Behind the Scenes at BravoCon Day 2: Potomac Wins and Vicki Loses It

The BravoCon Scoops Are Pouring In

It is Day 2 of BravoCon here in Las Vegas, where I am covering all the panels, scoops, and behind-the-scenes gossip alongside The Daily Beast’s Obsessed brilliant Bravo babes Kyndall Cunningham and Coleman Spilde. It was a big news day here in Sin City, and not just because the three of us finally figured out a way to exit the casino we’re staying in that didn’t involve 23 minutes of asking for directions to the street and staring at Google Maps.

In the three years that BravoCon has been happening—once before the pandemic, and last year in New York City—there has never been a panel as juicy and explosive as the Real Housewives of Potomac one that took place Saturday. (These women know how to put on a show; pay attention and watch the Season 8 premiere on Sunday night.) The energy in Vegas was also a lot livelier today, especially for the Real Housewives of New York panel, which had the longest lines to attend any event at BravoCon thus far. Frankly, it’s what my hometown girls deserve after a really great freshman season.

I also wrapped what is—no exaggeration—over 40 interviews with various Bravolebrities. Some were incredibly warm, generous, and exactly how you’d dream these stars would be, like Real Housewives of Miami’s Dr. Nicole Martin and Guerdy Abraira, who was proud to announce that she is officially cancer free. And some were Erika Jayne.

With our heads spinning about all things “Bravo, Bravo, fucking Bravo,” to quote Denise Richards, whose presence is sorely missed (Teddi Mellencamp is here, though…), here’s the tea on everything the three of us saw at the panels, at the convention, and at a wild taping of Watch What Happens Live. —Kevin Fallon

The Beef Was Not Squashed: The “Dynamic Duos” edition of Watch What Happens Live at the Paris Theater in Vegas was surprisingly juicy for a show that was purportedly supposed to be fun for Bravo friends, like RHOM’s Lisa Hochstein and Larsa Pippen, and RHOBH’s Kyle Richards and Dorit Kemsley, who arrived on stage late because her car dropped her off at the wrong casino. (The chicest excuse I have ever heard.)

But then Teddi Mellencamp was a surprise guest for the night’s round of “Squash That Beef,” facing off against RHOC’s Vicki Gunvalson, after the two had said negative things about each other. Gunvalson put it plainly in the showdown: She was pissed that Mellencamp asked on her podcast, “Where was Vicki on January 6th?” In response, Teddi said it must trigger Vicki to talk to someone who actually had cancer. (Who had Vicki, Teddi, the insurrection, and cancer on their BravoCon bingo card?) You probably heard our gasps from your own living room—and suffice it to say, Vicki was not happy, visibly ranting at Andy Cohen during the commercial break. I fully expect this to earn Vicki her orange back. —KF

Good as Gold…and Costs Just as Much: Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay was selling 12-inch vinyl singles of her “hit” single “Good as Gold” at her pop-up booth at the BravoCon Bazaar. But the price tag? A whopping $50. For non-vinyl-heads out there, that’s one song (and maybe an instrumental on the B-side) for 50 smackers. There is one perk though: Apparently, if Shay saw fans walking around with it, they got an automatic hug and autograph. —Coleman Spilde

Jerry O’Connell Should Host Every BravoCon panel: It’s been my wish to expel all straight men from the Bravo fan community—mostly just Michael Rappaport and Jerry O’Connell. (Jon Hamm is obviously fine.) However, O’Connell managed to finally win me over during the Battle of the Sexes panel, which was essentially a naughty game of Family Feud. He was amazing at getting the crowd amped up early on in the day. He managed to be raunchy without being too inappropriate. He kept telling the crowd to vote for Ariana Madix on Dancing With The Stars. Overall, I think I would’ve preferred watching him talk to some of my favorite Bravo stars over S.E. Cupp. —Kyndall Cunningham

Orange You Glad You Stuck With It: You can tell a lot about a cast’s dynamic based on when they went into the BravoCon press room, and in what groupings. (The New Jersey housewives, for example, were split into all kinds of configurations, as were the Summer House cast.) So read into it what you will that, from Orange County, Emily Simpson and Gina Kirschenheiter were paired, as were Jennifer Pedranti and Taylor Amstrong. Heather Dubrow walked with her husband, Terry, and the Tres Amigas—Gunvalson, Shannon Storms Beador, and Tamra Judge—were their own unit, and over the course of an hour, never did any of the pods interact.

Regardless of dynamics, they were all thrilled about a great season. “I feel like Gina and I have taken a lot of shit for the last four years, and I think it was undeserved,” Simpson told me. “I think we had a problem with getting a good cast, and now we have, and people don’t give a shit anymore. It’s great.” Kirschenheiter agreed: “I think it is deserved. I think we finally figured it out.” When I asked Dubrow what it felt like to be on the RHOC victory lap, given how her season went down [Editor’s note: To be clear, she won], she had an interesting perspective: “It’s funny. Does it feel like a victory lap? When I was filming it, at the end of the season, I was devastated. I had to retreat for a few weeks and really get myself back together…It’s nice to be vindicated, for sure.” —KF

Carol of the Smells: At the Battle of the Sexes panel, a group of Bravolebs played a round of Family Feud about a variety of different Bravo-related topics, one of them being sex. When asked what the worst thing someone could do during intercourse was, the women looked to RHONY alum and fountain of sexual wisdom, Sonja Morgan, for the truth. Of course, Morgan got the top two answers correct: farting and queefing. Leave it to the woman who can’t eat chocolate because she gets too gassy to take home the win for her team. —CS

Scheana Sandoval Are Apparently On Good Terms: The Battle of the Sexes panel got surprisingly messy when some cast members from Vanderpump Rules revealed that Scheana Shay was hanging out in Tom Sandoval’s suite the night prior. At first, James Kennedy told the audience it was Lala Kent, who quickly shut him down. After making the crowd wonder for a bit, moderator Jerry O’Connell finally got Madix to utter “it was Scheana” under her breath. I guess Madix and her on-and-off bestie are not good as gold. —KC

Larsa Pippen Defends Her Sex Life Against Cardi B: One of the funniest things Larsa Pippen has done on Real Housewives of Miami is claim that she and her ex-husband Scottie Pippen had sex four times a night—every night—for 20 years. In the Season 6 premiere, the women discuss Cardi B saying that Pippen “needs to stitch up her pussy” on a livestream. And the RHOM panel, Pippen finally responded, calling the rapper’s comments “comical.” What’s more comical is how Pippen is sticking to this claim and won’t just admit that it’s hyperbole. At this point, I’m starting to believe this terrifying assertion is true. —KC

An Ubah Long Wait: At the particularly crowded RHONY panel, Housewife Ubah Hassan told the crowd that they can forget being able to procure some of her hot sauce brand, Ubah Hot, for the Bravo lover in their family this holiday season. The sauce is entirely sold out, and a new production run won’t start until January. Just in time to get some sauce on the shelves for a spicy Valentine’s Day! —CS

Some Fan Mail: “When my husband was alive, he was obsessed with The Daily Beast. And that was before it was even really popular. He’d always go to The Daily Beast first. We’re talking 15 years ago.” Dorinda Medley (and the dearly departed Richard Medley) love us, and you should, too. We stan an O.G. —KF

BravoSponCon: Give credit where it’s due: The design of BravoCon is impeccable. The 30-foot walls of the convention hall are wallpapered with famous quotes from Bravolebs; we should all be so lucky as to greet each morning with a photo of Countess Luann the size of an apartment building alongside the line of the century: “And you came in, in your Herman Munster Shoes.” Even the bathrooms had iconic Bravo dialogue on the mirrors, sponsored by Clorox. Cute! On Saturday, however, I discovered that sponsorships have gone a step too far. It turns out that, at BravoCon, even your shit is sponsored. —KF

More From BravoCon

- In two days at BravoCon, I have never seen anyone more committed to getting a person laid than Andy Cohen is to Below Deck: Down Under’s Capt. Jason Chambers. Read more.

- Ubah finally explains what in the world was happening during that bizarre RHONY reunion appearance. Read more.

- Phaedra Parks is back on a Bravo show and we should all be celebrating. Read more.

Dive Deeper on Your Obsessions

- Is Jacob Elordi’s version of Elvis in Priscilla even better than Austin Butler’s? Read more.

- Is North West becoming overexposed? Read more.

- Is Meg Ryan’s new rom-com, after all these years, worth watching? Read more.