Real Housewives

"Real Housewives of Potomac" star, Michael Darby is taking Candiace Dillard Bassett to court for defamation ... after she claimed he offered up cash to have sexual relations with another man.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ashley Darby's hubby is suing Candiace over comments she made during the latest season of the reality series -- where she didn't hold back during one of her many arguments with Ashley.

On the show, Candiace tells Ashley, "Your husband likes to leave you and go to a man named [censored]'s house and suck his ****." She never says who the guy is, but Candiace later claimed Michael paid for sex.

Michael's calling BS on all of it ... adding he sent her a cease and desist earlier this year regarding her comments -- but claims she has yet to retract any of her allegations.

He wants $2 mil in damages to make things right.

Fans of the show know Candiace and the Darbys have had long-standing beef ... with her calling Michael and Ashley out numerous times. Looks like the latest incident took things too far, though ... at least according to Michael.

Drew Sidora is laying out exactly why she's calling it quits with her estranged husband, Ralph Pittman, accusing him of cheating, abuse and messing with her finances.

In an amended divorce complaint, obtained by TMZ, Drew says she simply cannot take Ralph's "continued blatant disrespect and mental abuse any longer."

She goes on to accuse Ralph of being a serial cheater during their marriage -- even claiming some of the women he's allegedly had affairs with have rubbed it in her face -- sending her screenshots of their "sexts" with Ralph.

That's not all ... Drew also says Ralph has recently gotten physical with her, claiming last month he grabbed her phone out of her hand, causing her to fall to the floor. She says Ralph yelled at her, saying he pays the cell phone bill so the phone belongs to him.

She says when Ralph got physically aggressive, she even considered leaving Atlanta and flying with her 3 minor children to Chicago where they'd feel safe.

She also says at one point, he withdrew a "large sum of money" from her account.

Drew says she and Ralph tried counseling, but it didn't work. In fact, she states after leaving a counseling session, Ralph asked her to give him a "heads up" before filing for divorce and that no matter what happened, he'd let her file first.

Interestingly enough, both Drew and Ralph filed for divorce on the same day -- February 27 -- she beat him by just one hour in filing.

Drew's asking for primary physical and joint legal custody of their 2 kids.

Drew Sidora's husband, Ralph Pittman, wants to end their nearly 10-year marriage ... and he's just made it official in court.

The 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star was on the receiving end of divorce docs that were just filed this past week in Gwinnett County, GA -- where Ralph laid out what he wants out of their split ... touching on how he wants to handle their 2 kids and their shared property.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Ralph -- who says he and Drew separated on Feb. 19 of this year -- makes it clear he wants joint physical and legal custody of their 7-year-old son Machai and 5-year-old daughter Aniya. Drew has another kid from a prior relationship.

While he might not be fighting her on the kid front, he is pushing back on the notion of paying spousal support -- noting Drew makes good enough money from her reality TV job. Although he says she's rolling in Bravo dough ... Ralph claims she hasn't made any financial contributions to the household throughout a majority of their partnership.

Then come the cars ... Ralph says he wants his Porsche Taycan and his 2018 Cadillac -- while calling on Drew to be responsible for her own 2021 Cadillac. No word yet on their crib.

While this is, perhaps, surprising to some ... others who've been following their relationship on the show -- since Drew officially joined in 2020 -- say there's been trouble on the horizon.

Ralph has disappeared from the household on a number of occasions -- some of which were documented on 'RHOA' -- and he and Drew have squabbled over A LOT on camera ... including suspected infidelity, over-involvement from in-laws and a plethora of other issues.

As it turns out, Ralph wasn't hamming it up for the show ... he's actually done now.

Erika Jayne is keeping her lips sealed on potential new 'RHOBH' cast members -- now that they've started shooting -- but she's open about wanting Chrissy Teigen in the mix.

We got the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star out in WeHo and asked about the upcoming season of the show, which is gonna be very different without Erika's partner in crime, Lisa Rinna.

We raised the subject of Chrissy, Kyle Richards' top choice to join the cast, and Erika lit up ... saying she really likes CT, but added there's one big hiccup -- "Chrissy doesn't need this show!!!"

Erika couldn't even contain her laughter at the suggestion ... even if Kyle's throwing full support behind the idea of Chrissy being the perfect replacement.

Remember, Rinna recently announced she was leaving the show after 8 seasons.

Naturally, Erika told us her pal was simply irreplaceable. However, she's found some comfort in knowing she and Lisa remain friends outside the 'Housewives' universe ... aka IRL.

As for how the change is impacting the whole cast, she says everyone's dealing with it professionally.

American television personality Michaele Salahi -- now known as Michaele Schon -- was 44 years old when she made her debut on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of D.C." back in 2010.

Joining Jeana in the dramatic series included Mary Amons as the fancy fashionista who grew up with the Kennedy family, Lynda Erkiletian as the philanthropist and president of a modeling agency and Cat Ommanney as the interior designer from London.

Let's not forget ... In 2009, Michaele and her husband at the time, Tareq Salahi, allegedly crashed the State Dinner at the White House with Barack Obama.

"Real Housewives of Orange County" rivals Tamra Judge and Gretchen Rossi never saw eye-to-eye on the show, and their feud only seems to have strengthened with time -- because we've learned Tamra has donated money to help honor Gretchen's late stepson.

Tamra put $500 towards the GoFundMe for 22-year-old Grayson's memorial and medical expenses ... inching the campaign closer to the halfway mark of $70k.

"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum Teddi Mellencamp also put $500 in the pot -- and more than 400 people have donated so far.

As we reported, the campaign was set up by the family of Michelle Arroyo -- Grayson's biological mother, and ex of Gretchen's fiancé Slade Smiley -- after her son passed this month from brain cancer.

There's no love lost between Michelle and Slade and Gretchen, which might have played a factor in Tamra's decision to financially back Michelle.

The donations will help with the cost of a memorial to honor Grayson, as well as outstanding medical expenses -- of which Slade is responsible for half, but allegedly never paid ... according to Michelle.

She told us Gretchen pretended to have a relationship with Grayson to gain sympathy online, and claimed Slade hasn't made child support payments since 2019. Sources close to the couple told us Michelle's accusations are absurd and need to stop.

Both Tamra and Teddi encouraged listeners on their iHeart podcast "Two T's in a Pod' to donate to Michelle's GoFundMe. Tamra pointed out how Gretchen just got a nice chunk of money for going on Ultimate Girl's Trip while Michelle is having to go through a GoFundMe to raise money for Grayson's memorial.

'Real Housewives of Orange County' alum Gretchen Rossi and her fiancé, Slade Smiley are getting dragged through the mud for paying tribute to Slade's late son ... because the biological mother claims Gretchen and Slade haven't even been around for him in the last decade.

Slade's ex, Michelle Arroyo tells TMZ ... Gretchen's recent social media posts about the loss of 22-year-old Grayson are disrespectful -- saying the couple has "grossly misrepresented the true nature of their relationship with Grayson, which was virtually nonexistent."

Grayson passed earlier this month after a long battle with brain cancer -- something he fought since he was 6. Since his death, Gretchen's been posting nonstop about how heartbroken she is, but Michelle is calling BS.

She tells us Gretchen hasn't made the effort in the past 10 years to see him ... calling a so-called relationship "nonexistent."

On top of that, Michelle, who has lost her home, business, and life savings while solely taking care of Grayson’s needs, says she can't keep quiet any longer about Slade's years of "inexcusable behavior and neglect," adding Grayson desperately wanted a relationship with his dad.

Michelle adds she had to hire lawyers to get Slade to cough up his child support payments -- claiming he still owes $152K in support, with his last payment coming in back in 2019.

Her family started a GoFundMe to help with the cost of a memorial to properly honor Greyson ... as well as to cover the outstanding medical expenses half of which Slade is responsible for but has never paid.

Jen Shah's now spending her next 6.5 years behind bars, and TMZ has learned just how she'll be occupying her time ... and let's just say, she won't be working on her glam.

Jen's now locked up at FPC Bryan in Texas, and according to the prison camp's handbook, obtained by TMZ, inmates have a seriously rigorous schedule day after day ... starting with a 6 AM wake-up call.

In addition to bein' an early riser, it looks like Jen will have to keep her cell in tip-top shape ... which includes making her bed, removing trash and sweeping the floor.

A majority of each day will be focused on work ... stuff like food service or factory jobs. Unclear which job Jen will have to do, but we assume it won't be anything remotely close to the telemarketing scheme that landed her in prison.

Inmates are also prohibited from wearing anything that isn't government-issued -- AKA nothing designer. The only jewelry allowed is a wedding band and a religious necklace, but those can't be worth more than $100 each.

Based on the show, we're comfortable in saying none of Jen's jewelry qualifies.

"The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Jen Shah is getting processed for intake at the federal prison where she just arrived to serve her sentence for a telemarketing scandal.

Jen surrendered to begin her 6.5 years behind bars ... arriving at FPC Bryan in Bryan, Texas. Her lawyers had previously requested that she report to FPC Bryan, so it all worked out.

As we reported, the reality star pled guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. Prosecutors said she was targeting and scamming people out of cash with the scheme.

Feds wanted her locked up for 10 years, listing off numerous reasons why she's the "most culpable person charged in this case."

She was sentenced in January -- along with 6.5 years in the pen, Jen will also do 5 years of supervised release once she gets out.

She got emotional in court, apologizing for what she did, adding ... "With the proper medication I can now see what happened."

Her sentence came with some special conditions post-lockup ... most notably she'll have to participate in a mental health treatment program.

Jen did an interview with White Collar Advice shortly before reporting to FPC Bryan. She talked about why it took her a year to admit she was guilty, what she's going to bring to prison with her and her plans to document everything she experiences.

BTW, Jen got tatted up Wednesday before surrendering ... inking the names of her husband and sons on her arm. Her son Omar also got one -- the Hawaiian word for "child."

Before this "fancy pants" teen turned into an actress and a tv personality in "The O.C.", she was growing up in Chappaqua, New York and schooling everyone with her superior vocabulary at Syracuse University.

After playing a New Jersey bartender on the television series "That's Life," she moved over to reality tv, becoming a key player in Orange County. There's nothing she loves more than the sound of a champagne cork being popped and is more than willing to splurge on a pricey bottle of "Champs."

Need one more hint? If you want a peak into her world, just tune into her podcast!

Kyle Richards disagrees with Erika Jayne saying Lisa Rinna can't be replaced on 'RHOBH' ... Kyle thinks Chrissy Teigen would be a great addition to the show.

We got Kyle leaving Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills on Monday and our photog asked her who she would cast to replace Lisa, who is leaving the reality TV franchise after 8 seasons.

Kyle says Chrissy would be the best option ... and she's always felt CT had what it takes to make it on 'RHOBH.'

Kyle's answer is in stark contrast to what Erika believes ... as we reported, Erika says producers can try but they won't be able to replace Lisa because she's the "f***** G.O.A.T."

Chrissy and Kyle have been friends for years ... and it sounds like she's got someone in her corner if 'RHOBH' producers come calling.

Of course, Chrissy's a little busy at the moment ... she just gave birth to her and John Legend's fourth child ... so it's unclear if she would even be interested in joining Kyle on the show.

Jen Shah's going to get her head checked once she finishes her stint in the big house ... and it's all Uncle Sam's idea.

It's a few years in her future, but the "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star has a couple special conditions for her eventual prison release -- and, according to new docs we obtained, chief among them is a requirement to participate in a mental health treatment program.

Remember ... Jen was recently sentenced to 6.5 years behind bars in her wire fraud case, and she's supposed to surrender to authorities on February 17 to start serving her sentence at a federal penitentiary in Texas.

Once Jen serves her time, she's going to be under 5 years of supervised release ... during which she's got to do her mental health treatments.

At her sentencing, Jen got emotional as she apologized ... saying, "With the proper medication I can now see what happened."

The docs say Jen must continue to take her prescribed meds when she gets out of prison, unless her health care provider decides otherwise.

Jen's probation officer has to sign off on the mental health program she chooses ... and she may be subject to testing to see whether she's reverting to drug and alcohol use.

Lisa Rinna didn't just dislike her job ... she "f***ing hated" it!

Lisa just made it clear ... she left "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" not just because of personal tragedy -- the death of her mom -- but because she was the victim of an orchestrated smear campaign against her.

Lisa said she just had it after season 12 ... and a lot centers around her feud with Kathy Hilton ... specifically the blowup in Aspen ... so she told Interview Mag.

Lisa said, "The story just didn’t get told as two-sidedly as I would’ve liked. It was unfortunate that there weren’t cameras in Aspen. It was something that happened so spontaneously. In the moment, I didn’t think to turn on my voice memos. When somebody’s having a nuclear breakdown, you don’t think, ‘Oh, I should be filming this.’”

Lisa says Kathy was trash-talking her sister Kyle in between filming ... while alcohol was freely flowing.

Interestingly ... Kathy wasn't the principal villain in Lisa's world -- she reserved that for another housewife, saying at least Kathy was brave enough "for showing up to the reunion, because she could have run like Lisa Vanderpump did."

"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Heather Dubrow is behind Lisa Rinna's decision to say goodbye to "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" ... but she ain't too sure it'll be a permanent exit -- speaking from personal experience.

We got Heather leaving Craig's in WeHo Tuesday night ... and while she's got nothin' but good things to say about Lisa and her leave, she's also supporting a call to come back, if she chooses.

Fans of the series remember Heather took a step back from 'RHOC' back in 2017, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family ... only to come back in 2021.

Heather also addresses the rumors she might be makin' the move to 'RHOBH' ... which sounds like it could be in her future -- if the stars align.

As we reported, Lisa announced her Bravo exit last week -- telling People, "This is the longest job I have held in my 35-year career and I am grateful to everyone at Bravo and all those involved in the series. It has been a fun eight-year run and I am excited for what is to come!"

'RHOA' star Phaedra Parks' ex-husband Apollo Nida has started a new chapter of his life ... getting married nearly 7 years after finalizing his divorce from the housewife.

Apollo and his new wife, Sherien Almufti, tell TMZ ... they got hitched October 14, 2022, during an intimate ceremony with close family and friends at a church in the Atlanta area.

The couple has kept their nuptials under wraps from the public until now. We're told Apollo's kids and ex-wife Phaedra all knew about the wedding, though they didn't attend.

Apollo says he and his ex-wife turned a leaf ... they're co-parenting much better now and there's no more bickering. In case you didn't know, there was a ton of drama surrounding their drawn-out divorce ... after they officially pulled the plug on their marriage in 2016.

As for Apollo and his new wife, they tell us they've reached a point in their lives where they wanted to take the next step and move on after first meeting about 10 years ago. Apollo got engaged to Sherien back in 2016 ... while serving time behind bars for cashing stolen checks and laundering more than $2 million.

While it may seem like an unconventional love story ... they say they've known each other for a decade, and their ups and downs have made them stronger.

Kelly Dodd's husband, Rick Leventhal, is in the emergency room after being involved in a nasty car accident -- seemingly related to SoCal's fierce storms -- and he says he's fortunate he's not dead.

The 'Real Housewives of Orange County' alum just posted video of her husband's crash and she tells TMZ ... Rick was driving her white Mercedes-Benz S-Class out to Palm Desert, CA Tuesday when the accident happened on a wet and slick freeway.

Kelly says Rick suffered broken ribs and was transported by ambulance to a hospital. We're told the car was totaled, but Rick will be okay.

Kelly's asking for prayers on social media, and they've already canceled their Wednesday podcast episode for "The Rick & Kelly Show!"

Rick commented on Kelly's post, saying ... "Honestly I'm lucky to be alive. Scariest moments of my life. This makes everything even more meaningful ❤️."

California's still getting hammered by a fierce winter storm that's causing evacuations, deaths and tons of problems all over the state and it appears the rain may have played a role in Rick's crash.

Kelly wasn't with Rick at the time of the crash ... she's on a trip to Aspen.