The Real Housewives of Melbourne (abbreviated RHOMelbourne) is an Australian reality television series that premiered 23 February 2014 on Arena. It was developed as one of the international installments of The Real Housewives, an American television franchise. The series chronicles the lives of several women living in Melbourne, Australia.
The series originally focused on Gina Liano, Jackie Gillies, Andrea Moss, Janet Roach, Chyka Keebaugh and Lydia Schiavello; the lineup currently consists of Gillies, Roach, Gamble Breaux, Cherry Dipietrantonio, Kyla Kirkpatrick and Simone Elliott. Of the original housewives, Moss left after the first season, whilst Keebaugh departed after the third and Liano and Schiavello after the fourth. The remaining housewives joined in later seasons: Breaux in the second, Dipietrantonio, Kirkpatrick and Elliott in the fifth. Other housewives include Pettifleur Berenger (seasons 2âÂÂ3), Susie McLean (season 3), Sally Bloomfield (season 4), Venus Behbahani-Clark (season 4) and Anjali Rao (season 5).
Its success allowed for the development of The Real Housewives franchise by Matchbox Pictures and similar spin-off series based in Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand.
The Real Housewives of Melbourne was first announced by Matchbox Pictures as The Real Housewives of Australia and was set to air in 2013. On 28 July 2013, it was announced that the series had been renamed The Real Housewives of Melbourne, along with the full cast of six women. The six women include Jackie Gillies, Chyka Keebaugh, Gina Liano, Andrea Moss, Janet Roach, and Lydia Schiavello. They were handpicked by the producers, from over one hundred women during an eight-month process. Filming for the series began in July 2013. On 21 January 2014, the official cast photo and premiere date of 23 February 2014 were announced. The series at the time was the second biggest local series launch following SoHo's Wentworth.
Moss departed the series after the first season. On 8 May 2014, the series was renewed for a second season. Brian Walsh, an executive director of Foxtel, discussed the renewal, "There is no doubt that The Real Housewives of Melbourne has been a game changer for Foxtel. The incredible reaction to our Housewives, including the blockbuster ratings, the huge social media impact and the overall buzz surrounding the series has meant the decision for another season was a very easy one." In season two, two newcomers joined the show, Gamble Breaux and Pettifleur Berenger, and premiered 22 February 2015. Manuela Pless-Bennett joined the series in a recurring capacity as a friend to Janet. Pless-Bennett was featured in interviews and attended the reunion. Friend to the wives Lisa Tonkin made more frequent guest appearances throughout the season and returned to her guest role for the second and third seasons.
The series was subsequently renewed for a third season. All the housewives returned from the previous season, along with newcomer with Susie McLean joining the cast and without Pless-Bennett. The third season premiered 21 February 2016. Prior to the conclusion of the third season, on 8 May 2016, original housewife Chyka Keebaugh confirmed that she would not be returning to the series.
On 11 May 2016, Lydia Schiavello revealed there would be a fourth season but filming may be delayed to film The Real Housewives of Sydney first. A month later in June 2016, Liano also confirmed there would be a season four and the filming delay for the Sydney series, adding that "the original girls are out of contract now. They haven't approached us to renegotiate contracts yet." In December 2016, season four was officially confirmed by Foxtel, also being reported that filming is set to begin in early 2017. On 29 April 2017, it was announced that Berenger would not return to the series. On 17 May 2017, the season 4 cast was announced, with Venus Behbahani-Clark and Sally Bloomfield joining the cast. This also confirmed the departures of Keebaugh, Berenger and McLean. However, Keebaugh did make a guest appearance during one episode in the fourth season.
In September 2019, Foxtel announced a fifth season, set to premiere in 2020. Foxtel Executive Brian Walsh also confirmed the upcoming fifth season would include 'a big cast shake up.' In February 2020, Bloomfield, Gillies & Behbahani-Clark announced they were departing the show, while Schiavello confirmed her return. On 19 February, the cast was released, confirming the return of Liano, Roach and Breaux, alongside the previously confirmed Schiavello, as well as the addition of Anjali Rao, Kyla Kirkpatrick and Cherry Dipietrantonio. According to cast member Janet Roach, Gillies was set to return to the show, however by deciding to leave and to start a family, she was replaced by Schiavello who wasnâÂÂt originally set to return to the series.
On 18 March 2020, Foxtel has announced that filming for season 5 had temporarily been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement released by Foxtel and Matchbox Pictures, âÂÂThe Health and Safety of our cast and crew is our top priorityâÂÂ.
On 11 June 2020, it was confirmed by cast member Janet Roach that filming for season 5 was to resume in July, however she announced that Foxtel had decided to push the filming dates back to January 2021.
On 14 April 2021, Foxtel re-confirmed the cast of the fifth season with Roach and Breaux reprising their roles as well as the additions of Anjali Rao, Kyla Kirkpatrick, Cherry Dipietrantonio (who all had been previously announced). Gillies (who had previously departed) also returned to the series with new addition Simone Elliott. This also confirmed the departures of Liano and Schiavello (who had been previously set to return). The fifth season premiered on 10 October 2021. Following the conclusion of the season's seventh episode, Rao departed the series after one season. An all cast reunion was not filmed for the fifth season, marking the first time in the series history to not feature a reunion.
In February 2022, Walsh confirmed The Real Housewives of Melbourne was âÂÂunder reviewâ with production company Matchbox Pictures. By January 2024, a sixth season was reported to be in development with a new cast. In March 2025, Gillies made a guest appearance on the third season of The Real Housewives of Sydney.
On 17 February 2026, Universal International Studios announced that Matchbox Pictures would cease operations in Australia. Five days later, casting for a new season was reported to be proceeding without Matchbox Pictures.
In the United States, the series premiered 3 August 2014, on Bravo, the same network that initiated The Real Housewives franchise. The series returned for a second season on 5 March 2015. However, unlike season one which aired during daytime on Sunday, season two aired during prime time â the first of the international The Real Housewives series to do so. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered 6 November 2014, and airs on ITVBe. In Sweden TV3 started airing the first series in early January 2016. The series returned to Bravo for a third season on 22 July 2016, but now airing during prime time on a Friday. In Canada, the series started airing on Slice in August 2016. In New Zealand, the series premiered 25 October 2016 on Bravo, the same network that initiated The Real Housewives franchise by Matchbox Pictures. On January 19, 2022, the first four seasons became available in the United States on Discovery+ with a subscription. While the first three seasons had previously aired on Bravo in the US, this marked the first time season 4 had officially premiered, albeit on a streaming service.
In the United States, the premiere episode attracted 414,000 viewers, a 39% increase to the timeslot compared to the month prior. The second-season premiere, which for the first time saw the series air in primetime, grew on the prior season's premiere scoring 534,000 viewers.
In September 2014, Real Housewives producer Matchbox Pictures announced that they were considering filming Real Housewives in a second location â namely Sydney or the Gold Coast. In addition, a Judge Judy-type show has been considered starring Real Housewives star Gina Liano, with a pilot episode filmed in December 2014. In September 2015, it was again reported that producer of the series, Matchbox Productions, was possibly searching for potential candidates for a The Real Housewives franchise to be based in Sydney, or the Gold Coast. On 27 February 2016 it was revealed that the producers were looking for potential cast mates in Brisbane. In June 2017, it was planned that Gina Liano would receive a Judge Judy style spin-off entitled "Judge Gina". The series was to contain 40 episodes of 30 minutes. This series didn't eventuate.
The concept was later redeveloped into a podcast with ARN Media's iHeartPodcast Network Australia in July 2023.
The Real Housewives of Auckland was officially announced on 24 January 2016. Developed as an international installment of the American The Real Housewives franchise, it is the second installment of the franchise by Matchbox Pictures, following The Real Housewives of Melbourne. In May 2016, Anne Batley-Burton, Michelle Blanchard, Gilda Kirkpatrick, Julia Sloane, Angela Stone, and Louise Wallace were announced as the cast members for the show's debut season. The series premiered on Bravo on 22 August 2016.
Executive producer Kylie Washington described the cast of the first season as "people who are the life of the party â the party is them â it's around them, so it doesn't matter where they are, something's always happening." Washington also revealing, "'We're pretty tongue in cheek with it as well. We know what we are, we're not pretending to be anything else. Already [the Auckland Housewives] are showing that they have the right spirit.'" A second season was reported as likely. The first season concluded on 18 October 2016, and did not feature a reunion. The network provided one-on-one interviews with the cast via their Facebook pages, following the final episode.
In October 2016, following airing of the first season, production company Matchbox Pictures confirmed there were ongoing discussions for a second season. That same month, contract details for the cast were leaked to The New Zealand Herald. In November 2016, the series was not included in Bravo's programming highlights for the 2017 broadcast season. In April 2018, a Bravo spokesperson revealed that there was no immediate plans to return the series for a second season. On 17 December 2020, the cast, minus Sloane, reunited for a special episode entitled, Get Housewived.
On 3 September 2014, the production company for The Real Housewives of Melbourne, Matchbox Pictures, revealed they were filming another series, in Sydney or Gold Coast. A year later in September 2015, it was again reported that Matchbox Pictures were looking into filming a new series in the aforementioned cities, along with possible candidates. On 27 February 2016, The Real Housewives of Melbourne cast member, Gamble Breaux, revealed that she was assisting the production company on looking for talent in Sydney.
The Real Housewives of Sydney was officially announced on 16 May 2016. The Real Housewives of Sydney serves as the second spin-off, of The Real Housewives of Melbourne following The Real Housewives of Auckland. In July 2016, AthenaX Levendi Krissy Marsh, Lisa Oldfield, Nicole O'Neil, Matty Samaei, Melissa Tkautz, and Victoria Rees were announced as the cast members for the show's debut season. The women are described by Foxtel as "charismatic and engaging" as well as women who enjoy "the extravagant, stylish and cosmopolitan lifestyle of Sydney." This marked the first time in the history of the franchise that a series has debuted with a total of seven women. The filming for the ten-part series began filming in September, having The Real Housewives of Melbourne filming put on hold until 2017. Filming concluded on 20 December 2016. The series premiered on 26 February 2017, and featured a total of twelve episodes. On 9 January 2017, a "meet the wives" trailer was released, which featured all housewives and their profession/notability in Sydney. The reunion for season one was filmed on 26 March 2017, taking 19 hours to film.
On 28 April 2023, a 10-part revival of the series was announced to stream exclusively on Binge. In August 2023, Binge confirmed the cast with Marsh and O'Neil returning to the series, joined by new housewives Kate Adams, Terry Biviano, Caroline Gaultier, Victoria Montano, and Sally Obermeder. The season premiered on 10 October 2023. A reunion special was announced on 28 November 2023, with comedian Joel Creasey set as host. O'Neil was not in attendance due to a family commitment.
In February 2024, a third season was reported to be in development. On 28 April 2024, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season, set to air in 2024. On 17 October 2024, the Foxtel Group confirmed the third season would now premiere in 2025, with first look footage confirming the entire returning cast, joined by new housewife Martine Chippendale.
Production on the third season was interrupted multiple times. In May 2024, Marsh, O'Neill and another cast member reportedly threatened to quit, after objecting to Biviano returning to the series midway of filming. In December 2024, reports of an alleged physical altercation saw production abandon filming. Unedited rushes were subsequently sent to NBCUniversal, owner of Matchbox Pictures, following complaints from several cast members. A reunion special hosted by Osher Günsberg was filmed, with OâÂÂNeil again not in attendance, instead appearing from a remote location. The third season premiered on 25 February 2025. Jackie Gillies of The Real Housewives of Melbourne made a guest appearance during the fourth and fifth episodes, and additionally the reunion.
In May 2025, O'Neil announced her departure from the show after three seasons. In August 2025, a decision on a fourth season was still undecided by Binge. In September 2025, the series was absent from Foxtel's 2026 Upfronts slate and was not renewed for a fourth season.
In June 2023, it was revealed that a Brisbane set series of The Real Housewives had been cast. However, the series did not move forward in favour of Matchbox Pictures reviving The Real Housewives of Sydney for a second season.
In May 2025, an Australian spin-off of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip was revealed to be in development by Matchbox Pictures. The series was set to combine cast members from both The Real Housewives of Melbourne and The Real Housewives of Sydney franchises. It's most likely this series has been cancelled following the closure.