Reality Stars Who Refused To Get Close To Each Other
Reality TV is known for drama among cast members. For many fans, the catfights, social media insults, and full-on brawls are entertaining guilty pleasures. Therefore, it is not surprising that some shows not only promote co-star conflicts, but also script material to boost ratings (via Herald Weekly). Still, many of the ongoing feuds we see on reality TV are totally real.
From Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie of "The Simple Life" to Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag of "The Hills," reality stars have proven how a single argument can shift the dynamic of a years-long friendship within minutes, per Insider. Perhaps the cameras and media attention are what make these on-camera relationships prone to conflict — or maybe many of these friendships were fabricated for the small screen from day one. Regardless, the following reality TV cast members couldn't stand each other and refused to get close on screen or off, not only creating some of the most memorable and juicy moments on television, but also keeping us all on the edge of our seats while grabbing the proverbial popcorn.
Drag drama between Morgan McMichaels and Tyra Sanchez turned grim
"RuPaul's Drag Race" contestants often exchange shady insults that viewers can't get enough of. These petty remarks are typically light-hearted. However, one former contestant may have taken things too far by bringing the shade to social media. In 2017, Season 2 winner Tyra Sanchez falsely claimed her co-star, Morgan McMichaels, had died. The infamous (and since-deleted) Facebook post read in part, "I'm gonna miss @morganmcmichaels #rip Please send her your condolences" (via Instinct Magazine). If that wasn't bad enough, Sanchez closed out the post with a link to her own SoundCloud.
How did this drama turn so grim? Well, according to McMichaels' subsequent Facebook Live addressing the controversy, things got nasty when Sanchez was dropped from a performance the two were booked for at West Hollywood's Micky's nightclub. McMichaels explained she was actually the one who initially requested to be let go from the booking: She no longer wanted to work with Sanchez after the queen took to social media to insult her friend and "RuPaul's Drag Race" co-star, Raven. McMichaels claimed the nightclub decided to drop Sanchez instead of her.
"After that post, I called the manager of Micky's ... and I told him, 'Look, I am not happy with this situation. I am going to take myself out of this situation,'" she explained. "Whether Raven had an issue or not, I have a loyalty thing." It seems that McMichaels and Sanchez had a tough time getting along off-camera.
Kendra Wilkinson and Holly Madison reignited past tensions
Kendra Wilkinson and Holly Madison were seemingly friendly during their time on E!'s "The Girls Next Door," but their ongoing feud since their time on the show ended suggests there was more going on behind the scenes. The tension between these two became public when Wilkinson revealed that these two former girlfriends of Hugh Hefner were "never even really friends" in a 2012 CNN interview.
Madison did not respond kindly to this statement when she addressed the drama in her 2015 book, "Down the Rabbit Hole." Explaining how she reached out to Wilkinson regarding her comments, Madison wrote in part (via Us Weekly), "I decided to text her how I truly felt: that she was a coward and that she tried to act like the 'real' girl on TV, but she's the fakest person I've ever met. ... Kendra and I haven't spoken since, and I have to say, I don't miss her."
But the drama did not stop there — the former co-stars' back-and-forth continued into 2021, when Madison was a guest on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. She claimed Wilkinson lied when she shared she hadn't slept with the late Playboy founder prior to living at his infamous mansion, saying, "I had to sleep with him first. I'm not trying to slut shame anybody or anything but nobody ever got asked to move in unless they had slept with him." But for her part, it seemed Wilkinson was ready to move on from the headline-making feud.
Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag are still frenemies
"The Hills" fans know that the drama between Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag was one for the books. According to CinemaBlend, it all started when Montag began dating Spencer Pratt, whom Conrad did not like. The conflict was bumped up a notch when Conrad suspected Montag and her beau were responsible for circulating rumors of an adult tape involving "The Fame Game" author and her ex, Jason Wahler. This seemed to be the breaking point for the co-stars, who soon after cut ties with each other.
In a not-so-shocking turn of events, Pratt finally admitted he started those rumors in a 2015 interview with Complex. "Lauren is a cold-hearted killer," he claimed. "That's what people don't get. She will cut you in your sleep." He went on about his attempt at revenge: "She tried to destroy us. If you want to throw missiles, I'm throwing a nuke. This is how I operate."
It seems the drama has still not calmed down, as of this writing. In 2021, Montag claimed she had "such a love" for Conrad during a "Call Her Daddy" podcast appearance (via E!), but it seems unlikely that these two will ever become friends again. "When that whole Spencer thing happened, she's like, 'If you date Spencer, you're off the show,'" Montag claimed. "How dare you, and I'm not your dog. Yeah, I appreciate you getting me on this show, but that doesn't mean you own me and you can tell me what to do in my life."
NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak's friendship crumbled
"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" stars Kim Zolciak and NeNe Leakes were good friends before appearing on the show. However, it seems this friendship could not handle the pressure of reality TV, because much of the series' plot highlighted the pair's ongoing feud. One of their first documented conflicts sprouted from Leakes' disapproval of Zolciak's relationship with a married man (via People). Later, the Bravo franchise saw what would become one of the most iconic fights in the show's history when the two brawled on a tour bus. The fight began after an argument around Zolciak's tour schedule interfering with a girls' trip.
Tensions grew in 2017 when Leakes discovered a Snapchat video Zolciak's daughter, Brielle Biermann, had recorded inside of Leakes' home. According to Bustle, Biermann captioned the video, "when u gotta get down on the floor to see ur self bc this bathroom has no mirrors besides the sink lmao." She also filmed bugs she found in Leakes' bathroom. This started a back-and-forth between the two on Instagram that ended in Zolciak getting involved.
Fast-forward to 2021, when we found out this drama may have been even more brutal than what we saw on camera. People reported that the tell-all book, "Not All Diamonds and Rosé," by Dave Quinn claimed Leakes once choked Zolciak during a fight. Despite this alleged revelation, the co-stars took the stage together in November 2021 at the Ultimate Women's Expo event in Atlanta, per Heavy.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie filmed The Simple Life separately
At the start of Fox's "The Simple Life," it seemed Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were inseparable. After all, they had a lot in common. They were both the daughters of wealthy families who seemingly loved partying and indulging in their inherited fame. Although it was never confirmed how their feud started, a source cited by People in 2005 said they believed Richie was "jealous" of Hilton's level of fame and claimed that she played Hilton's adult tape in an attempt to make fun of her at a party. At the time, Hilton stated of their feud, "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it."
Unfortunately, Hilton's vagueness does not tell us much about what actually went down, but we do know that this conflict changed the dynamic of "The Simple Life." Starting in Season 4, the show was filmed in separate locations in an attempt to keep the ex-friends as far away from each other as possible, per The Washington Post.
Luckily, fans have enjoyed the reconciliation between the two in recent years. In 2014, Richie gushed about their friendship on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live," saying, "I haven't spoken to her in a while, but we are very good friends." Richie was even spotted at Hilton's wedding in 2021, according to E!.
Ashley Jacobs and Kathryn Dennis of Southern Charm bumped heads
"Southern Charmed" stars Ashley Jacobs and Kathryn Dennis were destined for drama from the start. Thomas Ravenel, aka Dennis' ex, brought Jacobs along to join the cast as his new girlfriend, and it all went downhill from there. Things got brutal at the end of Season 5 when Jacobs referred to Dennis as an "egg donor," per Reality Tea. She went on to criticize Dennis' parenting of her two children with Ravenel.
Jacobs did eventually apologize for her harsh comments. "I said some things again that were quick and reactive that I shouldn't have said," she explained on the "Southern Charm After Show" in 2019, adding (via Reality Tea), "I should have had more class to bite my tongue, but again I was just in that moment. I was provoked, so I was a little disappointed. Like darn." According to The Daily Dish, however, Dennis was skeptical of this apology, stating in part, "I don't know how you can go from one polar opposite end of the spectrum to this one, I don't buy it."
Jacobs took to Instagram in June 2021 to announce she had secretly married NNovate Studios co-founder Mike Appel and was expecting a baby boy (via Page Six). Perhaps motherhood has encouraged the "Southern Charmed" alum to step away from the drama.
Vanderpump Rules stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute are problematic
Although Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute have a long-standing friendship, they've had many conflicts both on and off camera. One of the most intense arguments between the "Vanderpump Rules" co-stars stemmed from a conversation about their wine line, Witches of WeHo. Doute criticized Schroeder for her apparent lack of effort toward their shared business. "What the f**k are you doing?" she said during the Season 8 "After Show" (via The Daily Dish). "Like, you literally do nothing. You were asked to push something on social media." However, Doute later tweeted an apology and clarified she realized she came across as "insulting" her pal's "work ethic."
Outside of this drama, Schroeder and Doute proved to be among the more problematic stars of "Vanderpump Rules" — so much so that their actions resulted in their termination from the show in 2020. According to Deadline, the pair planned a racist, uh, "prank" involving their former co-star, Faith Stowers (who is a Black woman), who explained that they called police two years prior and falsely identified her as a woman the Daily Mail has reported as being "wanted for theft." Doute and Schroeder were fired as a result of these events resurfacing.
Danielle Staub and Teresa Giudice of Real Housewives of New Jersey got heated
Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub's long-standing feud began with a tossed table. During Season 1 of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," the cast got upset with Staub when they found out about her alleged problematic past in a book called "Cop Without a Badge" about her FBI informant ex-husband, Kevin Maher (via Starcasm). During this instantly infamous fight, Giudice threw a personal insult at Staub, calling her a "w**re" who was "f***king engaged nineteen times," per Us Weekly. This was the moment where Giudice flipped that table. From then on, there was bad blood between the two.
For a brief moment in 2018, the co-stars mended their friendship. "We speak more than once a day," Staub told the Daily Mail. "We're legitimately friends, it was something that was worth salvaging and has turned into the relationship it should have always been." As some might find unsurprising given their tumultuous history, the two ran into problems again in 2019 while filming the 10th season of the Bravo hit. According to Us Weekly, an insider claimed that "by the end of the season, there was a lot of finger-pointing between Teresa and Danielle and it led to their falling out."
As of this writing, Staub and Giudice's relationship is still on the rocks.
Jeff Lewis and Jenni Pulos of Flipping Out parted ways
"Flipping Out" cast members Jeff Lewis and Jenni Pulos were friends before the show, but these former co-stars are an example of how business partnerships can go sour quickly. Pulos earned a spot as a producer on the Bravo series over time. And it seems that may have been what led to the conversation on her work ethic that ultimately marked the demise of her friendship with Lewis.
According to RepublicWorld.com, Lewis felt that Pulos was not putting forth as much effort as she did at the start of their business partnership. As a result, he fired her, ending their long history of working together. "It was scary because, you know, I'm used to her being next to me for the last dozen years," Lewis said on Season 11, Episode 10. Although Pulos walked away from the show following her firing, the feud had really just begun. According to People, Lewis took to Instagram to share a photo of his former co-star with a red "X" over her face. He later deleted the controversial post, but around this time, also alleged on his SiriusXM show that Pulos had accused him of wrongful termination, abuse, and harassment.
Speaking with People, Pulos denied that she'd filed these claims. And while she noted that she refused to "fake a friendship" on the series, she did add that their working relationship, as seen on the show, was "very real" and "authentic." It's been speculated that this headline-making dispute led to the show's cancellation in 2018, per Starcasm.
Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel made Real Housewives of NY interesting
The feud between former "Real Housewives of New York" stars Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel has lasted for years, and the two don't show any signs of making amends in the near future. People reported that tensions took root before the show even began filming. In "Real Housewives" tell-all book "Not All Diamonds and Rosé," Jill Zarin shared how Bensimon and Frankel's relationship got off to a rough start following their initial meeting during an event at Bensimon's home. "Bethenny hated Kelly even before the show because she felt that Kelly snubbed her at that party," Zarin wrote (via People). "[Bethenny] got even more upset when they met again on the show and Kelly had no idea who she was. [Kelly] didn't recall Bethenny being at her house."
During Season 2, Frankel took a jab at Bensimon by calling her "Madonna" for showing up late to a meeting about an upcoming charity event, per International Business Times. Things only got worse in the third season, with Bensimon claiming Frankel had been "trying to kill her" during the Scary Island saga. Bensimon's odd behavior included many digs toward Frankel — like her accusation that Frankel is a "cook, not a chef" (via Reality Tea).
While the pair had tried to settle their differences in Season 2, things did not go as planned. "The second I arrived, she gave me attitude and I just wasn't into it," Bensimon claimed (via People). She called her co-star's 'tude "tacky" and said, "Bethenny was just looking for attention. She was so insecure."
Amber Portwood and Farrah Abraham's Teen Mom OG feud turned physical
MTV's "Teen Mom OG" follows the lives of the former stars of "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" as they navigate life as young mothers with reality TV fame. The drama-filled spin-off often involves feuds among cast members — but a petty exchange between "Teen Mom OG" stars Amber Portwood and Farrah Abraham reportedly turned violent during the filming of a 2016 reunion episode (via Refinery29).
According to E!, an unidentified source reportedly took to "The Real Mr. Housewife" blog to explain how it all went down in a now-deleted post. They suggested things turned left when Abraham's boyfriend, Simon Saran, got involved. The source elaborated that some insults were directed at Portwood's fiance, Matt Baier. "When Dr. Drew mentioned Simon had called Matt a pedophile, it seemed like he was heading in the direction of an apology, claiming it was all in fun. ... However, Farrah piped in and said, 'well he does kind of look like a pedophile,'" the source said. That was when things reportedly got physical.
E! reported that this feud continued when Abraham sent Portwood a cease-and-desist letter regarding "false and defamatory" media statements. Their public back-and-forths usually had to do with their partners or media scandals — but Portwood and Abraham have not always been enemies. Portwood spoke on their former friendship in an interview with E!'s "Daily Pop," stating in part, "We used to be friends, but I don't know what happened. I think she did things for publicity." When Portwood suggested the two revive their friendship, Abraham revealed to E! that she was "on a whole other level of [her] life" and wasn't interested.
Elise Wims and Carrie Keep kept Hell's Kitchen fiery
The televised cooking competition "Hell's Kitchen" is mostly known for chef Gordon Ramsay's yelling spats with contestants — but Ramsay is not the only one who stirs up chaos on the show. Season 9's Elise Wims and Carrie Keep let the pressure of the competition create a rift between them from the get-go. According to Society19, Wims often attacked Keep's poor performance. As fans know, tension regarding substandard feedback is a common occurrence on the show, given that contestants are assigned teams. The more conflict-prone cast members can become pretty argumentative toward those they feel are a liability.
In 2011, Keep opened up about Wims' verbal attacks in an interview with D magazine. Calling Wims "evil," she said, "I really don't think she has a mother. Seriously, I don't know who raised her. A pack of freaking wolves or coyotes. I want to talk to her mother, if she does have a mother. [I'd] say 'What did you do to this girl? God!' I have never, ever met someone who was like, off the bat, 'Eff you.' Never! Everybody loves me!"
The show suggested Wims was always super serious about her teammates' performances, and it seems this was ultimately the source of her feud with Keep.
Caroline Manzo and Teresa Giudice had a short-lived friendship
Like many reality TV rivals, Caroline Manzo and Teresa Giudice seemingly started out as friends. However, in an interview for "Life After Bravo," Manzo shared that the two were not as close as they seemed to be on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." She said she knew Giudice "very very casually," so it appears that they were not very familiar with each other from the start. Manzo went on to say that Giudice changed "when it became a competition for her." It seems Manzo became frustrated with her former co-star when she noticed what she perceived as a shift in character, and this fueled further friction.
During an appearance on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" in 2019, Giudice seemingly blamed Manzo for their falling out. "We did have great times, and shame on her for the way it ended up," she said. "She's the one that went against me. I didn't go against her."
As of this writing, it looks like these housewives are likely still on bad terms, considering Giudice was seen calling Manzo a "clown" in a Cameo video that was sent to a fan in August 2021, per Heavy. This drama is just as lively off-camera as it was on the show.