Real Housewives of Dallas, y’all. I need some kind of conspiracy theorist’s chart riddled with news clippings, string, and photographs to keep up with all the alliance hopping…or at the very least a decent Pinterest inspired bullet journal to follow all of the craziness. Season two created a conundrum for me. As annoying as I found most all of the cast in some ways, they were all likable in other ways, save for Kameron Westcott’s forced valley girl dialect. LeeAnne Locken was the clear villain last year, but she showed true moments of vulnerability when paired with her best friend, newbie D’Andra Simmons…until she kept threatening people’s life with her JUST HANDS. Sheesh.
Brandi Redmond and Stephanie Hollman’s reconciliation was a moment of realness, the likes of which Bravo viewers haven’t seen since the early seasons of RHOC–you know, when the franchise was less about drama and more about real life. Being the new franchise on the block, Dallas delivered a bit more reality and a bit less manufactured shock factor. Unfortunately, their reality was all shock factor, and Brandi hopes she’s learned from it, at least a little.
Realizing this juxtaposition, Brandi shares her take on the sophomore season in her blog, writing, “First, I want to say how much I love and appreciate the two amazing years of support towards #RHOD and the journey. It wouldn’t be possible without all of you, so again, thank you. This has been an incredible year of ups and downs. I have not only grown as a person, but I’ve also challenged myself in more ways than I ever thought were possible. Being a mother, I have learned to pick and choose my battles, to be patient, forgiving, and understanding. I think children try to manipulate us into getting their ways, but they don’t realize that we are smarter than that. So with that, I find it shocking and embarrassing that an adult would manipulate a situation and try to break up friendships. I realized that Cary [Deuber] was never given the opportunity to speak at my party to tell us what LeeAnne had said herself on the boat dock.”
Delving further into her split from unlikely ally LeeAnne, Brandi continues, “I feel like there is this deep rooted hatred LeeAnne has for Cary, and it is toxic. I should never feel like I should have to choose between friendships, but I also don’t want to be lied to or used to hurt or attack someone else. If I do something and make a decision, it needs to be on my terms. At lunch with the ladies, my heart felt heavy because I know LeeAnne wants to control me. I’m a free spirit, and I think it bothers her that she can’t control me. However, if I didn’t have friends other than her, would my relationship be like hers and D’Andra’s? Hell no! D’Andra says that she’s in control and would prevent bad behavior when it comes to LL, but I have a hard time believing that LeeAnne will ever change at this point. She clearly doesn’t take her counselors advice, so why would she listen to you, D’Andra? Does she get a cut from your trust fund too?” Ouch. Brandi needs to watch out–no one wants to be on Momma Dee’s bad side!
Recounting her tumultuous friendship with LeeAnne, Brandi asserts, “Anyways, I started crying and broke down because my heart just felt like it was sinking. I want to see the good in LeeAnne, but I also feel like giving up. I was realizing that she was playing me and using a very weak spot when it came to my friendships with the other ladies. Last year, I tried so hard to give LeeAnne grace in Austin and let go of the past. I was the only one that offered a tender heart to her at the honest tea. I too have listened to her cry about her broken childhood and every other misfortune that has accompanied her life or so-called story. I’m not dismissing what she has been through, but for her to be a shoulder for me to cry on, I think I’ve given her more than a dozen shoulders,” adding, “So let’s be honest: a friend should never make you feel puppeteered or played. My feelings were very cloudy, but I also wanted to support LeeAnne’s engagement. This engagement party was stunning, and I can tell the couple is extremely happy. However, I was stunned by the words that came out of LeeAnne’s mouth. She was giving me a piece of her heart and followed it up with ‘I’ll slit your throat’ — is this normal? Am I missing something? Did I show up with another party foul to deserve this? Well, thank you, LeeAnne. I love you, too.”
Of D’Andra’s disastrous engagement brunch, Brandi recalls, “The next day, was the engagement brunch, and I felt uneasy because I felt as if LL was trying to manipulate our friendship and control me. I was just thinking, ‘I’m gonna get through this brunch and take some time to reflect on the past few months.’ I will say, it was so sweet of the hostess to ask if Cary and LeeAnne could get along until after the wedding! Are you kidding me? Of all the questions, that one sparked the fire. I was appalled at what LeeAnne was saying. She was being manipulative and lying to cover her own a–, and it was so obvious. I couldn’t take it; my blood was boiling, so I had to call bulls—. I had to be honest and call her out. There is only so much a person can take, and I had seen and heard enough. Game over! If she wants to slit my throat for being honest, then so be it. I had to stand up for the truth. The truth hurts, so I wasn’t surprised at the tears from LeeAnne.”
Brandi concludes, “I can love LeeAnne — from afar. LeeAnne, best wishes for your wedding day. I’m sure you will be a beautiful bride.”
Hmmm. So many thoughts. Yes, LeeAnne is over the top and scary as shiz when she wants to kill you, but Brandi flip-flopped at her whim to do what best worked for her in the moment. I do believe her friendship with Stephanie is legit, but I also can’t fathom icing out someone over a blog post. If that happened in my group of friends, you better believe the angry person would pick up the phone, pour a glass of whoop ass (and wine), and hash it out until things were hunk dory. But then again, Andy Cohen hasn’t called my group of friends for a show…
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BRANDI’S TAKE ON HER RELATIONSHIP WITH LEEANNE? WHO DO YOU BELIEVE MANIPULATES HER MORE…LEEANNE OR CARY?
[Photo Credit: Michael Larsen/Bravo]
