Upscale parties. Couture gowns. Top-shelf booze at exclusive restaurants. These are the kinds of things we associate with the faaaahbulous lifestyles of Bravo's Real Housewives series.
But according to a report in OK Magazine, the Miami housewives' lives are a little more shabby chic.
Of all six Real Housewives franchises, the Miami cast earns the least, with the highest paid members earning between $55,000 and $75,000 per season.
According to OK, the difference in salaries is due to the drastic difference in ratings for the Miami series compared to other, more successful editions that take place in Atlanta and New Jersey. The top earners on the Miami cast? Adriana de Moura, Lea Black, and Marysol Patton.
Guess that explains why most of Miami's housewives kept their day jobs -- they couldn't afford their high-end lifestyles otherwise.
Of course, $75K is still a pretty big payday, just for letting cameras film you drinking, sneering, and catfighting with your fellow plastic personas. But relative to other Bravo stars, it's chump change. The highest paid Bravo Housewife is Nene Leakes, who rose to fame on The Real Housewives of Atlanta and has since crossed over into roles on scripted shows like The New Normal and Glee. Leakes commands $1 million from Bravo.
All the other Bravo franchises pay at least one member of the cast a three-figure salary. Teresa Giudice of New Jersey gets $650,000 plus bonuses; Ramona Singer and Countess LuAnn DeLesseps of New York earn $500,000 plus bonuses; and Beverly Hills' Lisa Vanderpump, who also stars in her own spinoff show, will earn $350,000 for her participation in the fourth season of Housewives.
By these standards, someone at RHOM's getting screwed. Sure, the season one ratings were terrible, but season two saw a big improvement. It might be time to renegotiate those salaries, ladies.
Especially you, Mama Elsa Patton. Because you are priceless.
Follow Ciara LaVelle on Twitter @ciaralavelle.
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