The word on the gorgeously manicured streets of Melbourne’s elite is that there could be a new iteration of The Real Housewives Of Melbourne. But — get this — with a whole new, much younger cast. No THANK YOU. Send it BACK.
According to Herald Sun reporter Fiona Byrne — who really has her finger on the RHOM pulse — the big dogs behind the show are in very, very early stages of chit-chat about bringing the show back for another season. However, the rumour is that if the show were to be commissioned for another season, the older cast members would be replaced with a new generation of younger housewives with only a couple of the heritage cast.
Byrne says that the whispers have caused a bit of a ruckus in the more affluent suburbs of Melbourne as I can imagine a whole new generation of mummy bloggers and influencers would be keen AF to sign up to be an on-screen housewife. I know I would if my days were spent doing pilates and making millions.
The thing is, this goes against past rumours that the OG cast wanted to come back to the show. In February 2022, there was a Deuxmoi post which claimed that Gina Liano and Lydia Schiavello were in talks to return to the show. Plus, the tea queen Janet Roach has made posts on social media about a reunion season after the newbies didn’t seem to “test well” with audiences.
The last season of RHOM was jam-packed and full of drama before the season even made it to air in October 2023. Multiple cast members bowed out, making room for a whole new batch of housewives. As a result, Season Five featured OG cast Janet Roach, Gamble Breaux and Jackie Gillies along with newcomers Kyla Kirkpatrick, Cherry Dipietrantonio and Anjali Rao.
On screen, there was certainly a rift between the newcomers and the OGs, and the beef between Gamble and Anjali got so bad that Anjali quit the show halfway through, saying some zingers that I just know she wrote down for the whole season but had to get them all out at once. (“Gamble has more characters than a Chinese alphabet”, “Janet is more toxic than Chernobyl”)
Since Season Five wrapped, there has been no official update on Season Six. However, Gamble told the Herald Sun that she’d be down for another season of the batshit reality show — but if she had it her way, it would be a season mostly comprised of the OG cast.
“I would love to do another series of Housewives,” she said in April 2022.
“I’d love to do a new season with Lydia, Gina, Janet, Pettifleur [Berenger], Chyka [Keebaugh], Jackie and I’d love to have Simone and her sister, that would be awesome.”
When asked about the newer members of the Season Five cast, she said she wasn’t too keen to see them return.
“I liked Kyla but I think she was a bit whinge-y because we knew what we were signing on for,” she explained.
“Cherry is passive aggressive, I prefer aggressive aggressive.”
As for Anjali, Gamble just responded: “Who?”
I wonder what Gamble thinks about the potential of a new, younger batch of housewives coming into the mix?
Personally, I think that it’s important that all genres of television and media make space for women as they age. So often, women feel as if they become invisible once they’re not in their 20s and 30s. The Real Housewives is a great example of women in their 40s, 50s and even older having a platform to slay.
Although I’m not a fan of an entirely revamped cast, I hope the producers keep on the pomeranian queen and singing superstar Gamble Breux. It’s not the RHOM without her.
