Well, Real Housewives fans, it looks like the longest running iteration of the franchise needs to take a step away from filming. Untraditional marriage dynamics, problematic wordsmiths and “whooping it up” will have to be followed up at a later time. That's right, Real Housewives of Orange County might be gone from the schedule even longer than usual.
Executive producer and Real Housewives reunion host Andy Cohen initially commented (perhaps jokingly) back in January that Real Housewives of Orange County needed a “reboot” amidst all of Season 15's controversies, prompting many fans to think that the show was being cancelled. It seems that may not be entirely the case, however, according to what Cohen recently revealed.
I think that show's really important to a lot of people and it's the mothership of all the Housewives and so we just want to take our sweet time. You know there used to be times between seasons where we'd say, 'Let's just let the Housewives live their lives and we'll call on them in a bit.' And I think we're in that period in Orange County. I think it will be good for them to live their lives and then we'll pick it back up when we need to. We've got a lot of Housewives shows going in various stages of production so the good news is there's no, we don't have to rush it to air.
Andy Cohen didn't stipulate to E! News how much of a delay there will be before the network cranks out Season 16 of Real Housewives of Orange County, but let's look at some numbers. The majority of past Orange County seasons saw premieres in June or July, with COVID-19 postponing the most recent one until October. In generally, we've seen usually only 7 to 8 months between the end of each season to the next. That could possibly extend to a year or longer for this hiatus, though Andy Cohen was super vague about a timeline here.
.
If anything, though, the revelations made in Season 15 of Real Housewives of Orange County are probably the biggest ever seen in the show, and I feel like fans definitely deserve follow-ups. Personally, I want to know the current status of: Braunwyn Windham-Burke's situation-ship with her husband and lover, more about Elizabeth Vargas's childhood in a cult, and if Kelly Dodd truly, ever, regrets anything.
Even so, the most interesting part of Andy Cohen's statement was his suggestion that the other Real Housewives can pick up the slack of a delayed Real Housewives of Orange County. He seems to be referring to the only spinoffs that are not currently on air, or about to be, for their next season: Potomac and Salt Lake City. Pre-Season 15, the Orange County speculation centered on adding new blood to counteract tired storylines and figureheads. Now it seems that with the added controversy from last season, Orange County just ain't doing it the same as the new girls.
A Real Housewives of Orange County delay is likely a good move for the show to weather some of the recent press surrounding its principle women. Too long, though, and we might have sour oranges on our hands.
