Here's How Much The Real Housewives Were Paid During Their First Season

There are few reality series as iconic as any show in the Real Housewives franchise. The series first premiered with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006, and it quickly picked up steam and began rolling out seasons in cities all over the United States. But while the drama and fighting are certainly what make the show entertaining, the luxury and excess of all the women featured also make it fun to watch.

Interestingly enough, many of the women on the Real Housewives don't really need a paycheck from the show, but they still get one. In fact, some of their paychecks today are ridiculously high, but they weren't always that way. Most of the Housewives, who were already wealthy when they started the show, had paychecks their first season that were usually pretty small. Of course, the longer they stayed with Bravo and the more drama they brought, they usually got raises. Still, looking at how much the Real Housewives were paid during their first season is pretty interesting because times have seriously changed.

When it comes to Real Housewives, there is only one original cast member who kicked off the franchise and lasted for 14 seasons: Vicki Gunvalson. The longstanding cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County may have gone into retirement in 2020 (via Entertainment Weekly), but there was a time she was on the show when she didn't even get paid.

On an episode of her podcast, Whoop It Up with Vicki, Gunvalson revealed that, while she learned other Real Housewives got paid a few grand for their first seasons, she "got zero!" She said, "I got zero, zero. So you have to pay your dues." However, Gunvalson also added that her lack of salary didn't last long. Indeed, according to Celebrity Net Worth, she eventually made $500,000 per season, but she was smart with that money. "When I got that up front, all of it went to taxes," she explained. "Then when I do my four months of pay, half of it goes to taxes. My last paycheck was all mine." Fans know Gunvalson is all about planning and finances, so that part makes sense. Gunvalson truly increased her value as a Real Housewife, that's for sure.

Much like Lisa Rinna had a successful acting career before she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, so did Denise Richards, who joined the cast in Season 9. Obviously, most people will recognize Richards from her many acting gigs, such as her roles in Bond movie The World Is Not Enough and Drop Dead Gorgeous, as well as her appearances in Friends, Love Actually, and Two and a Half Men. Richards has done quite well for herself, so it should come as no surprise that her paycheck from Bravo reflected that.

Specifically though, according to Radar Online, Richards signed a $4 million contract to do four years of the show, with the intent to receive $1 million per season, the highest salary of anyone on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Of course, fans know that Richards had a rough go of things during her second season on the show, and she left before Season 11 kicked off. Still, she probably got a good amount of that $4 million, which only helped to increase her value. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Richards is worth $12 million, so her role on Real Housewives wasn't all that necessary for the actor to make ends meet.

Wealth and excess are definitely the norm on The Real Housewives of Orange County. But when Tamra Judge, one of the eventual "Tres Amigas" and pillars of the show, first joined, her salary wasn't a lot to brag about. Judge joined the show in Season 3, back in 2007, making her practically an original cast member. But being an early cast member didn't necessarily mean her salary reflected that at first. 

As Judge told David Yontef on the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast (via Reality Tea), her first season wasn't all that exciting in terms of a paycheck. "I was paid $7,000 my first year," she said. "That's what I got paid. I probably spent more than that just on clothes and stuff. The show was so different back then." Judge then added that her small salary didn't last long, fortunately. "I probably made $50,000 by the next year," she added. "You really have to put your time in to make money." At least Judge's salary increased, and as she has brought plenty of drama to The Real Housewives of Orange County, that pay raise was earned. 

One of the most iconic Real Housewives is definitely Nene Leakes. The star from The Real Housewives of Atlanta has been bringing the heat, drama, and money on the series since she joined. Leakes is also one of the few original members of The Real Housewives of Atlanta that stuck around, though she officially said goodbye to the franchise in 2020.

But back when Leakes first signed on to The Real Housewives of Atlanta, she didn't make a lot of money for appearing in the first season. Specifically, Leakes stated on The Wendy Williams Show (via Entertainment Tonight) that the ladies of Season 1 only earned $5,000 for filming the season. Obviously that's not much, but Leakes was able to negotiate a better salary for herself later on. Much better. According to Radar Online, she made $2.85 million in Season 12 of the show, an incredibly massive raise. Leakes might have said goodbye to the Real Housewives world, but it's understandable to see why she stayed around that long with that kind of paycheck.

On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Brandi Glanville came onto the scene to seemingly do nothing but stir up drama. At first, Glanville was just a "friend of" in Season 2 of the show, but because she was so entertaining, she was bumped up to a full-time cast member. But even though Glanville brought the drama, she didn't bring home the bacon. 

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show (via E! News), Glanville revealed what she made on the show, and it wasn't a lot. "My first year I was a friend of, so I think I made $16,000," she said. However, Glanville also explained that she made sure she made more her second year, which she said was $136,000 for the season. "I was making more money," she said. "And it would have bumped up to a lot more money if I came back this year." Though obviously she didn't. Still, Celebrity Net Worth reported that Glanville has a net worth of $5 million, so her Real Housewives paycheck might not have been all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Lisa Vanderpump was another founding member of a Real Housewives franchise, and her salary reflects that. Vanderpump was an original cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and just as her own wealth was staggering when the series premiered, so was her initial paycheck.

While Vanderpump obviously started earning more money as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills went on and as Vanderpump Rules took off, her initial salary was likely still pretty impressive. According to The Christian Post, Vanderpump's salary was around $250,000 in 2012, two years after the start of RHOBH, so her starting salary may have been in that ball park. And it's only continued to climb. As Money reported, Vanderpump ended up bringing in closer to $500,000 in 2018. Vanderpump is known as one of the richest Housewives, with her many successful business ventures, and she has a net worth of $90 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. For Vanderpump, a $500,000 paycheck probably wasn't of that much importance to her, but it was still extremely brag-worthy that's for sure.