The Real Housewives of Cheshire

**The Real Housewives of Cheshire**(abbreviated RHOCheshire) is a British reality television series broadcast on ITVBe. The show premiered on January 12, 2015 and is based on The Real Housewives franchise. It is produced and distributed by NBC Universal International Networks and Monkey Kingdom, an NBC Universal owned British production company. The Real Housewives of Cheshire chronicles the lives of several affluent housewives who reside in Cheshire, England.

The series originally focused on Ampika Pickston, Dawn Ward, Lauren Simon, Leanne Brown, Magali Gorré and Tanya Bardsley. Of the original housewives, Gorré left after the second series, Pickston shortly after the fifth, Brown after the sixth, and Simon after the eighth. The remaining housewives joined in later series, Seema Malhotra in the third, Ester Dohnalová in the fifth, Rachel Lugo in the sixth, both Hanna Miraftab and Perla Navia in the eighth. Other housewives include Missé Beqiri, Stacey Forsey, Nermina Pieters-Mekic and Leilani Dowding.

## Overview and Casting

### Series 1-4

On September 22, 2014 ITV announced the cast for Britain's first housewives instalment The Real Housewives of Cheshire. Starring Ampika Pickston, Dawn Ward, Lauren Simon, Leanne Brown, Magali Gorré and Tanya Bardsley, the series follows the cast's intertwining and fast lives in the rich communities of Cheshire and Greater Manchester. ITV had planned to profile the glamorous denizens of London's Knightsbridge in the series, but ITV bosses said "their homes weren’t quite big enough..", and so Cheshire was chosen. After the success of the first series, with the premiere becoming ITVBe's second highest rating ever programme behind The Only Way is Essex, on April 27, 2015 it was announced that a second series had been commissioned, with filming to begin in May 2015. The second series aired from September 7, 2015 to November 9, 2015, with the cast from the first series returning.

On March 1, 2016, it was announced that Magali Gorré would be departing the series, although a return in future hasn’t been ruled out. On March 4, 2016, ITVBe announced that Ward, Simon, Pickston, Brown and Bardsley would be returning for a third series along with three new wives, Missé Beqiri, Seema Malhotra and Stacey Forsey. The third series premiered on April 4, 2016. On April 25, 2016, it was confirmed by cast member Tanya Bardsley, that the third series would have a reunion show, a first since the show's inception. On May 19, 2016, it was announced that Irish television presenter, Brian Dowling, would be hosting the reunion show. The reunion was filmed at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire in late May. The reunion aired on June 13, 2016, concluding the third series.

On June 8, 2016, a week before the airing of the reunion for the third series, it was announced that the show would be returning for a fourth series. It was also revealed that all the housewives from the third series would be returning. Filming for the fourth series commenced on July 1, 2016. In late August 2016, a small teaser was shown on ITVBe that revealed the fourth series would premiere on September 5, 2016. The fourth series' reunion was filmed at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire. The reunion aired on November 8, 2016, concluding the fourth series.

### Series 5-8

On January 3, 2017, it was announced that the show had been renewed for a fifth and sixth series with both set to air in 2017. Filming for the fifth series began in late January.

On February 13, 2017, it was revealed that the fifth series would premiere on March 27, 2017. It was also announced that Missé Beqiri would not be returning as a main housewife, to take a step back to focus on her relationship, but will appear as a guest housewife. Former housewife Magali Gorré commented on the upcoming series, stating "I have heard there is a new cast member and she is more Geordie Shore than Golden Triangle" On March 21, 2017, Ester Dohnalová was announced to be the new housewife for the fifth series. On April 28, 2017, Misse Beqiri announced the fifth series would be her last. The fifth series did not have a reunion show, and instead featured host Brian Dowling visiting the housewives' homes in a special titled "At Home with the Real Housewives of Cheshire".

On July 9, 2017, Lauren Simon exclusively revealed that filming for the sixth series had begun. On July 29, 2017, Ampika Pickston announced her departure from the series. It was exclusively announced on an ITVBe advert that two new housewives would be joining for the sixth series. The sixth series premiered on September 11, 2017, with Rachel Lugo and Nermina Pieters-Mekic joining the cast. Lugo's identical twin sister Katie Kane appeared in a recurring capacity whilst the cast filmed in Gibraltar.

On February 10, 2018, Leanne Brown confirmed she would not be returning for the seventh series. The first clip from the upcoming series was revealed on ITV stating that they will be back in March, confirming the return of the remaining housewives as well as a guest appearance from Kane. On February 28, 2018, it was revealed that Christine McGuinness, the wife of Paddy McGuinness would be joining the show for the seventh series. The seventh series concluded with a reunion show which took place at Manchester Hall, the first to be filmed in a new location in the show's history. At the end of the reunion, host Brian Dowling confirmed that the show would return for an eighth series. On July 27, 2018, it was revealed that Stacey Forsey and Nermina Pieters-Mekick will not be returning as main housewives and will be guests. On August 1, 2018, the cast of the eighth series was revealed introducing new housewives Miraftab and Navia.

### Series 9-present

On March 19, 2019, a ninth series was confirmed to be premiering the following week, with all the housewives returning from the previous series, with the exception of original housewife, Lauren Simon.

On August 2, 2019, the cast of the tenth series was confirmed, with all housewives returning from the previous series, with the addition of Leilani Dowding while McGuiness and Pieters-Mekic would return as guests.

The 10th series also moved from the regular 10pm timeslot in to the peak time position at 9pm.

There was a special episode to mark a milestone 100th episode which included all current housewives as well as features from former housewives Brown, Gorré, Simon and Forsey.

On January 13, 2020, Dowding confirmed she would not be returning to the series after one season on Instagram.

## International Broadcast

In Australia, the series premiered on Arena on May 24, 2015. In the United States, the series debuted on November 14, 2015, on Bravo, the same network that initiated The Real Housewives franchise.