BravoCon 2019 Adventures
Last weekend, I traveled to NYC with Real Housewives of Dallas star (and my BFF) LeeAnne Locken to participate in the first ever BravoCon fan convention. The 3-day extravaganza was held in 3 venues throughout Manhattan over the dates of November 15-17. 90 “Bravolebrities” from the network showed up to represent for their franchise and delight fans with a variety of panel discussions, photo opps and special events like a brunch with the cast of Southern Charm, a cabaret show from Countess Luann of RHONY or a special taping of WWHL with Andy Cohen. Now that I am home, the biggest question people are asking me is “Was it worth the money?” The face-value prices ranged from $124.50 for one-day general admission to $1,499.50 for a “Future Bravoleb” three-day pass. My answer is unequivocally, YES! Which is easy for me to say, because I actually didn’t pay for a ticket. But as someone who was there - I can say without a shadow of a doubt that if you are a Bravo fan, this is the Super Bowl, Oscars, Grammys and MTV Music Awards all rolled into one. I’m already counting the days until BravoCon 2020.
Scroll through a gallery of my best photos from the event below and check my epic BEHIND-THE-SCENES Stories on IG:
So, who was naughty and who was nice? And who was an outright asshole? Generally speaking, the people I expected to be warm and lovely were, and the Bravolebrities who have a reputation for being divas - didn’t disappoint.
MY FAVORITE BRAVOLEBRITY:
Reza Farahan (Shahs of Sunset) - Hands down, Reza is my FAVORITE Bravolebrity. I met him in Los Angeles with LeeAnne several months ago and the minute he saw us at BravoCon he yelled “There are my sweethearts!” and ran over to give us a big hug and double-cheek kiss. He is the most charming, lovely, funny, generous person. He is 100% what I expected from watching him on Shahs for the past 7 seasons. He was on a mission to take a selfie with every BRavo celeb that attended and, as Bravo TV reported, he came darn close.
WHO SURPRISED ME?
Kelly Dodd (RHOC) - I will admit, I expected her to be a bit of a diva but she was so friendly and charming. Perhaps, okay probably, it’s because she had just gotten engaged the night before to FOX News journalist Rick Leventhal. We spent Thursday evening with she and Rick, at Moxies, alongside RHOC co-stars Emily Simpson and Braunwyn Windham-Burke and had a blast. What did NOT surprise me, is that Kelly knows how to par-tay.
Dolores Catania and Margaret Josephs (RHONJ) - I met both of these Jersey girls at an OK! Magazine party in September of 2018. When we ran into them in the green room on Friday night at the WWHL taping they both said, “I’ve met you before…” and couldn’t have been more welcoming. Given the number of people they meet in a month, it was pretty darn impressive (to me) that they both recalled meeting me before.
WHO DISAPPOINTED ME?
Shannon Beador (RHOC) - On the Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon is funny and seems like the life of the party. In real life, she was an uptight diva of epic proportions which was highly disappointing. I encountered her several times throughout the weekend and she always gave the vibe that she did not want to be approached. After the WWHL taping on Friday night, she threw a fit when she had to wait for a car and then when the driver leaned the seat back too quickly, she jumped back out and screamed to Producers how the driver had “CRUSHED” her legs! She was just ICK.
Vicki Gunvelson (RHOC) and Ramona Singer (RHONY) - These OG’s arrived expecting to be treated with the respect they (felt they) deserved and made it clear to everyone around them that homage should be paid and adoration was expected. As a fan of both of these women I was disappointed in their behavior, but by no means was surprised by it. Take a look at the video below and you’ll get the vibe they were putting out all weekend…
SMALL WORLD CONNECTIONS:
Capt. Sandy Yawn (Below Deck Mediterranean) - We have a mutual friend in Bar Method instructor, Melissa Moore. Melissa sailed the high seas with the Capt. in Season 2 of BDM and the two have been friends ever since. When I mentioned our common connection, Sandy asked about her boyfriend, job and children by name and then said, “Let’s take a photo so we can text it to Melissa!”. She was very down-to-earth and gracious. It’s a small, small world people.
Stassi Schroeder (Vanderpump Rules) - I met Stassi through our mutual friend, Courtney Kerr, when she came to Big D in October 2017 to attend a party celebrating a collaboration that Courtney did with a clothing line called Privilege. They are both sassy, take-no-prisoners, big mouth biatches that I am just crazy about. Soul sisters, fer sure. Congrats to Stassi, who announced at BravoCon that she has been given her own Bravo digital spinoff called Basically Stassi, where Schroeder selects her outfit of the day, while she and fiancé Beau Clark chat with guests at her apartment.
I’m not going to bother recapping the entire weekend because so many other outlets already have. So, here are a few of the best articles if you want to read/hear more:
Proof That BravoCon 2019 Was the Ultimate Superfan Experience - This one is my favorite because I am featured in a photo in the article at Countess LuAnn’s cabaret show. 🤷🏻♀️
BravoCon Recap on the Everything Iconic podcast with Danny Pellegrino
Everything you didn't see at BravoCon, from a new Housewife to old feuds on Yahoo Sports