"Welcome to BravoCon!" a multitude of Bravolebrities relay through video during the opening credits of the 3 day event.
In July when the tickets went on sale and sold out in less than 90 seconds, I never imagined I would hear those word - especially after VIP 3 day tickets were immediately available on aftermarket sites for $10,000.
I was listening to a podcast in early November and the hosts were discussing attending BravoCon. Just for fun, I opened the app on my phone for the original aftermarket site where the tickets became available. I was sure these shady folks had some kind of deal with Bravo because this was the only site the tickets were available on within 2 hours of the Bravo site selling out. I was surprised to see that the VIP 3 day tickets had dropped from $10 grand to a much more reasonable rate. I had no plans for the next weekend so it took about .3 seconds for me to whip out my American Express and make the purchase.
The doors at BravoCon were scheduled to open at 10:00am on Friday for a 10:30am start to the festivities. My plan was to arrive around 9:30 to get in line so I could try and score a good seat. I had downloaded the BravoCon app on both my phones and my iPad and marked all of the events I was interested in attending and registered my wristband just to make sure I had a legitimate ticket. When I arrived at The Manhattan Center, on my approach I saw no people waiting in line and a sign noting "VIP Entrance"
After I breezed through the metal detector and bag search, I entered the venue to find a group of 8 people lingering just inside the door. The lobby of building was decked out in photos of many of the Bravo stars but otherwise, a boring theater lobby with more employees than Bravo fans. I didn't realize at the time we were actually waiting for the elevator. On the ground floor of the Manhattan Center is the Hammerstein Ballroom. This venue would not be used until 8pm that night when Andy Cohen would be filming What What Happens Live in front of his largest audience ever and over 75 Bravolebrities. We boarded the elevator and ascended to the 7th floor to the Grand Ballroom. This is where all the key events would take place and where I planned to spend most of the day.
Bravocon was held in 3 different locations. The Manhattan Center held the 2 largest venues. The other locations were actually a 10-15 minutes walk. I actually did not attend any of the events in these other spaces except the Top Chef Dinner that I didn't realize I had purchased a ticket to attend until I received my email confirmation. This was at the space on 28th street. The other location was on 29th Street - both located near 11th Avenue. The Manhattan Center is near 8th Avenue so you are looking at almost a .5 mile walk west to get to the other two venues. The 28th Street venue is the same location as where the Bravo Market hosted many Bravolebrities hawking their wares.
Craig giving his fans what they want - Pillows! (actually pillow cases - I guess you have to buy your own stuffing!)
Arianna & Tom's cocktail book Fancy AF launches December 3rd
Once I stepped off the elevator, had my wristband scanned for entrance, I was directed to the VIP seating section. There were 3 seating sections on the ground floor of the ballroom. The two side sections were open seating for General Admission. In the middle section, the first 4 rows were reserved for SVIP. Row 5 started the VIP seating. The good thing about being a party of one is that I had zero trouble getting a seat on Row 5 - ever. The venue started to fill up as we moved closer to 10:30. When the announcement rang out "Bravo Fans take your seat - the show is about to begin" a cheer went up from the crowd. I was pleasantly surprised that we were only 8 minutes late when the lights went down.
First up was a panel discussion moderated by the King of Bravo - Andy Cohen. Andy only moderated the really big name events. It was only fitting since this was the Bravo All Stars: OG Housewives Edition. These are the original Queens of Bravo!
Of course, before we could get to the good stuff, we had to sit through the commercials. Over the 3 days, I have come to loathe these commercials; Blind Date, Cash Cab and Project Runway. (I guess Project Runway isn't doing so well without Heidi Klum because they were pushing it HARD)
OK Ladies (and possible 1-2 Gentlemen reading this), now it is time to spill the tea . . .
Bravo All Star: OG Housewife Edition
Moderator: Andy Cohen
Attending: Adrienne Maloof (BH), Caroline Manzo (NJ), Jeana Keough (OC), Jill Zarin (NY), Kim Zolciak-Biermann (ATL) & Kim Richards (BH)
Kim Richards was not listed on the published schedule - I am not sure if she was added after she rolled into town with Kyle to attend as her guest.
Overall, the ladies looked fabulous. Jeana was almost unrecognizable, she has had so much work done on her face. Adrienne has aged a lot since the first season of the Real Housewives of BH premiered but you could tell her face was recently tightened up. Jill had her constant companion with her - her dog. She even had the dog with her when she came into the Top Chef Dinner I attended!
The only time I saw Jill without her dog was when she handed the pup off for the photo opp
I was typing furiously into the notes app on my iPhone so I wouldn't forget a single drop of tea.
I don't think I watched the OC the first season. I think that New York introduced me to the Housewife Franchise. Maybe Ramona is right in the Vicky - Ramona feud. New York put the Housewives on the map? I remember that Jeana had some weird situation with her husband - he was still living with her, but they were getting a divorce. Now is the time to offer your congratulations to Ms Jeana - she signed her divorce papers LAST WEEK!! Jeana and her husband were married for 32 years. They were not together for 20+ of those years! When Andy asked her about it she made a comment about security and wanting to be able to take care of him. I don't know the whole backstory there but HOLY COW!
Andy jokingly asked Kim Z-B if she was going to have another baby. She dramatically paused and said "You will know in the next 6 months". We all thought it was a teaser - maybe she was pregnant and that was when she was due. Then she "got real" with us and said that all her babies with Kroy were born during football season so he never got a chance to really enjoy the newborn time with his kids. They had already talked about trying for another child when he was done playing football. She said she is 41 now and the clock is ticking so they are talking about it and will decide in the next 6 months if they want to try again. She said it will have to be a boy because Arianne is about to kill her. Andy also asked her about a psychic / medium (Mama Rose?). She reviewed everything that Mama Rose told her that had come to fruition. Andy asked Kim if her boobs were stable. (the "girls" were about to pop out of her jacket) I think she didn't understand the question because she said they were paid for.
The "girls" on Kim Z-B are barely hanging in there!
Jill Zaran had her boyfriend and Ally in the audience. Ally just turned 26 or 28 and is working in the art world. She received a masters degree from Sotheby’s in London. Then Jill kicked into "Mom Mode" and pointed to her Instagram handle on the screen behind her and requested that if anyone knew a nice Jewish boy for Ally to send her a message.
I didn't realize that Delores C and Caroline Manzo have been friends for 30 years. Teresa always claimed that the reason Delores is on the show is because of her. Caroline clarified that she is actually the one that got Delores on the show.
Andy asked Caroline why she looked so fabulous (just like he did on WWHL). She was very coy and said healthy living / exercise blah blah blah. I was shocked when I watched WWHL and she admitted she had a Neck Lift. That was not divulged on Friday! Someone must have had a chat with her because I am sure that is what Andy was getting at when he asked her that question on Friday. Caroline gave an update on all her kids. The daughter just opened her 3rd salon: she has 2 in NJ and 1 in Westchester. Christopher owns a pizzeria that was voted best pizza in NJ. She also announced that Albee will be getting engaged soon. When Caroline was asked about the Joe / Theresa Interview, she did not address the comment that Theresa made about her. Instead she said that Joe looked at peace and she hopes Teresa finds happiness. Andy asked if she thought Joe and Theresa cheated on each other. She said "Yes" to Joe. She was hesitating on answering about Theresa and all the other ladies jumped in. I think one of them said "I hope so!"
Kim Richards was as crazy as ever. She rattled on and on and took way to long to answer any questions or tell a story. Maybe she wasn't totally drunk all those season because she acted exactly the same. Someone did ask her if she ever thought about partnering with one of the other Housewives in recovery - like Luann or Lala(?) and make a public statement about supporting each other and "you can do it too". First of all, are Luann and Lala really in recovery? Luann's probation is ending soon and during the New York panel when they were discussing this, Tinsley kept yelling "And she can drink!" (She said this at least 3 times). Lala plays around with it too - she doesn't drink but she still smokes weed or something along those lines. Anyway, Kim rattled on for way to long about how she did initially do her sobriety publicly but has decided that her sobriety is just for her and she wants to keep private about it. It was really confusing what she was saying. All I could think was she was being private about her sobriety so she can be loose on her sobriety. I know I am a horrible terrible person to question her sobriety but honestly I spent the first 10 minutes wondering if she was drunk. That is when I came to the conclusion that she is what she is and that is goofy and spacy and scattered. Which can be confused with being under the influence. Anyway, she said she regretted the bunny incident and she wished she had the bunny back. Unfortunately, Andy has the bunny in the clubhouse and he is not giving it up. She also said that she is friends with Brandi G. again and that Kyle is in a good place with Brandi as well.
Of course, the ladies were asked if they would come back to their franchise. I thought it was interesting that Caroline Manzo said it would be a “cold day in hell” before she came back. I had heard that she was spotted at the Bravo offices and she was in talks with Andy about returning to the show. Apparently they offered her a "friend of" role and she declined because she wanted to be a full time housewife - not a "friend of".
At the end of each panel discussion, they left 10 minutes for audience Question and Answer. Nothing terribly exciting happened, except one guy brought a package of lunchmeat with him and asked Caroline M if she would throw a piece of ham on his face. I guess that was a thing during her time on the show? Andy welcomed the crazy fanboy on stage and I have a video of the event.
My first event at Bravo Con was as exciting and fun as I thought it would be!
In the Grand Ballroom after most of the events they offered a photo opp (opportunity). On either side of the room there were two photo areas set up so the group split to line up on either side. It was a total crap shoot because you didn't know which Bravolebrities would be on your side of the room. It was also hard to guess how they would split up a panel of several people. It typically was not the logical choice that I had worked out in my mind while I waited for the Bravolebs to comet. I would hear cheers from each side of the room when we found out who we would get our photos with. The line for photos was incredibly long so I walked over to just outside the photo area and snapped a selfie while the ladies took a photo with a fan.
While I was watching the fans take photos with Jill Zarin, I saw her daughter Ally standing a few feet away. I caught her eye and said "Could you just die about what your mom said?" She laughed and said she was used to it.
I went back to my seat on VIP Row 1 (I wasn't giving that seat up! That yellow jacket I wore was strategic - I could leave it on my chair and I could easily find it when I scanned the rows of seats!) A second later my new seat buddy arrived back. We had met in the elevator. She was just back from getting her photo made with the ladies. Little did I know that there was a VIP line for photo opps as well. Woot! Woot! I honestly would probably never have figured this out. It wasn't until Day 2 when they made signs like they have at Trader Joes that Bravo employees held up to indicate the end of each line. Even then, I may not have noticed that one said VIP and one said General Admission. I fully thank and blame my seat buddy for my new obsession with getting photos after all of the events that would drive me the rest of Bravo Con.
Next up, I will be spilling all the tea on Souther Charm!
Next up, I will be spilling all the tea on Souther Charm!
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