The Highs, Lows, and Hell Nos of BravoCon 2022

Nearly 200 Real Housewives. An entire convention hall of drunk women screaming at the sight of Teresa Giudice. Thousands of people booing Lisa Rinna. BravoCon is back, baby.

Like they were for the highly anticipated return of Tamra Judge on The Real Housewives of Orange County, Bravoaholics have been waiting with bated breath for BravoCon to finally return.

It’s been three years since the network gathered hundreds of Bravolebrities at 2019’s inaugural fan convention, with COVID forcing Bravo to postpone a raucous follow-up. But BravoCon bounced back this year with the giddy fervor of Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby after her breakup with Michael (more on that later!). The Daily Beast’s Obsessed had access to all the tumultuous panels, Watch What Happens Live tapings, and the wild phenomenon of experiencing the darkest corners of Bravo Twitter in the flesh. And you better believe we’re going to “mention it all.”

For a whole weekend, starting this past Friday, an assortment of Real Housewives, Below Deck yachties, and other Bravo royalty—including Andy Cohen—took over an entire floor of New York’s Javits Center.

The schedule included cast panels, photo ops, and a whopping five tapings of Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live talk show. Those who splurged the exorbitant amount of money to buy VIP and SVIP access got the opportunity to drink and mingle with their favorite network stars in private rooms. Additionally, there was a bazaar where Bravolebs including the cast of Summer House and Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Sheree Whitfield sold their overpriced products and were (apparently) forced to promote Bubly seltzer.

Overall, the excitement (and sometimes irritation) of watching thousands of women and gay men lose their minds over Kathy Hilton, a group of Atlanta doctors, and a couple of yacht captains can’t really be summed up in words. However, we’ll try our best to break down the best, worst and even appalling parts of this chaotic but life-changing weekend.

HIGH: The pre-panel playlists

Whoever made these deserves a 20 percent raise. The hordes of people entering each panel were pumped up with everything from Rihanna’s best hits to a random selection from Kim Petras’ Slut Pop EP. There were also multiple songs from Kesha’s esteemed catalog on each playlist. Whether you were buzzed on tequila sodas or just high on life, the pre-panel playlists took you further, all the way up to Heaven.

LOW: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills panel

The “Thrills in Beverly Hills” panel on Friday was mostly a flop, thanks to moderator Brad Goreski’s sleep-inducing questions about the women’s wardrobes and text interactions. While BravoCon is a primarily light-hearted affair, the network’s entire brand—and specifically the Real Housewives franchise—thrives on shadiness. However, everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells regarding the show’s current controversies.

For example, when the issue of Garcelle Beauvais’s son being racially attacked online was brought up, it was generalized by the other women as “online bullying.” And Goreski simply referred to Lisa Rinna’s inflammatory comments on social media as a “disaster.” We also had to listen to Erika Jayne go on a self-victimizing rant every time she opened her mouth—which the crowd at BravoCon seemed to love. The entire hour was both uncomfortable (in addition to some of us being forced to sit on the floor!) and dull.

HELL NO: The lack of celebrity appearances

Anyone who watches Watch What Happens Live regularly knows that Hollywood celebrities are some of the biggest Bravoholics out there. Somehow, the organizers of this highly anticipated event (and Cohen) could only manage to score Anderson Cooper as a surprise guest at Andy’s Legends Ball, while John Mayer made a cameo via voiceover during the “Southern House Rules” WWHL taping. Where was Williamsburg resident Jennifer Lawrence? What about Jon Hamm? Couldn’t someone have Zoom-ed in Sarah Paulson?

HIGH: Audience Q&As

Every once in a while, a heroic audience member would go places with their line of questioning where the moderators seemingly weren’t allowed to go. Shoutout to the woman at the Vanderpump Rules panel who brought up Tom Schwartz allegedly hooking up with his co-star Raquel Leviss right after separation from Katie Maloney. Also, thanks to the lady at the “Andy’s Mystery Door” WWHL taping who asked Kyle Richards why she didn’t have Kim Richards back “like a real sister.” The true journalists of the weekend!

LOW: Audience Q&As, again

Many BravoCon panels ended with the moderator taking questions from the audience. Some got straight to the point with their inquiries while others took a good 10 to 30 seconds to tell their favorite Bravolebrities how much they loved them (like they hadn’t heard that a billion times over the weekend!) or share a personal anecdote. No one—especially the people who spent their life savings to attend this event—wants to hear about the time you met a Vanderpump Rules cast member a million years ago or watch you force Frank Catania to say hi to your sister on FaceTime! Additionally, a few people wasted the panel’s time simply giving their often rude opinions. Go back to Twitter!

HIGH: Lisa Rinna getting booed

I mean, you’ve probably heard by now.

HIGH: The Married To Medicine panel

The ladies of Married To Medicine pleaded the best case for live, interactive reunions on Sunday when they spent the majority of their panel screaming at each other, getting in each other’s faces,and even bringing receipts to show the audience. It was maybe the most jaw-dropping event of the weekend, and the closest thing the convention produced to watching a WWE match. Thanks for your commitment to entertaining us, doctors!

LOW: The stampedes and general audience entitlement

We estimate the BravoCon audience was about 80 percent rich, white women and gay men (unconfirmed reports, but our boots were on the ground, so just trust us), so it should come as no surprise there was some egregious issues with entitlement. And it wasn’t just in those Q&As, either. Plied with alcohol, the audience constantly shouted through panels and heckled the talent on stage, often making it hard to hear Bravolebs’ answers. No one cares about your opinion of Kyle Richards, we want to hear it from the cast themselves.

The weekend was a fascinating anthropological study. They treated the humans on stage in front of them like animals in a zoo. Yet, it was the audience who stampeded over one another to get into the panels for prime seating, screamed at security and event staff, and were rude to the bartenders. I guess that’s what happens when one of the most obnoxious and opinionated fandoms online start drinking overpriced wine at 10 am.

HELL NO: Lisa Rinna’s Invite

The booing of Rinna was a glorious thing to behold. However, Bravo extending an invite to the RHOBH star—whose offenses include several racist comments—in the first place was a major misstep. It’s a good example of white privilege within this landscape that Rinna is rewarded for causing several PR disasters while Nene Leakes has seemingly been eternally ousted for her public complaints about Bravo.

HIGH: Teresa Giudice’s RHONJ Panel

The second of two Real Housewives of New Jersey panels, hosted wonderfully by our very own Kevin Fallon, was one of the most juicy and interactive events of the weekend. She and new husband Luis Ruelas dished about their wedding, and she was candid (and comparatively classy…though still appropriately) about the riff in her family after her brother Joe Gorga and sister-in-law Melissa decided not to attend the nuptials. Originally, all the RHONJ women were meant to be on one panel together, but split into two groups at the last minute—which the Gorgas blamed Giudice for at their panel.

LOW: Jennifer Aydin at the RHONJ Panel

Jennifer Aydin constantly answering questions that weren’t directed towards her and interjecting with the most obnoxious statements added an annoying cringe element to an otherwise great panel. We still don’t really know why Jennifer threw a drink on Joe Gorga at one point during the weekend. But based on her deeply annoying panel performance, we’re taking his side!

HIGH: Lisa Barlow’s french toast sticks promo

If there was one consistency throughout BravoCon weekend, it’s that everyone within a 50-mile radius of the Javits Center was subjected to—or maybe, graced by—social media ads depicting Lisa Barlow fawning over Wendy’s fresh toast sticks. Wendy’s was one of the million sponsors of the event, so we assume that Lisa Barlow was contractually obligated to be photographed among these godless food abominations. Over and over.

LOW: Joe Gorga’s red-faced rants

At every available moment during “Jersey Ladies & Their Men: Part 1,” Joe Gorga stood up and took over the stage. It’s unclear if he was trying to warm the audience with his weak comedy routine or was just eager to lay into the microphone with vague analogies about nepotism and family loyalty. We were just kind of hoping he’d take his shirt off.

HIGH: The East Coast vs. West Coast panel

We’ll never be able to properly describe this fever dream of a panel. We’re not even sure it really happened. After a long first day, we lost our minds when East Coast Bravolebs faced off against their West Coast counterparts in a competition that made history for its audience’s screams reaching decibel levels not previously known to man. Something broke inside of us seeing Ramona Singer, Marlo Hampton, and Eva Marcille enter, followed by Lisa Barlow, Shannon Storms Beador, and Erika Jayne. And that was just the beginning.

HIGH: Bravolebrity panel entrances

Fans went absolutely buck-fuckin’-wild seeing their favorite personalities emerge from the mysterious, Barbarian-esque tunnels that run through the Javits Center. Can anyone DM us the number for Adele’s vocal polyp doctor? We’re going to need it.

LOW: Mile-long bathroom lines

Even the most unruly of audiences shouldn’t have to weigh whether they want to wait half an hour for the bathroom or risk pissing themselves at their most-anticipated panel. And yet, that’s what happened all three days of BravoCon. Lines for bathrooms stretched beyond comprehension, while attendees who used urinals were able to waltz right past and pee anytime, free of the tyranny of bathroom stalls. Planning a convention for a demographic that’s almost entirely women at a space with limited bathroom availability is downright cruel.

HIGH: The shirtless show-offs

Below Deck fans were also treated to a panel moderated by Obsessed’s own Kevin Fallon, with stars from all four iterations of the franchise gathering for a charming, giggle-filled conversation involving guest gossip, intense flirting between Sailing Yacht’s Gary King and Daisy Kelliher, and a drinking game involving (what else) espresso martinis. The audience went wild when Mediterranean’s Chef Dave White took off his shirt and showed off his impressive abs—naturally, King followed suit and stripped down, too.

Not to be outdone, Summer House’s Andrea Denver and Luke Gulbranson also triggered mass hysteria when they bared their abs for the crowd at their panel, while Gorga was spotted backstage shirtless as well. Bravo heavily promoted these moments on social media. They know what’s up.

HELL NO: Chrissy Teigen taking the front row of the press section Doesn’t Christine Teigen have enough? That’s the question we kept wondering every time she and her massive entourage blocked off most of—if not all—of the front row that had normally been reserved for press. We know how annoyingly whiny it sounds to be irritated that we couldn’t sit in the front row, but we spend our days in dark rooms with our noses buried in reality television shows. This is our chance to get dolled up to do our jobs with a little bit of dignity and a perk or two, covering all the weekend’s events from prime seating so we can break it to the people at home. Couldn’t Chrissy and her team watch and cheer from backstage, while mingling with all the Bravolebs instead of us plebeians?

HIGH: Ashley Darby and Luke Gulbranson’s Surprise Romance

A surprise love story started brewing after Cohen introduced newly separated Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby to Summer House’s Luke Gulbranson at his Legends Ball. The two were then caught holding hands on Saturday night. And the next morning at the RHOP panel, Darby was asked by an audience member if she had a “coochie craving” for Gulbranson—to which she blushed. This may be the most random pairing ever. But if it means that Gulbranson (aka the hottest man on Bravo) gets to extend his stay past this current season of Winter House and possibly be interrogated by Gizelle Bryant on the next season of RHOP, we’ll take it!

HIGH: The exclusive sneak previews

One of the biggest perks of attending BravoCon is getting to be privy to breaking Bravo news before anyone else. Most of the time, the news would go up online not long after it circulated amongst the buzzed-to-blackout girls and gays at the convention. But every so often, we got to experience a treat that was totally exclusive, like the preview for Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip 3: Thailand. But, being the intrepid journalists that we are, we were able to capture a bit for you.

HELL NO: Jen Shah crashing Tamra Judge’s glam (and WWHL)

Rumors of embattled RHOSLC star Jen Shah attempting to crash a WWHL taping were confirmed on Sunday by Tamra Judge at the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club Panel. Judge told buzzy convention-goers, “She showed up at my hotel room with an entourage—a jewelry girl, a psychiatrist, and an attorney…She sat down, got glammed up, and started talking. And she told me she’s not going to jail and she was going to crash Bravo Watch What Happens Live that night.”

HIGH: The Legends Ball performances

Marvel has nothing on Bravo. A medley of Kenya Moore’s “Gone With the Wind Fabulous,” Candiace Dillard Bassett’s “Drive Back,” Scheana Shay’s “Good as Gold,” and Melissa Gorga’s “On Display” is actually the most ambitious crossover event in history. The Avengers have their little powers, or whatever. But can they lip sync this well?

HIGH: Sutton Stracke and Garcelle Beauvais’ beautiful friendship

Despite being on a panel of larger than life personalities, besties Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke were the indisputable stars of Day 1. They traded jokes, had sweet asides, and proved why Beverly Hills desperately needed (and still could use) some earnestness.