The Real Housewives of Melbourne

**The Real Housewives of Melbourne** (abbreviated **RHOMelbourne**) is an Australian reality television series. It is the first Australian instalment of The Real Housewives franchise.

The series aired on Arena from February 23, 2014 to present. It focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in Melbourne, Australia.

## Overview

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 July 28, 2013 it was announced that the series had been renamed to The Real Housewives of Melbourne, along with the full cast of the 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 January 21, 2014, the official cast photo and premiere date of February 23, 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 May 8, 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 February 22, 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 several guest appearances throughout the season.

The series was subsequently renewed for a third season. All the housewives returned from the previous season with Susie McLean joining the cast. The third season premiered 21 February 2016.

On 11 May 2016, 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.

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 and Behbahani-Clark announced they were departing the show, while Schiavello confirmed her return. On February 19, 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.

## Casting

### Housewives

* Gina Liano (Season 1-5)
* Janet Roach (Season 1-5)
* Lydia Schiavello (Season 1-5)
* Jackie Gillies (Season 1-4; guest in Season 5)
* Gamble Breaux (Season 2-5)
* Chyka Keebaugh (Season 1-3; guest in Season 4-5)
* Pettifleur Berenger (Season 2-3; guest in Season 5)
* Andrea Moss (Season 1)
* Susie McLean (Season 3; guest in Season 1)
* Sally Bloomfield (Season 4; guest in Season 5)
* Venus Behbahani-Clark (Season 4)
* Anjali Rao (Season 5)
* Cherry Dipietrantonio (Season 5)
* Kyla Kirkpatrick (Season 5)

### Friends of the Housewives

* Lisa Tonkin (Guest in Season 1-3)
* Manuela Pless-Bennett (Season 2)

## Episodes

See Also: List of RHOMelbourne Episodes

 2 | 13
 3 | 12
 4 | 12

## Broadcast

In the United States, the series premiered August 3, 2014, on Bravo, the same network that initiated The Real Housewives franchise. The series returned for a second season on March 5, 2015. However, unlike season one which aired during daytime on Sunday, season two aired during prime time, the first of the international The Real Housewives series to do so. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered November 6, 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 July 22, 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 October 25, 2016 on Bravo, the same network that initiated The Real Housewives franchise by Matchbox Pictures.

## Reception

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.