RHOP’s inability to switch things up has killed the show

The Real Housewives of Potomac was once the diamond in the rough in the sprawling Real Housewives franchise.

The series excelled for the first seven seasons when others grew stale quickly.

Sadly, the series’ luck ran out with The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8, which features many women refusing to acknowledge one another.

How can you have a show about their lives when they very clearly have a disdain for one another that makes any group scene feel strained and forced?

The biggest issue plaguing this once-hot series is its inability to switch things up, and that blame falls squarely on producers.

Adding Nneka Ihim into the mix didn’t infuse the show with what it should have because she came on due to a rumor, signaling that producers are just chasing messy drama.

Nneka Ihim is one of the worst additions

Her feud with Wendy Osefo has created one of the worst dynamics in Real Housewives history, mainly because their arguments go nowhere. Instead of being entertaining, it’s making the show a chore.

The only good thing about adding Nneka to the cast is that she’s taken the title of biggest pot-stirrer from Gizelle Bryant, who, at many points, I thought was a secret producer on the show.

Bryant has done many questionable things on the show, including not treating her ride-or-die Robyn Dixon the way she treated other cast members regarding what was going on in their personal lives.

Given the fan reaction to Dixon concealing certain parts of her life from the cameras over the last few seasons, there’s a good chance she won’t be a part of whatever revamp Bravo has planned for the show.

RHOP needs a revamp

There’s no chance the show will be canceled yet because one off-season shouldn’t lead to that, but it should lead to a cast shake-up.

If that is the case, the only people I imagine returning are Bryant, Karen Huger, and Mia Thornton.

Watching Bryant without Dixon would be interesting because it’d force her to have storylines independent of them teaming up to take down their fellow cast members to deflect from what is going on in their personal lives.

Huger is one of the most consistent housewives, and there would be a great void if she were removed from the show. There’s a reason why she’s called the Grande Dame of Potomac.

She’s authentic, shady, and unafraid to get into it with her co-stars.

Mia Thornton is the surprise MVP of the season

Thornton is the biggest surprise this season because she can make the women have conversations that viewers want.

That alone should keep her on the show because she will go there with the other women.

Candiace Dillard Bassett has long been one of my favorite housewives, but what has she done this season that warrants her to return?

She hasn’t brought as little as Ashley Darby, but unless she is electric at the reunion, there’s a high probability she won’t be back.

Will RHOP make meaningful changes to survive?

We’re heading into the unknown as the season winds down, but producers need to make some meaningful changes to try and revive the show because it’s one of the worst seasons of any city.

It’s that bad.

If the show takes viewer complaints on board, most of the cast should be let go in favor of newer housewives that the returning cast is willing to film with.

But Bravo shows in the past have notoriously kept the same casts for years despite fan complaints — look at The Real Housewives of New Jersey! We’ll believe there will be change when we see it.

The Real Housewives of Potomac airs on Sundays at 8/7 on Bravo. Stream Seasons 1-8 on Peacock.