On a very steamy summer day, a photo shoot in the heart of the Magic City is being prepared. Stylists are steaming racks of couture ensembles, makeup artists are cleaning their brushes, and hairstylists are ensuring curling irons are ready. All is in place, except the cover girl, Adriana de Moura. She has a good excuse. Well, two actually.
"Please forgive me," she announces to the crew after arriving in her white Mercedes-Benz about an hour behind call time. "It's Fashion Week and I had two fittings today. And I am Brazilian — we aren't great with time."
Soon she's posing for a photographer and moving frenetically. Working hard is nothing new to the Brazilian-born bombshell. A single mother to son Alex, she knows nothing but a tough grind. "I am not one of those Real Housewives who is going to lose her career." Since graduating from college, de Moura has worked in the art scene for more than 20 years and travels extensively as an art dealer. "It's still my job and my life. At the end of the day, all of this could go away. I don't forget that."
"All of this" is the fame she's gained through her role on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Miami, which first hit the airwaves in February 2011. Though critics predicted the worst, the show is now in its second season.
This season will be better than the first, she says: "It was obvious a few of the other ladies just looked bothered to even be there. That is why you saw me explode on the reunion show. It was beyond frustrating."
Sure, there will be "fistfights, some slapping." But one thing you won't see from de Moura is her deepest, darkest secrets coming to the small screen. Mainly because she doesn't have any.
"I don't really have any skeletons in my closet. I had a husband cheat on me and a terrible failed marriage, but so many other woman have as well. I wanted to tell my story. Yes, my life fell apart at one time. But I grabbed my son, picked up the pieces, and am better now because that happened."
To those who would follow her lead, she says, "My three pieces of advice for a career woman are these: Get a calendar, learn to live on very little sleep, and expect to go a little crazy at times."
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