Podcast 223: Bravo’s new Housewives cities? What show might get paused; Traitors casting rumors; McBee Dynasty deep dive

B and Amanda open this week by remembering Hayden Panettiere and talking honestly about postpartum depression and anxiety. Speaking on it should never cost a woman her job, and Amanda shares her own experience with postpartum anxiety for the first time on the pod. The Send Us Tea inbox has been working overtime: a podcast exclusive on the names being floated for the next season of The Traitors (contracts not signed, all subject to change), plus three separate emails about what Bravo's Housewives slate looks like heading into late 2027 and 2028, including Real Housewives of Montana, Baton Rouge, Houston, and which show is likely going on pause. Then a look at what's going on with RHOBH filming, the eight women reportedly asked about the next Ultimate Girls Trip, and Amanda's Legally Blonde deep dive into The McBee Dynasty and why the timing of Cole and Kacie's Vegas wedding is starting to make a lot more sense. Apparently wife-swapping is more common than we knew, Next Gen NYC is so good right now, and following up on the Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Lori Krebs mess, a slightly ominous email about the timeline.

Topics Discussed

• Remembering Hayden Panettiere and Talking Postpartum Mental Health — B and Amanda honor Hayden Panettiere and Amanda shares her own postpartum experience for the first time on the pod.
• The Traitors Casting Rumors: NeNe, Lindsay Hubbard, Teresa, and Taylor Frankie Paul — Podcast exclusive on the names in the mix for the next season of The Traitors, plus Tracy Tutor confirmed for RHOBH.
• Bravo's New Housewives Cities: Montana, Baton Rouge, Houston, and Which Show Gets Paused — Three emails lay out the late 2027/2028 Housewives slate and why OC may go on pause.
• RHOBH Filming Update, Tracy Tutor, and the Next Ultimate Girls Trip Cast — Who's filming in Ghana, Crystal's ask, and the eight women reportedly approached for the next Ultimate Girls Trip.
• McBee Dynasty Deep Dive: The Federal Lawsuit, the Vegas Wedding, and Season 4 — Amanda puts on her Legally Blonde glasses and connects the December 4th lawsuit to Cole and Kacie's Vegas wedding.
• Kroy Biermann's Wife Swap and How Common Spouse Swapping Really Is — Kroy is spotted with Kim's boyfriend's ex-wife, and Cocktailers reveal wife-swapping is more common than we knew.
• Next Gen NYC: Shy, Brooks, Charlie, Ariana, and Liam — Why Next Gen NYC is so good right now and why Charlie and Ariana are about to get messy.
• Jax Taylor, Lori Krebs, and Brittany: The Ominous Timeline Email — A slightly ominous email about how far back the Jax and Lori affair goes, and why the hosts changed their minds about Brittany.

Mentioned in This Episode

Hayden Panettiere, Tracy Tutor, NeNe Leakes, Lindsay Hubbard, Teresa Giudice, Taylor Frankie Paul, Steven McBee Jr., Allie Eklund, Cole and Kacie McBee, Jesse McBee, Kristi McBee, Kroy Biermann, Kim Zolciak, Mary Cosby, Alicia Carmody, Kathy Hilton, Morgan Stewart, Charlie Zakkour, Ariana Boyd, Jax Taylor, Lori Krebs, Brittany Cartwright, Tom Sandoval

Frequently Asked Questions

This week's episode of Cocktails and Gossip is brought to you by our sponsor, Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering Cocktailers $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutrafol.com and enter code GOSSIP.

Remembering Hayden Panettiere and Talking Postpartum Mental Health

Welcome to Cocktails and Gossip, the podcast where we drink cocktails, but you better believe we're gonna spill the tea. We chat reality TV, celebrity blinds, and the hottest tea from bravoandcocktails.com. And as always, it's all alleged and just for fun. We do not verify our blinds. I'm B. And I'm Amanda. Let's get into this week's tea.

What's up, Cocktailers? Hello, Amanda.

Hey, everybody. Hi, B. How are things going with you?

I'm in Florida. It's so hot here. I always say New York's hot in the summer, but Florida is a different type of hot. Normally when we're down here it's December or February or April, and we walk everywhere. Now we're definitely using the car a lot more for shorter distances. It's a different air. It's heavy. But I work from the condo, and then I'm able to be mostly submerged in water when I'm outside, so it's nice. My kids are on a charter with my husband, so I have the whole place to myself.

That sounds lovely. Okay. So we have so much to talk to you guys about today. We have something I was really excited to talk about, and then all this other stuff came in, so we have all the tea for you, and then we have this really juicy story. But before we get into everything, we wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the incredibly sad and very untimely passing of Hayden Panettiere. She was a very familiar face to so many of us. She was on Heroes and Nashville, which just had a big resurgence because it was back on Netflix. She was on Scream. She was the cute little girl in Remember the Titans. She was 36, and it is far too young. Our hearts really go out to her family, her friends, all of her fans. We're thinking of them during what must be a truly awful time. Any kind of death is awful, but preventable deaths are extra heartbreaking.

When I saw it, I felt so incredibly sad, and it felt like she was failed. Just three months ago she was doing an interview. She had come out with a memoir. She was a trailblazer in being open and honest about her postpartum struggles and her struggles with addiction, which seemed to go hand in hand. Hayden's a little younger than you and I, and for girls seven to ten years younger than us, she's like their Britney Spears: the person their age who they watched grow up and have these troubles. She was so open about it and tried to help other women. And I learned after her passing that Neutrogena had dropped her after a ten-year partnership because she spoke out about postpartum. So if there's anything we can do to help her memory, for me personally, I'll never buy Neutrogena again. Any brand that doesn't support women is not something we should support. They said it was because of a morality clause, and I don't know what's immoral about sharing mental health struggles publicly.

Morality clauses usually cover if you get arrested, if you're seen publicly being really intoxicated, if you say something that offends a group of people, things like that. I am interested to see, because we do know that Hayden was open about her struggles with substance abuse, whether they make a statement like, "Oh no, it was because of this." And if they do, I hope somebody on her team has proof that they cited the postpartum. In any event, sending all of our love and condolences and prayers to her loved ones and her fans. There have been times in my life where a celebrity passes, Robin Williams sticks out, Diane Keaton sticks out, where it really feels like a loss for you personally. It does. So all of our love.

What has happened with Hayden has emboldened me to say something right now as well. I also struggled with, thank God, a very mild case of postpartum anxiety and depression after my first child was born. I had people all around me surrounding me with love. You know how it is when you have a baby, everybody comes to see the baby, and I had lots of friends who had babies before me bringing meals. But it has nothing to do with that. It's inside. I still felt so isolated, so alone. Everybody was fine and healthy, but it felt like my entire world was hanging on a piece of dental floss that could snap at any minute. It is so inexplicable, because I should have been feeling on top of the world. I had a really healthy baby boy.

And we're taught that, right? We're taught as mothers that speaking about this, as you are, as Hayden did, there's shame in that. We need to do better for ourselves, and most certainly for the girls behind us.

I'm very lucky it was very short-lived, but I think we have to give light to this topic and remind brands who is buying these products: it's women. It feels like an extra stab to the heart to know that, if that is what happened, postpartum depression is not a cancelable offense. So I'm sorry to get emotional, but it is a topic that is really, really hard.

I appreciate you sharing. I think if you asked women who have had children, more would say they experienced something like that to some degree than wouldn't.

I remember waking up, and my husband had gone home because I told him to. They brought my son into the room with me, and I just remember thinking, "I'm 29 years old, and I'm in charge of keeping this thing alive." I had never changed a newborn diaper. I had never fed a baby. Then there's the pressure to breastfeed and all these other things, and I don't understand why there isn't more support for that. I hate to go full feminist here, but I am and I will: women's spending power is higher than men's in many cases, because we're the ones buying for our families. We're making the decisions.

100%. Whether you're the breadwinner or not, almost every woman I know is the one bringing the products into their home. So where I can support brands who support women and their health and wellbeing, I will. That is something I'm going to be more cognizant of going forward after hearing this Neutrogena thing.

I agree. Well, you guys will remember back in April when the whole McBee Dynasty thing happened, Steven flaming Allie, calling her awful names in texts, and then Allie sharing a lot of those texts. I said right here on the podcast that I didn't know if I could watch the show now that I know what kind of person he is. But I am also, probably foremost, nosy. And I really wanted to see what happened when Steve Sr. went to prison, so I started watching. And guys, the show has been so good this season. It has been really interesting watching back knowing that Steven Jr. and Allie broke up. That whole thing is wild on its own. And think about it, we all watched the last season of Vanderpump Rules specifically because we knew how bad Tom and Rachel's behavior was. So I have some big opinions on how Bravo handled, I think mishandled, the season finale, and I have a whole tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory I want to share with you. But we have so much tea first, because we've been getting some really interesting emails over the last week about new shows and casts and schedules for the next couple of years.

The Traitors Casting Rumors: NeNe, Lindsay Hubbard, Teresa, and Taylor Frankie Paul

First, an exclusive that Bravo and Cocktails had was confirmed yesterday by Tracy Tutor. She is at long last joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. We said a couple of years ago that they were thinking of her. In July we posted that she would be joining. Everybody made fun of us, and yesterday she confirmed. So thank you, as always, to our fantastic sources. There were a lot of other names in the mix. Morgan Stewart has denied it, and a couple of other people said they were in talks but weren't chosen. We'll get into that later in the pod. But we also have some Traitors exclusive tea, with a caveat: contracts have not been signed. These names are subject to change, which is why I've hesitated to make a post. But I want to share what we're hearing. These are the leading names.

And they film in September, correct?

That's what we're hearing, or around September. I feel like the cast will be finalized at the beginning of September and they'll be filming shortly thereafter. They don't want to leave too much room for leaks ahead of time. Speaking of leaks, NeNe's name is in the mix again. Our girl Lindsay Hubbard's name is in the mix again. Teresa Giudice. Taylor Frankie Paul. All big names. And keep an eye on the Southern Charm cast, because they typically film Traitors while Southern Charm is filming, which is why we haven't had Craig or Austen or Shep. This time they're not filming, so one of those three is going to be on it. You know who's got my vote.

Wait, I just thought of something. If we're hearing Lindsay Hubbard, does that mean no In the City, or maybe they pushed In the City filming back? Because we also heard Kyle Cooke is going on a tour, and there's a hiatus from the beginning of October to mid-November. That was pointed out to me by a Cocktailer. You guys fill in all the blanks. They are starting later because Yvonne's having a baby. We know Danielle welcomed her child prematurely, and Lexi and Andrea, who aren't 100% confirmed for In the City, have a baby due in September as well.

Good. We know Lindsay was supposed to be on when Ciara was on, but she was pregnant, and that's actually why she had that beef with Dorinda, because Dorinda said something like, "How could she be on? She's pregnant." They've since made amends. Obviously they're picking somebody from Summer House because it's the hottest show around right now. Kyle's been on, Ciara's been on, so Lindsay makes the most sense.

Put the Emmy nominee on Traitors, and Traitors has won Emmys, so it feels like a slam dunk. I have a feeling she will align with the housewives. NeNe was born to be on that show. She'll bring the levity, she'll bring the looks. NeNe is never afraid to commit to a look. I think Teresa will be kept around like MJ was, because nobody believes she's going to be that harmless, and they can use her as their pawn. Taylor Frankie Paul is the only one I'm questioning, because I think casting will think she's a bit of a risk. She's been struggling with mental health and legal matters. She is officially off probation now. But maybe it's not that big of a risk, because she wouldn't be carrying the show the way she did on The Bachelorette.

It's a business. It's about ratings, and if they think people will tune in for her, and it's not her own show. We also know NeNe was supposed to be on a couple of seasons ago and pulled out because her son was having health issues. We also had some exclusive intel this week that NeNe signed an NBCU deal, similar to Porsha, where she'll be on things under the NBC umbrella. This is rumored. If we start to see her pop up on a variety of shows, we'll know it's true. So far she's only been in a couple of scenes of Girls Trip, so while I hope all of this NeNe intel is true, it remains to be seen. Her fan base is intense, so I sometimes don't know how to separate fact from a desire for NeNe to be back center stage. But Teresa is back full force. She was in a lull as far as Bravo fans were concerned, but she's having a great showing on the Ultimate Girls Trip. We're seeing a similar thing with Lisa Barlow, where we get to see a more vulnerable, nice side when they're not on the defensive. I think she'd be a very funny traitor.

I totally agree. And I agree with your points about Taylor Frankie Paul, but I think people will tune in for her. She is a divisive personality. People love to hate her, but people watch her.

Bravo's New Housewives Cities: Montana, Baton Rouge, Houston, and Which Show Gets Paused

I promised lots of emails. We have this casting email from "Stay Tuned," subject "Casts." It says: "Bravo is currently looking at two new Housewife shows. Real Housewives of Montana, Gallatin County, where there are massive concentrations of wealth, private ski and golf communities, tech giants, etc., and another city, TBD, based on a group of African American friends. The Montana show is casting and looking to film a sizzle reel this winter, and Bravo has hired a production company to cast and create the sizzle reel for a group of Black women in an interesting city. The late 2027/2028 schedule for Housewives on Bravo is currently looking like Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Potomac, Salt Lake City, Rhode Island, and these two new shows. Orange County will be paused after this current season, as it's become redundant and the Vicki return was lackluster. New York has not aired yet, so no ratings are in to determine its return after this season."

That all makes sense to me. Regarding the to-be-determined city based on a group of African American friends, you might remember we had another email about this a few weeks ago. Somebody wrote in and said, "There's a casting flyer looking for affluent Black women in Charlotte, Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, and some other cities. I emailed them because I was curious. They wrote me back asking if I had a friend group and what our social lives were like, the dynamics between everyone, what kind of gossip there was. The casting director also said they were looking for really big personalities, mostly women in their 30s and 40s with interesting families, businesses, big social lives. I was like, wait, are they looking for a new Housewife city? If they're looking for a new Black-centric version, that would be really exciting." So that email goes in line with this one, and I'd say it's a good bet they're scouting another city for Housewives. We've been saying this for a while. RHONY has taught them: pause and start a new city.

And literally yesterday afternoon we got this email from "Bravo Insider": "Despite the demand for New Orleans, Bravo passed on a diverse group of wealthy New Orleans women that was pitched. Instead, they're moving forward with casting for Baton Rouge and Houston. Groups for both cities are already being formed." So I think we've figured out the strategy. They do this make-us-miss-you strategy for the established cities for two reasons. One, those are the most expensive, because the castmates have been on the longest and get paid the most, so it spreads the paychecks out over closer to two years. But it also gives the cast time to have some other stuff going on in their lives, because like we're seeing right now with OC and Miami, there's just not that much going on. And that's fair, because it's impossible to believe that all of these women have crazy storylines year after year.

Here's where it gets logistically hard. If you can't afford to hold and pay a cast of women, you also have a production crew. So they have to figure out a way: air OC, put those women on ice, make them sign a non-compete for three years, and then air Miami, because now Miami's got a whole slew of stuff going on. And while OC is off, maybe stuff picks up.

Maybe that's partly why they're doing Next Gen, because they can film Next Gen, which is a lot cheaper, and keep those production crews working. I do agree, though. I hope they're paying these women something fair in between seasons.

They're not. Everybody should be paid, but pay your talent. What did you think of Montana?

Obviously Yellowstone, the wealth, the backdrop. You and I always point out that in many cases the city itself is one of the main characters. Montana reminds me of Salt Lake City in that it would be appealing to see the landscape, especially because so many of us live in cities. Private skiing, golf community, tech giants. What more can you ask for?

We also heard there was maybe something being cast in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It makes sense to me, because both Montana and Idaho have changed a lot of tax laws in the last 10 or 20 years, so that's why so much wealth is going there. I am obsessed with Montana. It is such a gorgeous state. I've actually been to one of those private clubs in Montana, and I'm not going to tell you the name because I don't think I'm allowed, but it is absolutely gorgeous and there is a lot of wealth there.

My parents went to Montana, and my father always says, "We have to get back there. You would love it." So this might be another reason to go.

RHOBH Filming Update, Tracy Tutor, and the Next Ultimate Girls Trip Cast

Let's focus on the schedule. We know Atlanta will be back. We know Jersey will be back. Beverly Hills is currently filming a cast trip in Africa. Tracy Tutor confirmed she will be there, but she doesn't know Boz yet, so it wouldn't make sense for her to be in Ghana with the cast for Boz's wedding. We know the mains that are back. We also hear Jennifer Tilly is full-time. We have heard they have Crystal on hold. I heard Crystal asked for $400,000 and it was a no. Sorry, Crystal. We got an email saying Kathy won't be filming much, but I was sent a video and she's at the wedding in Ghana. Kathy always floats around. There were seasons where she showed up halfway through, and with her alcoholic beverage Hunky Dory coming out, which was a Cocktailer exclusive, I'm sure she'll want to promote that. Dorit was spotted at Erika's house, so they are fully filming. We all felt like filming was starting a little later this year, and it did.

People were really pulling for Morgan Stewart. She publicly denied it, and I don't see why she would publicly deny it only to start filming soon, so I'm going to believe her. We might see Morgan in a year or two. Maybe the timing wasn't right for her or for the show. We were talking about Tracy Tutor a couple of years ago, so she's at a minimum on their radar. What I like about Tracy is she was on Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, so she's a seasoned reality star, she was a co-host on E! for a long time, and she has a podcast on SiriusXM. She's got her own thing going and is a hard worker.

A lot of these things come down to salary. Tracy Tutor is incredibly wealthy. Morgan Stewart is incredibly wealthy. She's married to Dr. Phil's son. If the money isn't right, she's not going to do it. Maybe Tracy is willing to take the $400,000 where Morgan wanted a million. And Tracy is such a hard worker, and I imagine she sees how good this could be for her real estate business. She is quick with her words, so I think she'll be a fantastic castmate. And although she denied the rumors of a fling with Mauricio, she and Dorit also have beef. A Cocktailer sent me a resurfaced clip from Watch What Happens Live where Andy asked Dorit to respond to Tracy Tutor alleging that she doesn't pay for her glam, and Dorit said Tracy Tutor is obsessed with her and attention-seeking. I'm excited for that little brawl.

More on upcoming programming: we got an email about who they're looking at for the next girls trip. "Regarding another Ultimate Girls Trip, the following eight women have been asked about their interest in joining the next season, to be filmed this winter: Heather Dubrow, Angela Oakley, Sai De Silva, Sutton Stracke, Braunwyn, Mary Cosby, Karen Huger, Alicia Carmody."

Love it. Give me everything Mary. She makes great TV. She obviously has quite a story to tell. And give us Alicia. I cannot wait to see her with a bunch of housewives from other cities. That will be TV gold. Karen can go. I want to see Braunwyn. I actually want to see if Sai is nice to people. Like you said earlier about Lisa Barlow, people have such ingrained beef with their own casts, but you can see the lighter sides of them on a show like Ultimate Girls Trip. And then others, like Gizelle, stay true to who they are: "I'm a pot-stirrer. It doesn't matter if it's my cast or the OC ladies." I want to be Gizelle when I grow up.

McBee Dynasty Deep Dive: The Federal Lawsuit, the Vegas Wedding, and Season 4

Okay, I told you we'd get to the McBee stuff. If you haven't been paying attention, Kristi McBee, the mom, shared in a social media update that the family is up in the air about doing another season because of how hard the backlash has been against them over the last year. Not just Steven Jr., but all of them.

She really tried to paint them as victims: "My daughter-in-law is being attacked." The reality is the family is embroiled in scandal. There's the insurance fraud. People take exception to that. Anyone who signs a contract, agrees to film, and is an adult is open to the criticism that comes with being part of that family.

Put your tinfoil hats on, because let me set the scene. We got an anonymous DM that says, "I have a friend who knows Kala very well." If you remember, she was Steven's ex-girlfriend. "In an episode last season she said, 'The truth is gonna come out, Steven. It's all going to come out.'" This person says she was referring to Steve McBee transferring assets to Cole and Jesse in order to protect them from seizure. Steve Jr. thinks it's only a matter of time before he's indicted too. This would match up with everything going on for the boys and mom being so defensive about no season four. Then we got another DM: "There is definitely trouble in paradise, or should we say on the farm? The recently married brother isn't wearing his ring. I'm not sure they're officially separated, but something is definitely up. We have mutuals, and this is what I'm hearing." That's referring to Jesse and Allie. They got married at the end of season two, the one where Galina got in a car accident on the way there.

In season three, because I've been watching, the couple already seems to be in trouble. They're not getting along. They're not even spending a lot of time together. I had originally been thinking, does Jesse have a girlfriend? Did he maybe not want to go through with the wedding, but then they found out Allie was pregnant? But now I wonder if Allie is trying to separate herself from the family. Because we shared on the website this article from The Progressive Farmer about another federal case, The United States of America versus McBee et al., which just sounds so scary. Steve Sr. and his sons Cole and Jesse are scheduled for trial in a lawsuit by the U.S. government alleging that Steve Sr. fraudulently transferred assets to his sons' trusts to avoid paying a court judgment in his crop insurance fraud case, which he's currently serving a sentence for. He'll be released, I think, September 11th. Essentially the government is saying Steve got wind that he was being investigated and moved business interests so he could shield them from the government. The McBee lawyer is saying no, the boys had trusts opened for them back in 2012, and he was just doing estate planning. The trial is scheduled for May 3rd, 2027.

Here's the crazy thing that nobody's talking about. I like to play Legally Blonde, so I went looking for the case files. This case was filed December 4th, 2025. On the show, everybody goes to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo and Cowboy Christmas. Before they go, somebody jokingly brings up that Cole and Kacie should get married, and Kacie is very against it: "No, I want my family, I want Cole's family, I want our daughter Blair to be there. Vegas is tacky." Then they're all in Vegas, they get in this big fight because they both went and saw strippers, and all of a sudden they make up and decide to get married in Vegas. Cole and Kacie have not released the official wedding date, so I looked up when Cowboy Christmas was last year: December 4th through 13th, 2025. So I think what happened is they got served notice on December 4th that they were being sued by the federal government, and they decided to get married after they found that out, because they don't want Kacie to have to testify against Cole.

How romantic. I love that you searched the date, because that makes absolute sense. Cameras went down, and most likely Kristi or Steven Jr. pulled Kacie aside and said, "Listen, there is this lawsuit against Cole, and they will have the right to question you. Get married here. You'll do your big wedding when we get back." And she did it.

For those of you who watch the show, tell me if you felt like this, but it was really weird. She went from "I have no interest in getting married" to "Okay, let's do it." The other thing that's interesting about that date: Steven Jr. and Allie were still together at Cowboy Christmas. She was filming the show. Allie Eklund was at the Vegas wedding, which I loved, all the people in cowboy hats and sunglasses. At that point Steven's talking proposals, but then Allie breaks up with him right after that trip, and it's framed as "we're going too fast." They dated on and off until April, which is when the whole Stagecoach thing happened.

Cocktailers know I had posted prior to the big Stagecoach blowup that they were off, and then they'd post together again. They both like the public attention, so it was very easy to pick up via their socials. So we followed along ahead of the big breakup.

I'm a big fan of Allie. I think she's got a really good head on her shoulders. I think she's gorgeous and really good at what she does. But I think word of this case also got to Allie, and she was like, "Whoa, I think I might be out of here." Who wouldn't feel like that? In the finale, Bravo didn't include anything about the Stagecoach situation or Steven Jr.'s behavior, and there will not be a reunion. I feel a little shortchanged by Bravo that they didn't acknowledge that at all. Maybe it's because there's not going to be another season, or because there's been such a big upswing and they're one of the bigger shows on Bravo right now. But I was really disappointed. And circling back to Kristi, she is not being completely honest when she says it's because of social media bullying. They're in deep doo-doo legally.

Number one, the ratings for the show are off the charts, higher than any Housewives, higher than even Next Gen. I believe it was at three million. So my thinking is Bravo wants to keep the talent happy. That's why the Stagecoach breakup happened after filming wrapped, so that's Bravo's out. The no-reunion is odd, for sure. But if they want a fourth season, the thing about these people that makes the show so enjoyable is that we watch bad people on TV. It's what we do. It's our hobby. I'm not going to stand on a moral high ground. What person listening did not watch the last season of Vanderpump Rules? Or Amanda and West and their betrayal. Or Wendy Osefo, who continues to get a platform. But I think Bravo knows part of what makes this show so good is that there's been no learning curve for these people. The fact that Amanda was able to watch the episodes, put on her tinfoil hat, and basically expose the fact that Cole and his wife got married so she wouldn't have to testify against him? If they can lock them into a contract for season four, God knows what else is going to come out on camera, and that's worth more than pissing them off. One thing about Steve Jr., he's sensitive, and if you talk too badly about him and the breakup, he may throw a fit and not come back.

They're going to need every dollar they can get if these assets end up being seized. They're selling everything off.

Mama Kristi was never gung-ho on the show. She only filmed because her ex-husband couldn't. Steve Sr. is getting out of jail, and the man loves the attention, so I'm sure he'll hop in front of the camera. My thing is, where does that leave Galina? I feel they may cut her to save salary and give it to the boys, who are going to demand it.

Bravo better watch their car windows if they fire her. I want her back. They could always put Masha in the Galina role and production can tell her to act crazy, but Masha is not as interesting as Galina. It would be a huge miss, and I bet they don't pay Galina near as much as the rest of the family. She'd probably do it for free because she loves all the housewife parties. It looked like they ended on such bad terms, but a lot of you felt it was mostly staged, and just yesterday Galina posted a picture in her car with her daughter, and Steve McBee Jr. wrote, "Must be nice to have windows on your car," and she wrote, "Ha ha, classic." So obviously they're mostly okay. My prediction is they sign on for season four because Bravo kept them happy enough, they need the money, and they're used to the attention. Mama Kristi probably won't film, and Daddy is back.

I'm just wondering why nothing was transferred to Steven.

That DM said Steven's worried about getting indicted himself. They could be going after Steven Jr. and using Cole and Jesse: "We could save these two, but you did this, which is bigger." So I'm going to keep an eye on this space, because Bravo viewers are smart, and people like you and I who look at these things closely see through this stuff.

The newbies hate to see people like us coming. I still get so mad about how googly-eyed we were after having him on the podcast, what a nice guy he was. What a front.

Kroy Biermann's Wife Swap and How Common Spouse Swapping Really Is

Dysfunctional families are keeping the Bravo audience fed, because there is a phenomenon we need to address. This week, Kroy Biermann was spotted making out with the ex-wife of Kim Zolciak's current boyfriend. You heard that correctly. A true wife swap. I reposted the video from TMZ and started getting DMs from Cocktailers telling me they know people who did the same. Shania Twain. T.J. and Amy, the two morning show hosts: Andrew Shue, who was Amy's husband, is now with T.J.'s ex-wife. Dozens upon dozens of DMs came in sharing that they know people in their real life involved in situations like this. And the funny thing is, in most of the cases, the people who were cheating, the Amys and the T.J.s, are no longer together, but the other spouses who got together and consoled each other because their spouses were cheating are still together. So do you know anyone in real life who has done this sort of spouse swap?

Kind of. I don't know the people directly, but my friend had two sets of neighbors who did this. There was cheating with one of the couples, and then the other couple got together, and they actually switched houses. Each moved across the street. But that didn't last very long. One of the couples ended up moving away so they didn't have to see each other daily, but not too far, because they still share custody. A town over. I'll have to ask my friend if both couples are still together.

I was shocked at how common it is. So many people were like, "My uncle and my aunt did this with their best friends," and then siblings become step-siblings and then half-siblings if they have kids with the other. Very confusing. In the case of Kim and Kroy, Kim's new boyfriend, Kyle, is apparently very wealthy, and the ex-wife did very well in her settlement, so in a way it solved both Kim and Kroy's financial problems.

We got a DM this week that made me really sad about this family. A Cocktailer had dinner last Sunday at a restaurant in Atlanta, and Kim, Kyle, Kaia, and Kane's girlfriend were there. Kim never took her eyes off her phone and never engaged with the kids. Kyle kept looking around like he'd rather be somewhere else. At some point Kaia got up to go to the bathroom and Kyle walked her there, not Kim. Then Kane went to the restroom and it was just Kim and the young girlfriend, and Kim never acknowledged her, just stayed with her head down on her phone. "I feel so sorry for the children in this mess," is what the DM said.

I'm not at all surprised. We've heard this about Kim, that she's neglectful with her children. It's very sad.

Next Gen NYC: Shy, Brooks, Charlie, Ariana, and Liam

While we're on the subject of Kim, I have to tell you how much I'm enjoying Next Gen. I watched last night's episode first thing this morning because I really love the show. I love these kids. They're all getting more interesting as they get to know each other better. It's becoming so cohesive. They're becoming intertwined in each other's lives in a natural, organic way because they all live in the same area. I thought it was so cool at the BravoCon episode how they broke the fourth wall and talked about BravoCon instead of "when we all go to Las Vegas."

Shy absolutely cracks me up. I hope he doesn't change. He is so honest and innocent. When he thought it was a prank show, and then asking to make out with Ava, and then being like, "Oh God, this won't come up on the panel, why would it come up on the panel?" I just love him. Showing his insecurities and how nervous he was is very endearing. And in today's episode he finally approaches Brooks at Friendsgiving and says, "I'm not gonna walk on eggshells around you." They have a really nice discussion where Brooks is like, "Wow, I didn't realize he was so sensitive." Brooks has that disease of people who are very touchy when stuff happens to them but don't think of other people. A slight Vicki Gunvalson. I like that Brooks acknowledged that's what he was doing with Shy, and they agreed to a fresh start.

But the Charlie and Ariana of it all. I know Charlie is toxic, but something about the two of them together, you can tell he genuinely has feelings for her. I think it's about to get messy, and I'll tell you why. In this episode Charlie is like, "I don't kiss and tell," but she was over at 1:00 AM, so did we have a booty call? We know Ariana and Hudson got back together post-filming. They recently split again. I think we can all guess Hudson's flipping out, as most young 20-something boyfriends would be, and having to watch it broke them up again. Meanwhile, I looked at Charlie's Instagram, and he has a bunch of photo dumps with a lot of pictures of him and this girl with long brown hair, a very similar look to Ariana. I don't see him claim she's his girlfriend anywhere. I think he's posting these pictures to get Ariana riled up just in time for season three. It would be great TV.

I agree. Charlie is the kind of guy who would throw a throwback picture into a photo dump just to cause more problems or get attention. I think we can all think of somebody else who recently did that. West Wilson.

One more thing. I'll tell you why I don't feel bad for Liam. This beautiful girl Kendall, who's a friend of his, I think she used to hook up with Liam and holds a candle for him. I think she's a girl Liam falls back on when things don't work out with a girl he's dating, and then he puts her on the back burner. So I don't feel bad for Liam, and I know everyone thinks Liam's hot. I don't. He has a certain look to me, a cross between Kieran and Macaulay Culkin. More Kieran. That's just not my type. He comes off as entitled. And I know this is a toxic thing, but I like Charlie. I feel like maybe Ariana can fix him, and I know she can't, but I just feel like maybe she can.

There is something very appealing about him, but we also know what a jerk he is, which is what makes him compelling to watch. His honesty is refreshing. There was a scene I reposted where Shy says to Charlie, "You notice Gia's uncle," meaning Joe Gorga, "is just always walking around BravoCon with his shirt off," and Charlie doesn't even look up from his phone. He just says, "Yeah bro, they're from Jersey." There's something real about him.

Jax Taylor, Lori Krebs, and Brittany: The Ominous Timeline Email

Let's go back to Jax and his PR agent, Lori. They keep getting spotted by paparazzi, surprise, surprise. I'm sure nobody's calling them. We know they've been sending emails into us about how happy they are together. Well, we think. But we actually got an ominous email that says her ex-husband, because she was married and has two small children, I think twins, is worrying about the timeline, because he found out the affair goes back way further than he knew. I don't know who sent this email. I doubt it was Lori. But it's somebody who wants this out there. We had heard the affair goes back as far as 2018. I think we can all read between the lines, because there was somebody who saw him coming out of her hotel late at night.

I personally will never understand it. I don't trust anything this woman does, because you have a supposed professional choose to wreck her marriage and lose all of her profitable clients to be with someone who is unemployed, unemployable, a known abuser, and she knows this because she's represented him throughout all of his tumultuous situations and comforted Brittany after them. And she still chose to be in a romantic relationship with him. We don't know if her marriage was down the tubes, but we do know she had clients who were earning for her, and she ruined all of those relationships in favor of Jax. If you're willing to ruin your professional career, you're likely willing to ruin personal relationships. How much longer can this go on before he drops her?

If you didn't listen to last week's episode, both B and I have really changed our thoughts about Brittany. There was so much talk that she's trying to make a Scandoval out of it, but when you hear more about what was really going on, my heart goes out to her. I think she really did trust Lori. Lori had her thinking she was going to feed her information about Jax and help keep Jax in line, and meanwhile she was manipulating Brittany on behalf of Jax. I cannot imagine having somebody in my life like that, who I've let babysit my child. I think Brittany thought she was being the smart one and she got badly duped.

My heart goes out to Brittany, but it's hard for me to look past how many of Brittany's decisions were not smart. I think Brittany is somebody who needs to pay more attention to what's going on. I understand she's a victim of a lot of Jax's abuse, but there have been a lot of things, like the Lori situation, staring her in the face. If you have the bathroom chronicles, even if Lori begs and says it didn't happen, why are she and her husband splitting a couple of months later? And dating that Brandon guy. That also shows she doesn't get things. Meantime, I had a picture sent to me of Brandon at a game with somebody who looks exactly like Brittany. People have types.

And another exclusive: Sandoval's ex-girlfriend Victoria is, in fact, dating Criss Angel, speaking of types. Criss Angel is a magician with shows in Vegas who's a Sandoval type, and they're somewhere hanging out with Brian Littrell from Backstreet Boys. Sandoval is seething. I say let them have each other. We love you guys, and thank you as always for tuning in. Till next time. Bye.

What's up, Cocktailers? We want to thank you, as always, for listening to Cocktails and Gossip. Because of you, we've hit some amazing milestones, had some hilarious conversations, and have grown a truly amazing community. If you haven't already followed our podcast, hit the follow button in the top right of your Apple Podcasts player or the follow button under the show logo on Spotify. We thrive on you, our audience, so make sure to tell all your gossip-loving friends about us too. And if you want to get all the tea, join our membership, Cocktail Party, by going to bravoandcocktails.com/join. Our members get access to the exclusive tea we post, the weekly podcast without ads, plus an additional bonus podcast every week. Members also get to join us on our monthly live Cocktail Party Zoom, where we talk about the latest tea and even share tea that's just too hot to put in writing. Last, but maybe best, our members get access to the Cocktail Party Discord, where you can chat with Amanda, me, and all of the other Cocktailers. Thank you so much for listening. We appreciate you.