Real Housewives Rookies Who Nailed Their Debut Season

Thinking back to Porsha Williams in season five is like looking back at a completely different person. In the season 5 reunion, she went into a lengthy speech about how she expected the RHOA ladies to be supportive and uplifting women. Girl, what? That attitude quickly faded away as Porsha discovered there is no “high road” in the Real Housewives universe. Over the following seasons, Porsha has been the target of several personal attacks where she’s not only stood up for herself but even threw hands a few times. We don’t condone violence, but for her ability to use her first season to learn the ropes quickly, Porsha gets added to this list.

Debut: RHOA season 5.

Teddi played the innocent card when she first joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, insisting that she was an honest person who didn’t take part in lying and gossip. That façade quickly fell apart as she was caught in a string of lies and found herself knee-deep in the RHOBH drama. It was clear the newbie was in over her head — she broke down in tears after Erika Girardi tore her to shreds when Teddi accused her of conveniently “having amnesia.” Not a good idea. Teddi may have tried to cover up her messy ways, but in the end, she’s just like the other ladies. That’s why she gets our approval.

Debut: RHOBH season 8.

Monique came in beautiful, confident, and with her life together. It’s no wonder she caught heat from the ladies almost immediately, facing gossip that she was full of herself. When fireball Gizelle Bryant came for her, we quickly found out that Monique could take the heat and didn’t mind staying in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, Monique kicked Gizelle out of her own kitchen after hearing that she was bad-mouthing her at her party. Gizelle had met her match, and Monique gained our respect.

Debut: RHOP season 2.

RELATED: How old are The Real Housewives of Potomac?

Armed with a signature look (pigtails!) and a scene-stealing mother, Margaret entered the scene on The Real Housewives of New Jersey as if she was there from the beginning.

Margaret was introduced to us by Siggy Flicker, but ended up feuding with Siggy and aligning herself with the OGs of the franchise, Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub. The drama between Margaret and Siggy became a major story line in season 8, and most people would probably say Margaret came out on top.

Debut: RHONJ season 8

RELATED:Then & Now: The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

When new girls make their debut on The Real Housewives, they have a decision to make about which clique to join. Amanda wasted no time – she was Team Jody all the way. Sure, it got a bit obnoxious seeing the two of them tear into the rest of the cast, but since the show never made Mia a full-time Housewife, we were happy to see Amanda fill in as Jody’s substitute mini-me.

Debut: RHOV season 2

RELATED: The Real Housewives of Vancouver: Where Are They Now?

Brandi limped onto The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on crutches and was immediately caught in the crossfire of the other women. From the very first second, everyone had something to say about her – and she had something to say back – which made for great TV. She was definitely Rookie of the year, 2011-2012.

Debut: RHOBH season 2

REALTED: Here's what Brandi Glanville has been up to since leaving RHOBH.

Of all the Housewives rookies, Carole seemed the least likely to last. She had a long, serious career in broadcast journalism and a New York Times best seller before ever being on the show – not exactly the makings of reality star. Despite all her accomplishments, Carole has never acted like she’s above the show. By the end of her first season Carole was comfortable, entertaining and, importantly, not afraid of have conflict with her castmates.

Debut: RHONY season 5

Related: All of The Real Housewives of New York with royal connections

For Kenya’s third season on RHOA, the producers gifted her with a friend – Claudia. Because of that friendship, Claudia went into the show with a target on her back, but always held her own.

Claudia refused to back down to Porsha when the two clashed at work, and she went toe-to-toe with Nene in an epic read-off (where Claudia was arguably the winner!).

Debut: RHOA season 7

RELATED:How old are The Real Housewives of Atlanta?

Usually Housewives get pushed around their first season. Not Dorinda. She gains a bit of standing as a legitimate friend of one of the veterans (Ramona), but we’ve been seriously impressed by how she’s handled herself with all the other Housewives, too. She knows how to stay out of the crossfires, but she also speaks up when she has an opinion.

Debut: RHONY season 7

We'll admit we were skeptical of Erika and her pop star career at first, but we soon fell in love with her completely outrageous pop star persona, Erika Jayne. She served us c-nty glam bot every episode and we can't get enough of her.

Debut: RHOBH season 6

You have to hand it to Joanna. Miami wasn’t the most-watched Housewives franchise (tbh it was underrated – Elsa was divine and so were the fights), but Joanna is on the upper echelons of the Housewives. She made a big impression in just two seasons and is without a doubt the most remembered of the RHOM wives. (Though maybe it’s just because we remember her off-screen feud with Brandi.)

Debut: RHOM season 2

Most rookies crumble when threatened by the queen bee of their respective city. Not Meghan. She went toe-to-toe with Vicki and ended up taking her down with a deep investigation into the lies Brooks and Vicki had been telling about Brooks' cancer. Not bad for a first season. Not bad at all.

Debut: RHOC season 10

Melissa had a lot working against her on her first season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Her sister-in-law Teresa was HBIC of the franchise and hated her, but she won over the other wives (and viewers) and eventually (like, forever later), Teresa came around too.

Debut: RHONJ season 3

OK, so Vicki was never really a rookie. But we have to give credit where it’s due: she’s the only original Housewife still standing, so the year 2006 belongs strictly to Vicki Gunvalson in our books.

Debut: RHOC season 1

Most of the Housewives have a culpability problem – not Shannon, though! At the end of her first season, Shannon admitted she didn’t like what she saw in her marriage, and in herself, after watching the show. It’s the ability to be honest and self-reflect that makes Shannon an anomaly in the Housewives universe – and so beloved by the fans.

Debut: RHOC season 9

RELATED: Ranking the Real Housewives by net worth.