Thursday, February 11, 2016

EXCLUSIVE SCOOP on the Real Housewives of Dallas Cast



There has been much speculation about who would appear on Bravo's Real Housewives of Dallas. Casting for a docu-drama began in August 2014 and the pitch was for a show tentatively titled "How To Make It In Dallas". In March 2015, Bravo shocked everyone (including the cast) when it announced Ladies of Dallas to their lineup as a follow-up to their smash hit Ladies of London. A source tells me that once filming wrapped and they started editing the show, Bravo execs were ecstatic over the footage and in a unanimous decision it was decided that the show would launch as Real Housewives of Dallas. In November, Bravo finally put us out of misery and officially announced RHOD to their 2016 lineup. Needless to say, everyone involved was thrilled (and more than a little intimidated) to be following in such big footsteps. And while Bravo teased us with the show's announcement, until today the cast has been a mystery. Well, not to me... but to most everyone else. Set your DVR's for Monday, April 11 at 9PM CST!

To read more about the Real Housewives of Dallas, CLICK HERE!

Without further ado, let me give you some insight into the cast of Real Housewives of Dallas:


LeeAnne Locken


In a 2014 interview D Magazine said, "If you know LeeAnne Locken, you know a short title doesn’t cover her accurately. If you don’t, let’s go with her Twitter summary: TV personality, actress, emcee, inspirational speaker, reality star, author. It’s all true... You can’t miss her at an event: she’s either emceeing the thing or competing for an unofficial most glitz and glam award with Steve Kemble... Plus, she’s gorgeous with an infectious laugh." Yep, that accurately sums her up. LeeAnne grew up in the Houston-area and in the summers would work the carnival circuit with her Mother. By the age of 10, she was conning carnival goers out of their quarters running her own booth on the circuit. As a teenager she entered the pageant world, making it all the way to third place in 1989's Miss USA pageant, and then decided to pursue acting. She has had bit parts in a million things. Among her successes were appearances in "Miss Congeniality" with Sandra Bullock as a blonde pageant princess (her talent was making balloon animals) and as Faye Dunaway’s daughter in "Rain". Out of all of the ladies, she is the only one with previous reality TV experience, having competed in Season 2 of a reality show called She's Got The Look that aired on TV Land in 2009 (she came in third).

LeeAnne is sure to be a standout on the show if for no other reason than she gets your attention. Some will say she's too pretty, too loud, has too much personality. She's just... too much. Her "bigness" will make her an easy target for jealousy and ridicule from some and on the flip side, make her adored by many. You'll have to decide for yourself how you want to take her. Personally, it's her larger than life personality that makes me love her so much. Yeah, she has a big mouth and you'll be rolling your eyes at her a lot, but that comes with a huge heart and a great desire to help others. Anyone who's read this blog before will recognize her as one of my BFF's and my right-hand wingman on the scene. We go everywhere together because, well,  there is no one more fun at a party. She lives in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas with her super-hot police office boyfriend, Rich Emberlin (who's no stranger to reality TV himself), and two rescue fur babies named Chief and Carly. The SPCA, DIFFA Dallas, The Fashionistas and Legacy Counseling Center are just a few of the charities she supports. Get more on her back story HERE and click here to find lots more articles on our adventures around Dallas.

 



Tiffany Hendra

She's already made Real Housewives history by being the first Asian-American ever cast in the franchise. Tiffany describes herself as "little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll and a whole lot of spitfire" and gets her exotic looks from her Japanese/Czech/Cherokee bloodline. Raised in the Houston-area, Tiffany went to college on an art scholarship but quickly realized traditional education in a classroom wasn’t for her. Modeling gave her the opportunity to get out of Houston and see the world. Tiffany met follow cast member LeeAnne Locken at age 18 when the two were both modeling with the Neal Hamil Agency and the pair have been BFF's for almost 30 years. She landed in Los Angeles in her 20s and her self-deprecating Southern charm combined with her ‘keep-it-real’ attitude and exotic looks landed her hosting/acting gigs on VH1, NBC, FX, Comedy Central, Showtime, and Spike TV. It was in L.A. that she met her Australian rock star husband, Aaron Hendra. They moved from L.A. to Dallas about two years ago to be closer to family and Tiffany says she's never been happier.

Tiffany now teaches women from all walks of life how to style their life. She is a TV Host, Beauty & Style Expert, Lifestyle Mentor and creator of the blog & webseries Sanctuary Of Style. Tiffany is on a mission to guide women toward living their most fabulous, healthy and spiritually-conscious life. Her vision is for women all over the world to overcome their past circumstances and stand confident in their power. I first met Tiffany (via LeeAnne) in December 2013, pretty much right when she moved back to Dallas from LA. LeeAnne and I had a road trip planned to hang out with the Duck Dynasty boys in Monroe, LA. and at the last minute she invited Tiffany to come along. I was not happy about her butting into our girl-time, but by the end of the weekend I had fallen madly in love with her sweet spirit, hilarious sense-of-humor and spiritual depth of character. She's now one of my dearest friends and I know you are going to love her too. The fact that she has a super-hot rock star husband who looks like Keith Urban, doesn't hurt either. Get more on her back story HERE and click here to find lots more articles on our adventures around Dallas.

UPDATE: My apologies to RHOA's Lisa Wu. It has been pointed out to me that she, in fact, was the first Asian American Housewife. Lisa spent two seasons on RHOA in 2008/2009.




Cary Deuber

Any man who has ever had a nurse fantasy will be madly in love with Cary. She has brains, beauty and is a yogi who can bend herself like a freakin' pretzel. Sorry boys, she's not available. Unlike Real Housewives of Orange County's Heather Dubrow, this housewife works side-by-side in the operating room with her plastic surgeon husband, Mark. Need Botox? New boobs? A tummy tuck? The Deubers are your new best friends. Originally from Connecticut and raised in Ohio, this transplant has embraced the Texas way of life and loves the "everything is bigger and better in Texas" mentality but admits she struggles to maintain her Midwest sensibilities as she navigates high society in Big D. Mark and Cary each have a previous marriage, so theirs is a blended family. Mark has two teenage children from his first marriage: Laura (a freshman in high school) and Grey (a freshman at Bucknell University). Together, they have a daughter, Zuri (named for Zurich, where Mark was born), who is 3 years old. The couple lives in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas.





Brandi Redmond

I didn't meet Brandi until the show started filming, so I am still getting to know her, but here is what I have learned: Brandi is best known for her time on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading squad (2000-2005). It's no secret that Dallas is immensely proud of our Cowboys (aka America's Team) and our Cheerleaders travel the world representing the U.S.A. and the NFL. Brandi has traveled on several USO tours, visited countless hospitals cheering up the sick and was a Pro Bowl representative in 2005. She's married to her high-school sweetheart, Bryan, and together they have two adorable daughters, Brooklyn (6) and Brinkley (3). Can we just take a moment to note how crazy fun it is that all four of them have strawberry-blonde hair. I love a ginger!! This former recruiter now lives in Plano and is a stay-at-home Mom. Bryan is a Principal at Suntex Ventures which owns, operates mixed-use marinas. She has been BFF's with fellow RHOD cast member, Stephanie Hollman, for over 7 years. She is strong in her faith but also isn't afraid to get her twerk on. Well, her version of the twerk. You'll see what I mean later on in the season...  This feisty redhead will be one to watch.





Stephanie Hollman

Like Brandi, I had never encountered Stephanie until the show began filming. I found her a surprising choice for casting because she's so soft-spoken. But get her with her BFF, Brandi, and she lets loose.
This blond beauty is a former social worker with a heart of gold and you will fall in love with her sweet spirit. She lives in Las Colinas and is currently a stay-at-home to two precious boys: Cruz and Chance. Her hunky husband, Travis, owns Hollman Lockers which is the largest producer of wood veneer and plastic laminate lockers in the United States. Who knew there was money to be made in lockers!? But then think lockers as in the locker rooms of the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks, high-end Country Clubs and colleges... Ah. Now you get it. Ka-ching, baby! Family Place, Big Brother Big Sister, DIFFA, UNICEF, and Head Start are among the charities that the Hollman's support. While this venture into reality TV is new to Stephanie, Travis has dabbled in genre on the other side of the camera as a co-executive producer on "Bully Beatdown" on MTV. He also produced the feature film, "Rain" with Faye Dunaway. Sound familiar? I just told you that LeeAnne Locken had a role in that film as Dunaway's daughter. Small world isn't it...



T-shirt created for me by Bullzerk. Click here to buy yours | Photo: Thomas Garza


Back in November when the show was first announced, the town went crazy trying to figure out who the cast was, and I have to admit I have had a LOT of fun with the speculation. Many local and national media outlets speculated that I was a shoo-in for the cast. To which I say, "Thank you for thinking that I was pretty/witty/interesting enough to be considered". The girls had all signed  confidentiality agreements and were in total lockdown mode. The fact that I was the only one talking should have been everyone's first clue that I wasn't a full cast member. Silly rabbits. Which might lead you to wonder, if I wasn't on the cast and I knew who was, why in the world had I not pulled a Perez Hilton and scooped everyone? Because I signed the same confidentiality agreement the girls did. You can click here to read more about why I signed it and my decision to take a back seat on this roller coaster. And while I am not a full cast member, I will be popping up here and there (depending on how they edited the footage you could see me a lot, or you could see me very a little) and so will several other ladies. My guess is that they utilized a group of us as "friends of" for Season Two full cast possibilities. We'll see.... If you plan to watch RHOD, you will want to bookmark this blog, because no one is more connected to this cast or will have more insight into what you are about to witness than me. Believe it. I won't be recapping episodes (there are plenty of other sites that do that - plus if you watch the show you don't need a recap) but I will be live tweeting every episode, so follow me @OhSoCynthia to get exclusive scoop, behind the scene photos and insider insights on the cast. We are going to have a lot to talk about and it's gonna be JUICY.

To read more about the Real Housewives of Dallas, CLICK HERE!

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