These Real Housewives were famous before they joined Bravo

Lots of Real Housewives were famous before joining Bravo, but few were bona fide celebrities. Denise Richards was a household name in her own right before joining the Beverly Hills edition of the franchise, thanks to her acting career and highly publicized marriage to and divorce from Charlie Sheen. Richards wasn’t on the show long but made a major impact there. 

Soap fans are quite familiar with Eileen Davidson. The former Beverly Hills ‘wife is better known for her roles as Kristen DiMera and Ashley Abbott on Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless, respectively, both of which she’s won a Daytime Emmy Award for. Davidson quickly became a fan favorite on Bravo, but she only stuck around full-time for three seasons. 

Like Eileen Davidson, Lisa Rinna had a strong soap career prior to joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Her acting work goes beyond soap operas, but her most iconic work by far was what she brought to Bravo. Fans of the series will never forget Rinna asking fellow castmate Dorit Kemsley if party guests were doing drugs in her bathroom. 

It should come as no surprise that several cast members of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills have acting backgrounds. The show takes place in Los Angeles County, after all. Garcelle Beauvais joined the cast in the show’s tenth season, but before that, she had roles on shows like NYPD Blue and The Jamie Foxx Show . She also had parts in Coming to America and its sequel, Coming 2 America. 

Kenya Moore is now one of the most famous and iconic Housewives in all of Bravo, but she had fame and notoriety before joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Moore had a flourishing acting career with credits dating back to the mid-'90s. The star was in shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Living Single. 

If you’re a ‘90s R&B fanatic, you know who Kandi Burruss is. The Real Housewives of Atlanta star was a major player in the ‘90s music scene thanks to her membership in the former group Xscape. Burruss also co-wrote songs like Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” and TLC’s “No Scrubs,” the latter of which she won a Grammy Award for. 

Sonja Morgan certainly wasn’t as famous before joining The Real Housewives of New York City as she is after, but she married into a very famous family. Sonja was married to John Adams Morgan, a descendant of J.P. Morgan. Fans of the show will remember Sonja warning her other cast members not to touch the Morgan letters. 

Kyle Richards is best known for being one of the longest-running Housewives on Bravo, as well as the only original cast member left in Beverly Hills, but her television career far predates Bravo. Richards was a child actor, and she made a name for herself working on Little House on the Prairie and the 1978 horror classic Halloween. 

Kathy Hilton worked as a child actor, but she’s better known for marrying into the Hilton family. Kathy has long been a well-known socialite, and she gained even more notoriety when her daughter, Paris Hilton, entered the zeitgeist. Kathy’s appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills many times throughout the series thanks to her sisters Kim Richards and Kyle Richards’ tenure on the show, but she officially joined as a friend in season 11. 

Camille Grammer is an OG of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Though she was only on the show as a full-time ‘wife for two seasons, she’s been in and out since as both a guest and a friend. Camille was a dancer on MTV in the 1980s, and she was famously married to Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer for over 10 years. 

Yolanda Hadid spent four seasons on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills before exiting the show permanently. Her claim to fame comes from her years spent modeling before starting a family. Yolanda was married to musician David Foster while she was on the show, and her daughters, Gigi and Bella Hadid, were on the show, too, before their modeling careers took off. 

Larsa Pippen didn’t have a major career of her own before she was on The Real Housewives of Miami , but she was famous for her personal life. Larsa was married to NBA legend Scottie Pippen for over 20 years, and she was a good friend of Kim Kardashian, even appearing in some episodes of her reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. 

Many a cast member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta had some sort of acting career before joining Bravo, including Drew Sidora. Sidora had roles in films like Wild Hogs and White Chicks, but she’s best known for her role in Step Up, particularly when she sang “Til the Dawn,” the song that plays during the movie’s most fun dance scene. 

Some Housewives are on the show so briefly that we forget they even were part of the cast. One such ‘wife is Claudia Jordan, a main cast member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta in season 7 and a guest in the next. However, Jordan had a career before her time on the show, as she’s been a working actor since the late ‘90s. 

When Tinsley Mortimer joined the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City, every other ‘wife knew who she was. Mortimer was best known for being a socialite in the Big Apple, but she also had a career in design and had worked for brands like Vogue and Christian Dior. 

Kelly Bensimon was a multi-hyphenate well before she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City. Reality star was simply an addition to her resume. Bensimon made a living as a businesswoman and model, appearing in publications like Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. Her time on Bravo certainly upped her popularity, though, and she was featured in Playboy while working for the network. 

Eboni K. Williams was the last new addition to the cast of The Real Housewives of New York before the entire cast was scrapped in favor of new ‘wives for the reboot, making it one of the shortest stints in her career. Williams, an attorney, began her career in the public eye by making occasional appearances on CBS News and Fox News, and she eventually worked as a co-host of both Outnumbered and The Five on Fox News. 

If you hadn’t heard of Carole Radziwill prior to her time on The Real Housewives of New York City, you might have read her work. Radziwill had a major journalism and writing career before her time on Bravo, her accolades including three Emmys, a Peabody, and a spot on The New York Times Best Sellers list. 

Though she didn’t have much name recognition in the United States before entering the Bravo universe, Chanel Ayan was known internationally thanks to her modeling career. Ayan has been featured in several major fashion magazines, and she’s even walked the runway with Naomi Campbell. Now one of her major gigs is being a cast member of The Real Housewives of Dubai. 

The cast of The Real Housewives of New York City reboot included one major name: Jenna Lyons. Lyons is best known for acting as the president and creative director of J.Crew for a couple of years in the late 2000s. And her time with Bravo isn’t her first dip into reality television. Lyons starred in her program, Stylish with Jenna, which aired on HBO Max and lasted eight episodes.