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Welcome back to Worth the Chat, a part of Pix Plus—Pix’s new subscription bundle that goes deeper into the entertainment picks that are actually worth your time.

Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, a time to celebrate the wonderful women in our lives who have chosen the path of motherhood in one way or another, from our mothers to our mother figures, and yes, even the dog moms. But since this is Worth the Chat, we’ll be celebrating the Mothers—capital M. 

Yes, I’m talking about the Real Housewives, a TV franchise my own mom calls nerve-jangling, yet I find to be genuinely calming during a hectic week. I’ve been a loyal viewer since the first episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County aired in 2006. I may have been a 12-year-old unable to relate to Tamara’s marital woes, or Vicki’s tantrum when “a little family van” showed up to bring a family of six to the airport (I get it now), but I was SAT. And still am, twenty years later.

Say what you want about the Housewives (and there's a lot you could say)—they’re often not the best people, the best wives, or the best friends. But a hill I will die on is that there's rarely a bad egg in the bunch when it comes to their dedication as mothers.

This Mother’s Day, I have a new slate of Housewives—and mothers—to be grateful for: the women of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island. If you aren't watching yet, in the words of Pretty Woman’s Vivian Ward: “Big mistake, huge!”

Meet your new Mothers. They're the best addition to reality TV in years.

When The Real Housewives of Rhode Island was announced, I could never have predicted what it would become. I'm a PNW girl, but I spent middle school in central Massachusetts, so my entire frame of reference for Rhode Island is as a pre-teen inside Providence Place Mall. (That, and Taylor Swift's WASPy Fourth of July parties at "Holiday House.") I think I expected RHORI to be preppy and buttoned-up. What we’re getting instead is infinitely more fun.

RHORI comprises a cast of strong, gorgeous, and successful women, most of whom are proud Italian Americans or of Syrian or Lebanese American heritage. (Fun fact: Rhode Island has the highest concentration of Italian Americans per capita in the United States.) It's instantly reminiscent of OG RHONJ—the table-flipping, Danielle Staub-era—but without the too-close-to-home toxicity of painful family fallouts. From the very first episode of RHORI, I was sold. And here’s my pitch to sell you on it, too.

RHORI’s Secret Sauce

Fellow pop culture enthusiasts will recognize a few familiar faces. Ashley Iaconetti built her entire reality TV identity on one thing: feeling everything, loudly, on camera. Bachelor Nation knows her best from the mascara-stained tears of Bachelor in Paradise, where she spent two seasons in painful, unrequited love with fellow contestant Jared Haibon—who eventually came to his senses when they married in 2019. She was always destined to end up back on reality TV. She's a perfect fit.

Then there's Dolores Catania, former corrections officer and no-nonsense fan favorite from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, who spent years expertly navigating the Teresa vs. Melissa war that ultimately ended the show without picking a side. She comes in as a "friend of" here, a title that, in Housewives history, has functioned as a psychological warfare tool used by the production for housewife demotions. On this show, it instead reads as a stamp of approval from a legend. Dolores’s connection to the Rhode Island women comes through cast member Liz McGraw. They met, naturally, at a cannabis convention, and bonded over their shared plastic surgeon. Iconic.

Going in, I was most excited to get an Ashley I. life update and see Dolores running with a new crowd, but I am pleased to report that neither of them even comes close to the level of chaos the newbies are delivering.

BravoTV.com

The true test of a great Housewives franchise is a cast with real, lived-in relationships that existed long before any cameras showed up—and RHORI has that. Alicia Carmody and Jo-Ellen Tiberi grew up together and have been frenemies for decades. Liz McGraw and Kelsey Swanson round out the foursome who call themselves "the clique," which tells you everything you need to know. Between them, there is a former Miss Rhode Island with two boyfriends (who inexplicably has 79 televisions in her home), a woman who introduces us to her husband as someone she is related to “somewhere down the line,” a woman with a cannabis empire (the aforementioned Liz), and an old school Italian with a thriving pizza business and serious “mob wife” energy.

In the first episode alone, there are tears, an open relationship, sugar baby and swinger accusations, and multiple cheating rumors. In a world where every reality show feels like manufactured personalities and thinly veiled influencer auditions, these women are hilariously, unapologetically themselves, unafraid to show the good, the bad, and the genuinely unhinged. It's the perfect jumping-in point for first-time Housewives viewers, and its nostalgic OG feel will appeal to longtime fans. It feels less like a reality show and more like someone just happened to leave a camera on. Right now, it's the most fun I'm having watching television, and I need more people to talk about it with. Are you watching? Reply and let me know the reality TV shows that have you in a chokehold.

The Real Housewives of Rhode Island airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on Bravo, and drops on Peacock the next day.

Currently watching: RHORI & Summer House

Meredith is the Managing Editor at Pix Media and has been covering TV, movies, podcasts, and books for 8 years. Raised on VH1's I Love the... series, E! True Hollywood Stories, and The Real Housewives, Meredith has been fluent in pop culture since infancy. She religiously watches every Bravo show, lives for HBO Sunday nights, goes deep on reality-scandal discourse, and has a TBR that is physically taking over her apartment.