From getting involved in the drama to outright starting it, the Real Housewives husbands are sometimes just a twirl and a tagline away from being full-time cast members themselves. (Un)fortunately, often times it is the worst among them that make the best television — from RHOBH’s Denise Richards’ hubby Aaron “I’m gonna crush your f-ing hand” Phypers to RHOP’s Ashley Darby’s man, Michael “that’s not me in the photo” Darby. And while one certainly does not need a husband to be a Real Housewife (see: the entire cast of RHONY), having one who is particularly horrible can certainly help get more camera time.
With that in mind, we have rounded up the best of the worst — keep reading for our complete list of the most annoying Real Housewives husbands. Dishonourable mentions to Joe Giudice, Jason Hoppy and David Beador.
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Aaron Phypers
The only thing missing from this season of RHOBH was Aaron Phyper’s diamond. Denise Richards’ tequila-loving, pharmaceutical-fearing husband certainly made no fans among the ladies or the audience, talking down aggressively to them at a luncheon at Kyle’s house — leading to Teddi Mellencamp later referring to him as an “a—hole” in her confessional. He then threatened to crush Denise’s hand as they made their escape; yikes. After that, he came head-to-head with Erika at an event at Sutton’s store and, once more, Denise whisked him away. Most annoyingly, we still don't know what he does for work.

Michael Darby
There are some certainties in life: the sun will rise, taxes and Michael Darby will cause a scandal on RHOP. It seems the Aussie has a hard time controlling his Down Under, from allegedly being caught on gay dating app Grindr to potentially groping a producer’s behind to getting photographed canoodling with a woman at a casino and then subsequently in a hotel room this season. On top of all that, he frequently talks down to Ashley and her mother as well as most of the rest of the cast.

Shane Simpson
While it is often hard to agree with or condone RHOC’s Kelly Dodd’s behaviour, we were #TeamKelly when she called Shane Simpson a “dork.” Emily Simpson’s man not only failed the bar exam, but lowered the bar for Real Housewives husbands by sarcastically disrespecting his wife and her friends on camera — including yelling at Emily’s sometimes-BFF Gina Kirschenheiter for being too loud in their home. While studying for said exam, Shane refused to support his wife and told producers he did not even miss her.

Marc Daly
Marc Daly was one of those annoying Real Housewives husbands who avoided the camera, only joining his wife Kenya Moore on RHOA last season. Maybe that was a good thing. During the series, Marc referred to Kenya as “Ken” — seemingly able to silence and control her Gone With the Wind fabulousness with the name, telling her to “reign it in” at a bowling event where he invited her arch-nemesis Nene Leakes. He subsequently verbally abused Kenya and the RHOA producers at a charity event. This guy is a real peach-hole.

Brooks Ayers
The OG of the OC Vicki Gunvalson moved on from her divorce with Donn Gunvalson to Brooks Ayers — a suave, Southern gentleman who filled her love tank. He then filled her head with lies, saying he had cancer and forging documents claiming he had been a patient at City of Hope National Medical Center. Brooks denied the allegations while on the series, causing Vicki to clash with Tamra Judge, Meghan King Edmonds and Shannon Beador. While he came clean afterwards, his RHOC ex was never able to fully wash her hands of the scandal.

Tom D’Agostino Jr.
“Please don’t let it be about Tom.” Sorry, Lu, but this is about Tom. Trouble in paradise (Palm Beach?) all started when Luann de Lesseps' then-fiancé was spotted making out at the Regency. In front of everyone. The pair got engaged, married and divorced in a New York minute, with hints of infidelity throughout — whether it was his friends-with-benefits relationship with Sonja Morgan to his too-friendly chat with his ex Missy to his fake gushing over Lu, the RHONY grocery store heir always left a bad taste in one’s mouth.

Slade Smiley
RHOC has some (in)famously annoying Real Housewives husbands —looking at you, Jim Bellino— but first among them was Slade Smiley. He has the dubious distinction of having been the fiancé of two former cast members: Jo De La Rosa and Gretchen Rossi, with whom he now has a child. On the series, their wildly annoying relationship culminated in a tacky, definitely staged rooftop proposal. During his sophomore run on RHOC, he also famously did a stand-up comedy set comparing Vicki to Ms. Piggy. Yikes.

Simon van Kempen
RHONY original cast member Alex McCord and her husband Simon van Kempen were a staple of the show’s first four seasons, doing practically everything together. He frequently got under Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin’s skin, with his flamboyant fashion and mannerisms. Were he and Alex cringe-worthy social climbers? Yes. Were they excellent television? Also yes. Simon was always willing to get into the drama and the spotlight. He even release a single called “I am Real” not long after Luann De Lesseps’ “Money Can’t Buy You Class.” Viva la diva, indeed.

Eddie Cibrian
Eddie and RHOBH’s Brandi Glanville had been married for nine years before divorcing over numerous cases of infidelity on his part, both with Scheana Shay of Vanderpump Rules (an affair that ultimately gave us that blessed mess) and country singer LeAnne Rimes. Eddie was like a passive-aggressive spectre on the show, keeping Brandi from showing her kids, forcing the single mother to go to court and being too showy on social media with his new wife. Though we never saw him, we all hated him.

Jim Marchese
We saved the worst for last. You would be forgiven for not remembering Jim Marchese. His wife, Amber Marchese, was a RHONJ one-season blunder — with she and her husband fired because literally everybody else on the series hated him. Even the all-loving Joe Gorga could not stand him. Jim famously picked fights with the women, viciously getting involved with the drama and throwing his fellow Real Housewives husbands under the bus too. This walking Napoleon complex was also a misogynist and homophobe, to boot.