The vacations throughout The Real Housewives franchise are the stuff of legend, from RHONY's Scary Island to RHOBH's Aspen meltdowns to all of the luxurious holidays taken on the Ultimate Girls Trip spinoff series in far-flung locales like Thailand, Morocco and St. Barths. But exactly who foots the bill for all of those palatial villas, pricey excursions and picturesque drama?
Former The Real Housewives of Dallas star Stephanie Hollman — the Texas-based series aired five seasons between April 2016 and May 2021 but wasn't picked up for a sixth — took to TikTok to answer fan questions, and in the process she shed some light on exactly how those televised trips work on the Housewives shows.
Hollman posted a video to her TikTok answering the question "What does Bravo pay for and what do you pay for?" And you can see her explanation below:
@stephhollman ♬ original sound - Stephanie Hollman
Hollman disclosed that for the "big trips" the Housewives castmates traditionally take each season, Bravo itself is opening its wallet, taking care of the flights and hotels while the reality stars are away:
I can only speak on Housewives because I don't know how any of the other shows work. But my personal experience, whenever you go on trips, like your big trips, [Bravo] pays for [it]. So, there's a budget that production has that they can spend throughout the season and trips are a part of that. So, the trip they pay for, the flights, everything.
However, there have been cases where castmates have had to throw in some of their own dollars during travel, Hollman revealed. However, given how lofty those Real Housewives salaries can be, we don't think these well-to-do women really run into any trouble there. She continued to talk about the trips, saying:
The only time that I threw money in on a trip is when we went to Copenhagen. We had a smaller budget, we were a newer show, I think that was season two or three, and they were going to fly us coach and it's, like, a very, very long flight. I spent like five or six thousand dollars to upgrade myself because whenever you go there, it's very short, you're there for like three or four days and you are working your booty off. I think everyone but two people upgraded themselves for the Copenhagen trip so that was the only time. But they usually fly you first class, they take good care of you, you have really nice rooms.
The RHOD star also gave some behind-the-scenes insight into the realities of filming the franchise's frequent restaurant scenes — which, yes, can quickly devolve into a table-flipping, glass-throwing mess, as they did in 2009.
While most onscreen food is taken care of by the network, Hollman explained the women have to fund their own fabulous parties and that they're expected to host "one big thing" per year:
Whenever you're going to eat at restaurants during the season, Bravo pays for that. That's, again, money that is set aside for the season. Whenever you throw events—so usually you have to throw one big thing a year—you pay for that and those events can be very, very pricey because they're expected to be nice and look good on film and that will cost you.
And, of course, makeup, hair, wardrobe along with travel are of the utmost importance to the infamously lavish ladies. (RHOBH star Erika Jayne, one of the most successful Housewives stars to date, once sparked backlash for her flippant use of private jets.) Along with breaking down how travel works, Hollman gave a handy rundown of how "glam" works while filming:
All of your clothes. you pay for, except for the reunion. You do have a stylist and they do send you stuff. I normally did my own stuff for the reunion, but honestly, there's so many places where you can rent really amazing gowns and clothes so a lot of my reunion things, I rented from luxury rental services. And then like hair and makeup, you pay for by yourself unless you're filming confessionals or unless it's the reunion and then they pay for your glam.
No matter who is putting their credit card down to cover those expensive—and explosive—getaways, we can't get enough of watching them. You can vicariously travel with the Housewives yourself by streaming both regular editions of the show as well as the Ultimate Girls Trip spinoff with a Peacock subscription, and make sure you stay tuned to the 2024 TV schedule so you don't miss their next trip.
