Housewives Heroes and Villains 2016

Sonja is MVP in nearly every season of RHONY, but she really shined bright like a diamond this year. In season seven, everyone was calling her a drunk floozy, so she quit drinking for season eight, showing everyone she could be fun without the sauce. Then she weathered a total beating from Bethenny over Tipsy Girl (not her finest moment) like a champ and delivered a stunning, sparkly Revenge Dress™ when LuAnn got engaged to her ex-lover. Banner year, Son-ya!

She By Shereé is back, baby. When we found out that Nene for-real, actually, not-kidding-this-time wouldn’t be back to RHOA, we were devastated. Having Shereé back holding a peach full-time was exactly what we needed to fill the Nene-sized whole in our hearts. Don’t tell Kenya, but Shereé is totally quarterbacking the new season of RHOA. There’s a new Queen Bee in Atlanta, and you already know her name.

Ace is cutest enough on his own to justify a spot as a 2016 hero – but did you notice how he brought Todd and Mama Joyce closer together? It seems like ever since Ace was born, Mama Joyce has laid off on Todd. Or maybe she’s just turned her attention to taking down Phaedra...

Siggy stole our hearts the moment she walked onto RHONJ with a post-Facelift bandage wrapped around her face. It only got better from there: she sipped lobster bisque through a straw!! Siggy is exactly the quick-talking, big-hearted addition RHONJ needed. After dropping Amber and twins and taking a major hiatus for Teresa, the show was in need of new blood. Siggy delivered in spades. Next season, we’d like to see her a little less neutral, but for a rookie, she slayed the game in 2016.

We need to talk about Danielle Staub. She. Is. Hanging. Out. With. Teresa. ! ! ! Time, it seems, heals all wounds. All of the Jersey Housewives have come around on Danielle – even Caroline has admitted she thinks Danielle deserves a second go on the show. There are murmurs of a comeback and we’ve got to say: we’re voting Yes on the Danielle Staub Accord of 2017. She delivered some of the most iconic fights of the series, and we’re ready for more Staubian levels of drama, please.

DREAAAAAAM CATCHER!! Who didn’t love the Beador girls’ new band, LOCK – the Ladies of Rock? Their performance had everything: cover songs, original music, and an epic fight between their mom and their grandmother. We still can’t get “Dream catcher” out of our head. Shannon needs to book LOCK for a summer 2017 tour. We’re in.

Can you believe it’s only been a year since we met Erika Girardi and her pop star alter ego, Erika Jayne? Erika joined RHOBH last December and became an instant All Star. She has everything we need in a BH Housewife: a massive mansion, a rich husband and a glam squad. And Erika Jayne? She slaaaaaaaays. Like, How Many F---s is actually a bop. She’s giving the gays exactly what they want and we’re living for it.

Brandi was the MVP of the Real Housewives of Dallas. She came in strong, with her incessant jokes about “Jesus Juice” and poop, which we were worried would wear out quickly. But they didn’t! And her feud with LeeAnne Locken was the high point for the season. She even showed vulnerability, opening up about the faults of her marriage and eventually she came around on LeeAnne and showed her nemesis compassion. Brandi has the chops to be a Queen Bee Housewife.

JLaw may be the world’s biggest Housewives fan. Like, we love the Housewives, but JLaw really, really loves them. She charmed us by filming her friends re-creating the Vanderpump Rules theme song a couple years back, but she really won our hearts when she legit teared up this winter after seeing a video greeting the RHOBH filmed for her.

This year was Vicki’s big shot at redemption. After the Brooks scandal, she needed to eat crow and admit to wrongdoing. Instead, she acted like she’d already apologized and doubled down on her claim she wasn’t in on the fabrication. Then when anyone brought Brooks up, she totally lost it. And that whole neck brace situation...sorry, Vicki, but we’re not buying it. Sure, you were probably hurt. But, girl. You milked it.

Not since Camille Grammer’s first season on RHOBH has a Housewife become so quickly disliked by fans as Kelly Dodd this year on RHOC. Kelly came in STRONG, full of mom jokes, one-liners and formidable anger. She served us sobbing, crying, screaming, wild accusations and instant apologies. Often in one episode. And, honestly? We kind of love her for it. Kelly Dodd, you make for a superb Housewives villain.

Ouf, this was not a good year for Jacqueline. Her attempts to make nice with Teresa lasted, like, a second. And she didn’t seem to realize that Teresa was top dog. Like, what didn’t she get? The show shut down production for two years for Teresa. Jacqueline ostracized herself from the rest of the ladies and defaulted to ludicrously high levels of anger the second anyone attempted to have a conversation with her. Jacqueline's downfall was hard – and TBH, we think we may have seen the last of her.

LuAnn was so much fun before Tom came into the picture. She was kissing boys left and right and telling anyone who had a problem with it to Not Be So Uncool, OK? Then she became That Girl as soon as she got together with Tom, talking incessantly about how she was SO IN LOVE all the time. She completely railroaded her friends for talking about their past relationships with Tom and ignored everyone’s concerns about him. Then, when the ultimate red flag came up – proof that he cheated on her – she shot the messenger.

Apollo seemed so promising there for a minute. We really thought he’d cleaned up his act. Then he was arrested (again) and went to prison (again) and once he was there, he got engaged from behind bars (!), like, a hot minute after his divorce from Phaedra was finalized. This all said...we can’t wait for his new lady to make an appearance on RHOA in the new year.

Did anyone else think Nene was fooling about leaving RHOA? Like, we thought she’d show up at least for an episode or two. But she has really, truly left us. And we are *not* happy about it. Can we just go ahead and pencil a big return to the show for her in 2018, Bethenny style?

Kathryn Edwards A waste of valuable cast space.

LeeAnne has all the makings of a reality TV villain: she’s got a sharp tongue, a resting b-tch face and a total lack of self-awareness. Her insanely inflated ego about her place in the Dallas charity scene made for some of the most entertaining bits of Housewives drama this entire year. She has real promise this one.

So...like. Sorry...but Teresa doesn’t feel bad about defrauding people and breaking the law. Like...at all. Does she? We wish we could have seen, like, one ounce of remorse from her. And...we didn’t.