Entertainment

17 Real Housewives Who Only Lasted For One Season

by Marenah Dobin
Mike Coppola/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

A hundred women have been Real Housewives at this point, but it takes a lot of resilience to stick it out for several seasons. That's why there are so many Real Housewives who have open appeared on one season as full-time cast members. After all, not everyone has what it takes.

Sure, many of the one season Housewives ended up releasing statements about "amicably parting ways," implying that they left the show on their own accord, but that just doesn't seem likely for all of them. Most of the ladies who only got one season just didn't seem like a good fit for the franchise.

Some of the women didn't get along with their co-stars — but not in an entertaining enough way to stick around for another season. Some of them had it all going for them on paper — wealthy, married, thriving career — but just couldn't deliver for the show. When some one-and-done Real Housewives left the show, the fandom rejoiced. Then there were others who really deserved a second chance and left fans wanting more.

These are the women who were on Real Housewives for just one season. Some of them are memorable and others are (sadly) forgotten.

1. Kimberly Bryant — RHOC Season 1

Real Housewives of Orange County alum Kimberly Bryant is the original one-season wonder in the Real Housewives franchise. She only appeared on the show's first season all the way back in 2006. Kimberly left the OC get away from the California sun after battling skin cancer multiple times, according to Bravo's The Daily Dish.

2. Cindy Barshop — RHONY Season 4

Season 4 was the first Real Housewivees of New York City season without Bethenny Frankel. It was also Cindy Barshop's first (and last) season. Coming in as Bethenny's "replacement" proved to be a daunting task to fulfill. Cindy shouldn't be too offended about being a one-and-done member of the franchise, though. After Season 4, she, Alex McCord, Kelly Bensimon, and Jill Zarin all left the series, so at least she wasn't the only casualty from the season. That has to be at least somewhat comforting, right?

3. DeShawn Snow — RHOA Season 1

Unlike many former cast members who say they're leaving the Real Housewives franchise at their own volition, Real Housewives of Atlanta OG DeShawn Snow said that it wasn't her decision to leave the show in a 2009 interview with Essence. She said, "[One of the producers] called and said that I was 'too human for a circus show' and that because the show did so well, they are about to pump up the drama and they didn't think that I would fit in." She added, "He gave me an example, saying that during the reunion when I found out what a few of the other ladies said about me, they were expecting me to say more, but I'm not the type to go 'television' and start acting crazy because somebody's talking about me." Unfortunately (or fortunately), DeShawn was just too level-headed for this show.

4. Teresa Aprea & 5. Nicole Napolitano — RHONJ Season 6

Season 6 of Real Housewives of New Jersey is the most forgotten season in the show's history. Those who actually remember it consider it to be one of the worst (if not, the worst) in RHONJ history and a lot of that can be attributed to the casting. Out of five cast members from the season before, only Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga returned to the show, and it was just too much randomness to get invested in. Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano were not an organic fit for the show since they did not know any cast members prior to filming aside from the other Season 6 edition Amber Marchese, who was far from a fan favorite. Not only that, but the show took a break in filming after Season 6 when Teresa went to prison, so an often ignored (and sometimes maligned) season with a long gap before Season 7 didn't give much momentum for the twins' return.

6. Carlton Gebbia — RHOBH Season 4

Usually, Housewives get the boot for being too boring for reality TV. In Carlton Gebbia's case, her dismissal from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills might actually have been for the opposite reason. The self-proclaimed Wiccan feuded with fan favorite Kyle Richards during her one season and claimed to put a "curse on her." Sure, Carlton was unique, but like other former Housewives, she just didn't seem to be a fit for the cast. In a 2014 interview with E! News, Carlton described her firing from RHOBH as a "blessing in disguise."

7. Peggy Tanous — RHOC Season 6

Yes, there was another Peggy on RHOC. Maybe women named Peggy just weren't meant to be a Housewife for more than one season. In an interview with Wetpaint Peggy Tanous said, "I am happy with my decision to leave the show." It was probably for the best since Peggy shared, "I think leaving the show did alleviate a lot of my anxiety and prevent even stronger anxiety if I continued on with Season 7." Reality TV notoriety is not worth being riddled with anxiety. Good for Peggy getting out of that situation.

8. Jules Wainstein — RHONY Season 8

Jules Wainstein joined RHONY during one of the most epic seasons in the show's history (the season Luann de Lesseps met Tom D'Agostino). With that said, it was tough for her to standout among a cast full of strong personalities. While the season was airing, Jules and her husband split up. At the time her exit was announced, her rep told E! News, "Jules is going through a divorce and is putting her family first." Instead of using divorce as a story line for Season 9, she decided to handle the situation privately and stepped away from the show.

9. Claudia Jordan — RHOA Season 7

During her sole season as an Atlanta Housewife, Claudia Jordan feuded with NeNe Leakes constantly. There was actually no reason given for Claudia's departure from the show, but there has been a lot of speculation that Claudia's beef was the OG cast member could have something to do with it.

10. Amber Marchese — RHONJ Season 6

To put it nicely, Amber Marchese did not get along well with her costars on RHONJ. Not only that, but she was facing breast cancer for a second time. At the time, Amber told Us Weekly, "Jim [Marchese] and I have been giving Real Housewives of New Jersey a lot of thought and given the current state of affairs regarding our personal lives and the direction of the show, we officially decided to move on." She was far from a fan favorite so it's not surprising that she concluded, "The show was not what we expected it to be, and I want to pursue more endeavors.”

11. Joyce Giraud de Ohoven — RHOBH Season 4

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Joyce Girdaud de Ohoven, but she just wasn't made to be a Real Housewife and the writing was on the wall for a while. Even Andy Cohen wrote about Joyce's departure in his book The Andy Cohen Diaries. According to the website All About The Real Housewives, Andy admitted, "I went into the day with the hunch that this was going to be the first and last reunion for Joyce and Carlton, and I didn’t get the sense that they had the same idea." He also shared, "Joyce was a river of words and was bugging the shit out of Yolanda; as the two of them were going at it my mind turned the corner into morphing this into some kind of alternate universe version of the Housewives: 'Joyce, you are no longer a Housewife. Please leave the reunion.'" The viewers felt the same way, Andy.

12. Katie Rost — RHOP Season 1

In all honesty, Real Housewives of Potomac is still finding its footing in the franchise, so it's not surprising that there were some cast changes after the show's first season. Katie Rost said she wasn't asked back for Season 2. According to BuddyTV, she tweeted (and then deleted), "Sad to announce I will not be on #RHOP this season:-( Can't make my life exciting enough. #DeliveredTomorrow." That's rough.

13. Tiffany Hendra — RHOD Season 1

When Tiffany Hendra announced she would not return to Real Housewives of Dallas for Season 2 in June 2017, she did not cite a reason. In November 2017, Tiffany's Facebook post bashing RHOD went viral. According to the Dallas Observer, Tiffany wrote, "If you want to be famous and willing to jeopardize your marriage, family and brand/mission — go for it. Bravo is a bottom feeder. People worship Andy Cohen. HA! What a crack up. He's laughing at these women as he's purchasing his next piece of NY real estate. Be mindful of who you worship!!!" So, obviously she closed the door when it comes to a possible return. Forever.

14. Lizzie Rovsek — RHOC Season 9

Aside from yelling at Tamra Judge during the cast trip to Bali, Lizzie Rovsek didn't bring much drama to RHOC. The whole cast (minus Vicki Gunvalson) ditched her birthday party that season. If they weren't going to show up, then why would the viewers watch? There's no word on whether Lizzie left the show or if she was let go, but either way, reality TV didn't seem like the best fit for her.

15. Kathryn Edwards — RHOBH Season 6

For anyone reading this heading and wondering who Kathryn Edwards is, that makes a lot of sense. Kathryn Edwards was on RHOBH during Erika Girardi's iconic rookie season. It's tough to stick out when Erika Girardi and her alter ego Erika Jayne showed up for the same season. Aside from that, she wasn't close with anyone in the cast, so it is really not surprising that Kathryn never returned to the show.

16. Kim Fields — RHOA Season 8

Even though Kim Fields has been on TV for most of her life, reality TV did not suit her. The RHOA ladies were way too intense for the calm, cool, and collected actor. She was not in her element among the shade slinging Housewives. In an interview on the Ricky Smiley radio show, Kim compared her one season as an Atlanta Housewife to Brett Favre's one season on the Jets. She shared, "It feels more like Brett Favre and the Jets, you know — I'm done." She added, "I think about too, at the beginning of the season, what did my mama say? ‘Get in and get out.’ Listen to your mama.”

17. Peggy Sulahian — RHOC Season 12

There was a lot of pressure on Peggy Sulahian as the 100th Housewife in the country. In fact, she hashtags #100thhousewife on almost every single Instagram post. Needless to say, it seemed like Peggy was very into being a Real Housewife, so it was a surprise when she announced she was leaving on Instagram and wrote, "At this point, moving on seemed like the right thing to do."

Even with their short contributions to Housewives history, these women are all a part of the franchise, which is a pretty big deal. And you never know, they just may return to the franchise in the future.