefore significantly tamer than the latter. But Fade Street has established somewhat of a cult following of its own for its kitschiness in being a reality TV show that feels very rehearsed and, well, unreal.
Read more: The stars of Fade Street: Where are they now?
An example is the scene in which cast members Vogue Williams and Louise Johnston discuss their plans for Oxegen, the be-all and end-all of Irish festivals at the time. Just as they’re gushing excitedly about the upcoming weekend, their boss conveniently arrives to inform the pair that only one of them can attend the festival as she needs the other to work.
Yep, Dallas gave us ‘Who shot JR?’ in the 1980s and Fade Street gave us ‘Who gets to go to Oxegen?’ in the early 2010s. Truly nail-biting stuff.
The Real Housewives of Orange County getting kicked out of Brown Thomas
As we said, the Real Housewives of Orange County had a drama-filled trip here a few years ago after one of the ladies (Meghan King) wanted to trace her Irish roots. She brought her castmates (Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, Kelly Dodd, Shannon Beador and Vicki Gunvalson) along on her Trans-Atlantic journey and Dublin City once again found itself the site of a vicious conflict.
Tamra and Kelly got into a heated argument while having a couple of drinks at The Old Storehouse in Temple Bar. Heather rounded up the group to make their exit and suggested they head to Grafton Street for a bit of “retail therapy”.
On their way there, a frustrated Kelly vented to Shannon that Tamra was a “goddamn liar”. She then took a dig at Tamra’s strained relationship with her eldest daughter, saying, “No wonder her daughter doesn’t talk to her.”
They entered Brown Thomas, which they seemingly weren’t allowed to film in as the camera angle remained focused on the storefront while the cast’s mic audio was subtitled. Tamra asked Shannon what Kelly said, and after Shannon told her, Shannon could be heard saying “Stop, stop, stop!” and calling Tamra’s name.
Tamra then screamed, “You f**king b**ch! You talk about my f**king daughter and I’ll f**king kill you!” with Kelly at one point exclaiming, “You hit me!”
The show then cut to Tamra hyperventilating in the back of their sprinter van with Shannon comforting her. The remaining ladies were then shown on the street and a mortified Heather declared to Kelly: “I have never been asked to leave a store in my entire life, but because of that thing with you and Tamra, they asked us to leave.”
She continued her rant in the van, hilariously explaining how Brown Thomas kicked them out: “I was just asked to leave a department store. I’m in the bathroom and this is what I have at the door - ‘Bang bang bang, is there an American lady in there?’” Horrified gasp.
On bad terms with nearly everyone in the group, Kelly decided to separate from them the next day. She instead opted to spend the day with Meghan, who was off tracing her Irish ancestry (read: standing on the streets of Greystones and asking passersby if they were, or knew, an O’Toole as they could be related to her).
Nadine Coyle’s passport lie
No Irish reality TV list would be complete without mentioning the iconic moment Nadine Coyle shot herself in the foot by accidentally revealing her real date of birth on Irish Popstars. The Girls Aloud star was just sixteen at the time, making her too young for the show’s 18+ age restriction.
That didn’t stop her from trying to compete, though. She put down 1983 as her birth year on the application form, but accidentally stated her real birth year of 1985 on-camera and then immediately asked producers in a panic: “What date of birth did I say?”
Producers later re-visited the issue with her and she claimed she gave them the wrong date of birth by accident. They asked her for her passport to verify her age, to which she then pantomimed a root through her room and a phone call home in search of it, along with some mock shock that she gave the wrong date.
She kept the act up in another scene with Linda Martin, claiming her parents couldn’t find her passport. But when the cameras went down, she broke down in tears and confessed she was indeed sixteen years old, forcing her to leave the show.
If that all hadn't gone down the way it did, we wouldn't have had the same Girls Aloud we ended up with. We also apparently wouldn't have had Nicola Coughlan on Derry Girls, as she attributes her perfect accent for Clare to having watched Nadine's Popstars slip-up so many times.
What other iconic Dublin reality tv moments do you remember? Let us know in the comments below.
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