L Is for ReaLity

While Nikki hopes to be a beacon of support, some of the other women on the show have found the experience personally gratifying. Rose says the camera became a conscience of sorts as the on-air confessionals forced her to examine herself. “You can’t bullshit the camera, you really can’t,” she says. “While doing these interviews you sort of hear yourself. It really made me want to change a lot of things about myself.”

She continues, “I thought, Wow, I really need to reflect on some things and be a 35-year-old woman and not a 25-year-old up in the club trying to get the girl. That’s not over for me, but I’m accepting that coming to a close soon.”

And that’s all before seeing any footage. Shooting wrapped in mid April in Palm Springs, where many of the women attended the Dinah Shore Weekend. Two nights later, they gathered at Nikki and Jill’s house for Chinese food, wine, and some serious downloading. Unlike the casts of several of the Real Housewives shows, these ladies barely knew each other when the show began, but now they have a real bond.

“As cheese-ball as it sounds, a lot of these girls became an inspiration,” Rose says. “I want to have a relationship like Nikki and Jill, and even Tracy and Stamie, y’know? Kind of hopefully one day be grounded enough to achieve that.”

Lipsitz recalls initially intending to cast the show with a group of women who knew each other. “But we found this amazing group of diverse women,” she says, “and we felt that it would be really interesting to tell their different stories and see when and if they intersected.” Plus, the reality-show vet says she found these women to be particularly compelling subjects. “They are dramatic by nature, which we love, and they’re very open sexually, which we also love.”

In other words, let the complaints begin!