The Real Housewives of Dallas was short-lived compared to most Housewives franchisees – it was canceled after five seasons. Bravo fans were shocked because the series had good ratings, and viewers enjoyed the show.
But Season 5 was riddled with accusations of racism among the castmates, and Bravo decided to pull the plug, or put the show on hiatus.
LeeAnne Locken was an original Dallas Housewife, but left the series after Season 4, and her last season led to a dramatic reunion where her castmates accused her of racism against fellow Housewife, Kary Brittingham.
During a chaotic cast trip to Thailand, the Housewives found LeeAnne’s repeated use of the word “Mexican” in the pejorative to be offensive, and LeeAnne’s reign as a queen of Dallas came to an end.
While LeeAnne said she was leaving to focus on her former career in philanthropy, fans questioned whether or not the emotional season was too much for her.
LeeAnne now admits that she felt that Bravo set her up to be a villain and is speaking out about her time on the show that viewers loved.
RHOD: LeeAnne Locken said Bravo set her up to fail every season
LeeAnne was a guest on Getting Real with the Housewives, and talked in depth about her time on RHOD, and how she felt she was treated by production.
“I was set up to fail every year and the thing that the producers and Bravo never got about me is that I truly live the life of a Phoenix, which means if I get to the end of my rope and I see no hope, scorched earth is my only policy left because I know I’m gonna rise and that’s how I’ve always been,” LeeAnne said of her time on the show and after.
LeeAnne said she is still surviving like she always does, stating, “So here I am, rising and soaring again and being happy, and I am not struggling.”
LeeAnne revealed that she felt that she was constantly the target of her castmates and that all of the drama was started by her.
“It started to show as the years went on that I wasn’t having a good time because the cast was so focused on ‘taking out LeeAnne,’” she said in her interview.
LeeAnne also exposed that producers asked her to lie or act out of character, and she repeatedly refused. She said she was committed to being authentic and not fabricating drama for good TV. She claims that her fellow Housewives were more interested in the phony loyalty to make a good show but not in genuine friendship.
“It’s funny because as the show ended, our cast would reach out to me saying, ‘I just want you to know the producers really wanted me to do that,’” LeeAnne said, saying that her approach was to not lie to the audience.
LeeAnne Locken feels RHOD would still be on the air if she were in the cast
Even though RHOD was put on hiatus a year after she left, LeeAnne claims that the show would “one hundred percent” still be on Bravo if she had not left the cast.
“I mean, the highest-rated episode of season four was not the reunion. People turned off the reunion. The highest watched episode of season four was my wedding,” LeeAnne said of her last season. “People want a love story. I just think in today’s times, petty fighting and bickering over bulls—t is just not what people want to see. People want to see an authentic journey of victory and that’s, that’s what I tried to provide.”
She is still married to her husband, Rich, and would love to get back into reality TV if the right opportunity came up.
The Real Housewives of Dallas is currently on hiatus.