Bravo has cornered the market on a very particular type of, let's be honest, sketchy reality
TV.
Unfortunately, the very thing that makes Bravo's programming so captivating is also the reason
for the network's revolving door of celebs.
These are the stars that got the chop from Bravo shows.
Jeff Lewis has been a Bravo staple since 2007, but 11 years after his home renovation series
first premiered, the network seemingly let him go.
"So, unfortunately, we’re going to go ahead and let you go today."
During an appearance on Jenny McCarthy's SiriusXM show, the Flipping Out star admitted he wasn't
on the best terms with Bravo.
He told McCarthy that because of pending lawsuits and his own SiriusXM show where he talked
about behind-the-scenes issues,
"I've had a lot of heat from Bravo."
Prior to Flipping Out's likely cancellation, Lewis also had a falling out with his friend
and co-star Jenni Pulos.
The explosive argument, which led to Pulos' firing, aired during Season 11 in 2018.
Following the incident, various magazines reported that Lewis and the Flipping Out production
team were being reported for harassment and abuse from both Pulos and from Lewis' daughter’s
surrogate mother for filming her birth without permission.
The lawsuit was later dropped.
Bravo's ever-growing cast of Real Housewives generally seem to dislike all of their friends,
at least enough to flip tables and threaten them with shards of glass.
If that's par for the course, it's hard to imagine what Brandi Glanville did to make
her castmates hate her enough that she was actually sacked from The Real Housewives of
Beverly Hills.
Most fans know Glanville as the woman on the very unfortunate end of one of the biggest
cheating scandals of the last two decades, in which her then-husband Eddie Cibrian divorced
her to marry singer LeAnn Rimes.
But the drama wasn't enough to keep her on the show.
Her feuds with Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Eileen Davidson, Lisa Rinna, and pretty much
anyone else with whom she came into contact were well-documented during Season 5.
In fact, People reported that Glanville was ultimately ousted because she couldn't get
along with anyone, and no one wanted to shoot with her.
Andy Cohen later confirmed to Howard Stern that the rest of the cast genuinely hated
her and Brandi hated them back.
He told the radio host,
"She would admit, also, she was on an island, and she is now in a place where none of them
want to be with her."
Jill Zarin, the longtime Real Housewives of New York troublemaker, was fired from the
series ahead of the show's fifth season.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network terminated the star's six-season contract
two years early, but Zarin wasn't exactly sure why.
In true Real Housewives form, the spunky designer confronted Andy Cohen on live TV about getting
the likely Louboutin boot.
Cohen reminded Zarin on the show that the last reunion they had was incredibly toxic
for everyone involved.
He even suggested that the network wanted to relieve some of that pain by removing her.
Zarin didn't hide that her firing felt horrible.
She said,
"It felt like a death."
"Yeah."
"It felt like my funeral.
I was heartbroken."
But time might heal all wounds.
Rumors, which have been perpetuated by Zarin herself, claim the former Real Housewives
of New York star will return to the series in season 12 following Bethenny Frankel's
exit.
Sometimes Bravo actually does the right thing, regardless of how it will affect the ratings.
The network ousted disgraced politician Thomas Ravenel following two reports of alleged sexual
assault.
The first accusation came from a real estate agent named Ashley Perkins, who accused Ravenel
of assaulting her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, in December 2015, after Perkins and
Ravenel met on a dating app.
Ravenel's attorney denied the mother and daughter's claims, but shortly after, the Southern Charm
star had additional assault accusations made against him by Dawn Ledwell, his former nanny.
People reported that Ravenel ended up settling with Perkins for $200,000, but he was arrested
and charged over the Ledwell allegations.
According to Deadline, he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and battery and was given
a $500 fine and a 30-day suspended jail sentence.
In addition, he settled Ledwell's civil suit the following month with an $80,000 charity
donation, according to Fox News.
Phaedra Parks was a Real Housewives of Atlanta staple until some salacious rumors ended up
driving a rift so far between her and her fellow cast mates that it could not be mended.
According to E! News, the rift centered around Parks' phony story that Kandi Burrus and her
husband, Todd Tucker, planned to drug and seduce Porsha Williams in their alleged love
dungeon.
Honestly, you can't make that stuff up, or can you?
A source who spoke to TMZ claims Parks was upset because a producer was the one who told
her the lie in the first place.
She believes she was fired when she called them out for spreading the hot goss.
Ultimately, Parks' firing might have just been a two year time out.
Fellow RHOA castmate NeNe Leakes seemed to be actively campaigning for Parks' return
in early 2019, and fans have also started to itch with rumors.
Jacqueline Laurita didn't just leave The Real Housewives of New Jersey, she left the Garden
State altogether.
The star packed up her belongings and headed west to get back in touch with her Nevada
roots.
It's no secret that Laurita clashed with co-star Teresa Giudice and Giudice's sister-in-law
Melissa Gorga.
In fact, Laurita continues to slam Giudice in the name of defending her own sister-in-law,
Caroline Manzo, who Giudice alleged turned her in to the feds.
It was this very feud that reportedly led to Laurita's firing from the series.
Laurita revealed that she believed the network thought she didn't have an authentic connection
with two cast members from Season 7, saying,
"I think they feel I no longer fit in with the group.”
She added that the network initially tried to demote her, but she declined because it
didn't feel right to have to try out after being with the series for seven years.
In a rare, perhaps singular, twist, Kenya Moore was allegedly fired from The Real Housewives
of Atlanta for keeping secrets, and here we thought it was physically impossible for a
housewife to remain tight-lipped about literally anything.
"It's a lot, but you already know.
It's a lot of work."
Apparently, Moore was let go after the network found out she was secretly married and refused
to put her husband on the show.
A source told the tabloid that Moore's firing was a warning for the returning and new cast
in case anyone else chose to cherry pick their life and hide things from the cameras.
Moore told People that leaving the show broke her heart but it looks like her firing wasn't
permanent.
The star was brought back as a friend in Season 12, which came with a $1 million pay cut.
She's allegedly managed to atone for her previous reality TV sins by opting to air a vow renewal
ceremony with her husband.
Danielle Staub is known for many great contributions to our society, including her adult video,
Teresa Giudice's attempted table flip, 21 engagements for marriage, and that time Jacqueline
Laurita's daughter pulled out a piece of her weave.
Unfortunately, this just wasn't enough to keep her on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
"Apologies are in order."
Reportedly, Staub was fired ahead of Season 3, though she did attempt to make it look
like she quit.
When asked who made the choice that she was leaving, she didn't exactly deny that she
was fired, and claimed her loved ones begged her to leave the show.
She also told Us Weekly,
"I'm way too good for this.
They have used me about as much as I can be used."
On the contrary, Bravo did not use Staub as much as she could be used.
The reality star returned for Season 8, where she had to endure the trauma of watching her
20th fiancé (and now ex-husband) get pushed into a swimming pool.
The down-to-earth members of the Manzo family were arguably the breakout stars of The Real
Housewives of New Jersey.
It was, honestly, quite baffling to see such voices of reason among a group of people who
don't think twice before throwing hands at a baptism.
Caroline Manzo, the series' resident matriarch, was a breath of fresh air, but eventually,
as most level-headed people would probably do, she quit the series.
She wrote in a blog post,
"I've always prided myself on being a good example for my children and my decision to
leave is based on advice I've always given them: 'Be true to yourself and be proud of
who you are, you are born with a name and you die with a name, don't dirty it up.'"
That's not to say the Manzo family left the network entirely.
Caroline did get her own spin-off called Manzo'd with Children.
Unfortunately, Bravo ended up sacking her and her entire family after three seasons.
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva wasn't exactly fired by Bravo, but the network went along with
Captain Sandy Yawn's ultimate decision.
According to People, Kolomeitseva exhibited some head-scratching behavior during her Season
4 run with Below Deck Mediterranean.
The chef licked a raw steak, tried serving canned seafood and nachos made with canned
corn and jarred salsa on a yacht where guests pay up to $300,000 per week, and struggled
to make pancakes from a box.
It's not surprising that Captain Yawn gave her the ax.
On the bright side, Kolomeitseva's firing became something of a self-teachable moment
for the chef.
During the episode, she admitted,
"Of course it makes me feel awful.
People like me who have big egos sometimes have to be put down to earth a little bit.
But it makes me feel like I want to work even harder."
Top Chef isn't exactly known for its interpersonal drama.
Nonetheless, Season 2 of Top Chef had an incident so severe that principal judge Tom Colicchio
wanted to fire the entire group.
The whole thing started when Marcel Vigneron asked production if he could get a haircut.
This resulted in a drunken plan by Vigneron's fellow contestants, two of whom had shaved
their own heads, to try to shave Vigneron's head against his will.
Cliff Crooks ended up being the one who pinned Vigneron to the floor as he frantically yelled
for help.
In short: the chef was physically assaulted under the nose of Bravo's production team.
In Colicchio’s eyes, everyone involved should have gotten the chop, but producers vetoed
his call.
Instead, Crooks was the only one sent packing since he violated the show's rules regarding
threatening to harm other contestants.
Bravo's Summer House got a major renovation between seasons two and three.
The network reportedly fired five of the show's key cast members days before the season ever
started filming.
The group included: Stephen McGee, Danielle Olivera, Amit Neuman, and much to the dismay
of the Wirkus Circus' dedicated fanbase, twins Lauren and Ashley Wirkus.
So, what happened?
A source who spoke to The Daily Mail claimed that Olivera and Neuman didn't really connect
with viewers.
Production was apparently shocked that McGee was fired but suspected his relationship with
the twins might have done him a disservice.
As for the Wirkus Circus, apparently the girls "weren't popular with viewers" and were not
"likable nor aspirational" according to the network.
Contrary to whatever the British tabloid's sources might have said, though, Us Weekly
claimed no one left the series on bad terms.
It seems like the Wirkus twins weren't given the sack entirely, either.
They were only downgraded from full-time cast members.
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