Previously on Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Rosie and Kelsey continued their feud with a screaming match at Ashley’s trivia night. But they weren’t the only RHORI cast battle taking center stage. On the way to Rich’s show, Alicia and Liz relitigated homeless-gate. When Jo-Ellen tried to get involved, Liz got mad at her for being phony. Turns out, Liz’s issues with Jo-Ellen have been brewing for a while…
What happened on Real Housewives of Rhode Island Episode 10?
This week on Real Housewives of Rhode Island Season 1 Episode 10, “Fools Rush In,” Liz and Jo-Ellen take the spotlight away from Rich when they can’t stop fighting. Kelsey feels caught in the middle. When she tries to hash things out, Jo-Ellen learns her relationship with Liz wasn’t what she thought. And Liz finds unlikely ally as she wages war against Jo-Ellen.
Sorry Rich, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island are the stars of this show
At Rich’s show, Alicia can’t stop crying as Liz rolls her eyes. Jo-Ellen calls out the awkwardness and wants to crawl under the table. Alicia agrees, laughing while crying. But Liz is pissed. When Jo-Ellen asks if she’s okay, Liz mocks her. Jo-Ellen reaches for her hand and says everything’s fine, but Liz snaps, “get your f*cking hands off me.”
When Ashley arrives, she can sense tension, between Jo-Ellen’s pained smile and Alicia’s tears (which Jo says are “allergies”). Alicia cheers up when she sees Monique, a mutual friend she has with Rosie. Monique would’ve had her back in that car.
After Rich’s first song, Alicia tells Liz that she loves her and doesn’t want to fight. Liz apologizes again, but also adds “I’m the monster,” undermining it. Jo-Ellen tries to play peacemaker. Liz repeats that she’s apologized a million times, and goes out for a cigarette.
Jo-Ellen follows her. As she explains Alicia’s side, Liz gets angrier and eventually threatens a fight. Jo-Ellen repeatedly asks “What did I do?”
The fight continues as they storm back inside. After Jo-Ellen rants that she’s mean, Liz starts yelling, tugs her hair, and eventually pushes her chair away. Jo-Ellen says they’re best friends, but Liz disagrees. The fighting gets louder and louder as Alicia yells “Jo-Ellen do not react!”
Rich’s cover of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” soundtracking this fight is the height of comedy.
Ultimately, Jo-Ellen leaves mid-song and goes back to Rhode Island on her own.
Alicia gets the aunties riled up about Liz
Alicia gets together with all her aunties to celebrate Celina’s win in a dance competition (Alicia can’t remember what it’s called- Miss Title?- but it’s a big deal, “Like Miss America of the dance world”). Before too long, Alicia sends Celina to the other end of the table so the grown-ups can gossip.
Liz has repeatedly argued that Alicia’s family wouldn’t like calling herself homeless, but this scene shows otherwise. Because her family agrees that Alicia and her mom were more or less homeless. Alicia shares how it made Liz snap. In a confessional, she straight up calls Liz abusive. Her aunties are furious, especially because they’ve known Liz for so long. Alicia reveals she hasn’t returned Liz’s phone calls since Boston.
One of the aunts says Liz is jealous of Alicia’s “perfect” life. But Alicia says her life is far from it, especially because of her nine-year engagement. She didn’t like how Billy proposed, but when she asks him for a Cinderella moment proposal, he laughs that she’s almost 50.
Another auntie wonders if Liz acted that way because of the weed, but Alicia insists Liz doesn’t get high on her own supply.
Liz puts her fight with Alicia aside to focus on Jo-Ellen
Meanwhile, Liz gives her side of things in a meet-up with Dolores, Dog, and Kelsey. Remember when she screamed at Kelsey but had remorse the next day? That didn’t happen this time.
Kelsey shares that Jo-Ellen texted her when the car fight started. Liz stands by yelling that Alicia was never homeless. She does an impression of Jo-Ellen calling Alicia “so brave” and trying to play peacemaker. Liz says it’s ironic because Jo-Ellen is the devil herself. Kelsey admits peacemaker is not a likely role for her bestie. She also says that Jo-Ellen wants to be liked by everyone.
In a confessional, however, Kelsey reminds us of her own issues with Liz. She thinks the core issue is that Liz doesn’t trust Jo-Ellen.
Liz also mentions she had “no choice but to shut it down” when “Jo-Devil” put her hands on her and said “calm down.” She argues Jo is the real scary one and “capable of anything.” Dolores calls Alicia “not strong minded” but thinks she’ll come to her senses, so Liz should continue reaching out.
Rosie and Ashley update us on RHORI’s weakest storylines
Rosie hangs out with Rich’s huge Italian family on the beach. Rosie has issues with her own mom, so it’s sweet to see how much she loves her in-laws.
Alas, the conversation quickly turns to when Rosie is going to have children. This is now the third episode where someone tries to convince her. As I said the first time, everyone should let Rosie be the one to decide that! At least her father-in-law emphasizes it’s her decision. She also jokes that she doesn’t want Rich to be an old dad (he’s 43). Rosie is obsessed with Rich, his family, and their life, but if Rich says no kids are a dealbreaker, she’s not sure what they’re going to do.
Then we cut to the other tiring RHORI storyline, Audrey’s. Ashley wants them to promote the cocktails, showing its more than a coffee shop. The lease is up soon, and she hopes cocktails will make them more money. At this point, it does seem like Ashley only joined the show to promote the business. But those cocktails did look pretty good, so maybe the plan worked!
Kelsey’s stuck in the middle of Jo-Ellen and Liz’s feud
Kelsey invites Jo-Ellen over to her apartment to paint. She always knew this day would come, when she was put in the middle between Jo-Ellen and Liz for a fight that has nothing to do with her. She just wants to be there for both of them, because while she wasn’t in the car, she knows neither were 100% in the right.
Jo-Ellen is disappointed Kelsey didn’t stick up for her, but knows it’s because she’s scared of Liz, like everyone else. Honestly, justice for Rosie! Jo-Ellen even compares Liz to the girl from The Ring!
Kelsey painted a beautiful sunset, while Jo-Ellen reveals a portrait of a slam pig. Kelsey loves it and that Jo gave the pig “d*ck sucking lips.” Say what you will about Kelsey, but she’s really taking “Slam Pig” in stride.
Rulla is the enemy of Liz’s enemy…so, her friend?
Liz is so angry at Jo-Ellen that she meets up with her enemy Rulla for lunch. Like Liz, Rulla calls Jo-Ellen phony and mocks her. Rulla is glad Liz “woke up” but Liz says she’s been awake for a while. When we see clip after clip of Liz’s comments throughout the season, that becomes clear.
Rulla is flattered that Jo-Ellen cares so much about her marriage, but says she should focus on hers. She theorizes that Jo-Ellen is projecting because there’s rumors she cheats on Gary! Apologies if these rumors were mentioned in an earlier episode and I forgot- there are simply too many affair rumors to keep track of!
Kelsey and Bill have the “what are we?” talk
Kelsey and Bill work out together and compliment each other’s butts. She says Bill is like Hercules, just without “the mermaid tail or whatever” (Kelsey, you’re mixing up your Disney movies). When Bill casually calls Kelsey “baby,” their trainer asks if they’re official. Kelsey throws the question to Bill, who says of course they are.
Because her ex wasn’t loyal, Kelsey tested Bill … claiming he even went celibate for a year to prove himself to her. But Bill wants her to cut her ex off completely, and that means selling her car. For what it’s worth, Bill now pays for her gym membership instead of her ex. Kelsey wants to keep the health insurance her ex pays for because of her brain tumor. She has to get two MRIs a year to make sure it didn’t grow back.
She asks if they can let things run their course before it’s just “you and me.” Bill says it’s just “you and me and that’s it” now, and that Kelsey “put me through hell for long enough.”
Liz and Jo-Ellen become Real Housewives of Rhode Island’s central rivalry
When she meets up with Liz, Jo-Ellen attempts to cut the tension by showing how pointy her nipples are due to the cold. Liz just smiles and says “we love that.”
The storm coming out of nowhere as they rehash the argument is cinematic. Jo-Ellen argues Liz undermined whatever point she had by being mean. Liz fires back that Jo-Ellen wasn’t trying to make things better, she never does, she just wants to escalate.
Jo-Ellen asks why Liz is so cruel. She doesn’t know what she did to her. She thinks of Liz are one of her best friends. Then, Liz goes for the kill- they’ve never been best friends. Jo-Ellen is heartbroken.
“I’m real, you’re f*cking fake,” says Liz. “It’s not real, it’s cruel,” Jo-Ellen responds. She reminds Liz of the hair tugging and chair pushing, but Liz vehemently denies it and calls her “the f*cking devil.”
With a smile on her face, Liz says she doesn’t need to be here, chugs her wine, and leaves. In a confessional, Jo-Ellen cries realizing Liz doesn’t care about her.
Real Housewives of Rhode Island airs Sundays on Bravo. Episodes can be streamed on Peacock.
TELL US – ARE YOU TEAM JO-ELLEN OR TEAM LIZ IN THE NEW RHORI FEUD? IS KELSEY PLAYING BOTH SIDES TOO MUCH?
