Who Knew? Once Upon A Time There Was A 'Real Housewives of Athens'

Wetpaint.com:

Clearly, the Real Housewives franchises have a reputation for exuding excess. (Yes, Taylor Armstrong, a $60K birthday party for a 4-year-old is a bit much.) With that being said, we were so not surprised to hear that when RH went global and landed in the faraway land of Athens, Greece — where around a million peeps are unemployed right now — it wasn’t met with open arms.

Similarly to the U.S. versions, the Real Housewives of Athens cast showcased the lives of six loaded chicks, all deemed Greek socialites: ex-models (and current TV personalities) Ioanna Soulioti and Annita Nathanail, former bball player Orthoula Papadakou, fashion designer Joe Togu, actress Christina Papa and, surprisingly, an actual housewife named Fofi Mastrokosta.

Despite the fact that more than 600,000 viewers tuned in for the show’s premiere episode, many a Greek paper has called the series out for its lack of responsibility. "Only scandalous blindness... could consider that this series has anything to do with the harsh daily life of Greek women," a newspaper called Ta Nea said of the show. "These are neither real nor housewives.”

As much as those abroad might hate it, we can’t help but be a little curious about how these modern-day Marie Antoinette’s spend their moolah. Maybe Bravo should just broadcast it in the U.S. with subtitles?

Real Housewives of Athens debuted in Greece on March 4, 2011 and lasted until May 27, 2011 before bowing to political and media pressure with 12 episodes and all of one season. The Athens show was never officially connected to Bravo tho, so I'm guessing that's why I had never heard of it.

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