For better or worse, ‘The Real Housewives’ have been a crash course in financial literacy

For over 20 years, “The Real Housewives” have been inadvertently normalizing so many financial conversations. 

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

On a recent episode of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole sat down with fellow castmate Kelli Ferrell and admitted she’s considering bankruptcy. Ahead of her “RHOA” debut this season, it was revealed that after the vegan restaurant founder temporarily lost control of her brand for 45 days in 2025, she filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February to reorganize both business and personal debts. She has since opened up about the myriad lawsuits and stigma surrounding her decision.

During the scene, Ferrell, who is dealing with the fallout of a divorce, admitted she’s considering doing the same.

“I went through all this stuff with my ex-husband, and I was the owner, so I guaranteed a lot of things in my name,” Ferrell explained. To which Cole replied, “That’s what’s happening to me, too.”

Later in the episode, Porsha Williams explained why she’s offloading the first home she ever purchased in order to maintain her newer, grander residence following her second divorce from businessman Simon Guobadia. And somewhere between bankruptcy talk over cocktails and discussions about unloading real estate to keep the lights on at the mansion, it clicked.

For nearly two decades, the “Real Housewives,” for better or worse, from the family Italian dinners of New Jersey to the diamonds in Beverly Hills and everywhere in between, have been giving us a chaotic crash course in financial literacy. Seriously. Across franchises, audiences have watched these women launch businesses, move homes, upgrade their cars and their bodies, build wealth, lose it, rebuild it, and reinvent themselves after divorce, all while trying to maintain the appearance of effortless success on camera. It’s capitalism with contour.

For one, the “Real Housewives” universe has normalized conversations most people are taught to keep private. Debt. Rebuilding credit. Downsizing. Fraud. Child support. Entrepreneurship risk. Home construction delays. Financial image management. Entire seasons have hinged on the question: “Wait… so where is the money actually coming from?”

Fans of “RHOA” may recall Shereé Whitfield’s years-long journey building the now-iconic Chateau Shereé. Season after season, viewers watched that house exist somewhere between aspiration, construction site, and community joke. And yet, Shereé never stopped filming through it. She let viewers watch the delays, the mockery, the setbacks, and eventually, the payoff. She got in that house eventually, and it turned out beautifully

Then there’s longtime “RHOA” star and former model Cynthia Bailey, who has gone through both a new marriage and a divorce and multiple plot lines about how her ex-husband Peter Thomas’ financial situation was impacting her during her tenure on the show; she has also been real about what it took to keep up the appearances in real time. She relied on shopping at budget retailers like TJ Maxx and Marshalls to stay in the top labels during her Thomas’ financial struggles. Reality TV stars, they’re just like us! 

Over in Potomac, the Grand Dame, Karen Huger, had a now-infamous tax plotline. In 2017, it was leaked that her husband, Ray Huger, owed nearly $1.5 million in back taxes, as his software company faced a $3 million tax lien. As the situation played out on screen, we saw firsthand what it took for a family to stabilize when the couple sold their Potomac mansion for less than its $2.5 million value, rented temporarily in nearby Great Falls, Virginia, before finally finding their way back to Potomac on solid financial footing. 

Meanwhile, Robyn Dixon began her stint on the “RHOP” with the legacy of a friend of her husband’s squandering their fortune over her head just to close her run, having moved house, launched multiple brands, and remarried her husband under much more peaceful circumstances. The lesson for them was to understand fully what others are doing with your paper.  

And of course, there’s Kandi Burruss, who has practically taught a masterclass in diversified income streams. Restaurants, music, Broadway, product lines, production deals, and real estate. Throughout her lengthy run on “RHOA,” Burruss has consistently demonstrated what it takes to build wealth that extends beyond television checks and into future generations, especially within a blended family.

Cole, meanwhile, is far from the first Housewife-adjacent figure to discuss bankruptcy publicly. But what made her conversation notable was how matter-of-fact it felt. Less “my life is over” and more “this is a financial tool people use when things go left.” In a country where financial shame keeps many people suffering in silence.

The “Real Housewives” have also, perhaps most importantly, normalized seeing wealthy Black women. Something many Black fans can relate to is how many Black Housewives represented first-generation wealth. They were not portraying old-money ease. They were living and learning many of their financial experiences for the first time in real time with all of us. 

And truly, when you really look at it, they have exemplified how success, especially financial success in America, is anything but linear. Everybody who seems to “got it,” is scheming to keep it or keep up the appearances that they haven’t lost it. Messy they may be, grateful we ought to be for such an honest reflection.  

Kay Wicker is a senior lifestyle reporter at theGrio, where she covers the multifaceted ways Black people live and enjoy their lives, focusing on health, wellness, travel, beauty, and fashion. With over a decade of experience in digital and print media, Kay has built a diverse editorial background, reporting on everything from high-profile celebrity news to critical social issues.