Bravo is jetting off to the Middle East. The network announced The Real Housewives of Dubai, Bravo’s first international offering, is set to premiere in 2022. It’s not the first international Housewives franchise, period: There are currently Real Housewives spinoffs running on all six continents, and some even air on Bravo in the U.S., but none have been produced by Bravo before. A press release from the network teases business empresses and private-island parties in the United Arab Emirates city, a hub for the superrich. Andy Cohen announced the news in a chaotic appearance on Today, after Jenna Bush Hager prompted him to “say what you were going to say about the Housewives” when he got carried away talking with her and Hoda Kotb. The executive producer promised the hosts the show would be “maje” (short for major, of course) and that it’s “gonna blow the lid off the entire franchise.”
The Real Housewives of Dubai, Bravo’s 11th city, comes at a boom time for the Real Housewives franchise. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City premiered in 2020 as the first new spinoff in years and has since become one of the more popular offerings. Since then, Peacock announced its first two exclusive Real Housewives series: the “all-stars” Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, set to premiere on November 18, and a revival of the short-lived Real Housewives of Miami, set to premiere in December with returning wives Alexia Echevarria, Lisa Hochstein, and Larsa Pippen.
