Ex-Bravo Producer Slams ‘All-White Show’ With ‘Racist’ Star He Says Is the Reason ‘RHOM’ Was Put on Pause
Bravo’s newest show is an insult to fans of The Real Housewives of Miami, a former producer for the network says.
On Friday, Bravo announced a premiere date for Small-Town Trouble Texas. The show, which premieres November 18, follows five women who live in Boerne, Texas, as traditional conservative values collide with cast members’ messy personal lives.
Now, a producer who has worked on several Real Housewives shows is saying that Bravo made room on its schedule for Small-Town Trouble Texas by putting The Real Housewives of Miami on pause.
“Remember when Bravo said they didn’t have the budget to bring back Real Housewives of Miami?” wrote Patrick McDonald in a recent Instagram post. “Well, here is the reason!”
“The budget for RHOM was scrapped to make room for Small Town Trouble: Texas,” McDonald claimed. “An all white show with an all white cast lead by the universally despised & disgraced reality tv villain Aaryn Gries.”
“How are we feeling about this show? Are we happy these [MAGA] Barbie’s are replacing our beloved Mojitos?” he added. In an accompanying video, McDonald called Williams “horrible” and a “racist.”
Gries, now known as Aaryn Williams, appeared on Big Brother in 2013, where she stirred up controversy for her racist and homophobic comments. She used a stereotypical accent while speaking about Asian women and told an Asian castmate that she should “go make rice,” in addition to saying that other people would not vote for “whoever that queer puts up” when referring to a gay castmate, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. She also made multiple offensive and racially charged comments to and about Black houseguest Candice Stewart.
When another Big Brother contestant warned her that houseguests of color might take issue with her language and tone, Aaryn rolled her eyes.
“That’s the most obnoxious annoying thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “I’m not even gonna acknowledge it because it’s the biggest joke … I wish that I cared more about this, but I don’t.”
Bravo has not directly commented on what led to the decision to put RHOM on pause earlier this year, but reports have blamed low ratings, as well as a now-dropped lawsuit against Bravo by cast member Alexia Nepola’s ex-husband Todd Nepola.
Small-Town Trouble Texas seems to be setting Aaryn up as a major center of conflict. Bravo’s description of the show calls her “polarizing, magnetic and often at the center of the drama.” These days, Aaryn, who is married to a man named Nick Williams and has four daughters, is a content creator who’s been “publicly outed as bisexual.” She has “openly reckoned with her complicated past,” the network claims, and is now “focused on personal growth, owning her mistakes and becoming a better version of herself.”
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