5 Best Real Housewives Friendships Of All Time

Though the best “Real Housewives” storylines stem from hellish dinner parties and sprinter van fiascos, the backbone of the series has always been real, solid friendships between the ladies — and it’s time we celebrate them!

Sure, we tune in for tea, gossip, and mess, but we also love to see our favorite Bravolebrities bond with each other through the ups and downs of reality TV stardom. But which duos take Heather Dubrow’s name party cake? Below, we’re rounding up the five best “Real Housewives” friendships of all time. 

The following friendships come from a variety of series within the franchise, and some include wives who are no longer cast members — but all are iconic duos. Though we aren’t necessarily saying these are the friendships we want to emulate in our own lives — some are mischievous as hell! — they are the pairs that make us laugh, cry, and repeatedly binge Bravo. 

Once you’ve scrolled through the list below, hit the comments with your thoughts: Which “Real Housewives” friendships are the very best? Which are the worst?

Marysol and Alexia hold one of Bravo’s strongest bonds. Marysol admirably supported Alexia through the dissolution of her relationship with Todd, effectively towing the line between voicing her own opinions about Alexia’s subpar man while encouraging the woman to follow her own heart. During a time when she could have easily ripped Todd apart behind Alexia’s back for the sake of getting a good sound bite, Marysol stuck by her bestie. 

In Season 7, we even saw Marysol forgo a seat on Stephanie’s private jet — the highest denomination of social currency among these women — in order to be by her friend’s side in commercial coach amid her ongoing divorce. If that doesn’t say best friends forever, what does?

Of course, now that we’re writing this, we do have to wonder whether Alexia has put in the same work when it comes to her friendship with Marysol — all of their bestie best moments seem to revolve around Marysol’s loyalty. But relationships ebb and flow! It just so happens that Alexia has been going through it recently, and we have no doubt that she will show up for Marysol whenever she may need it.  

Are Sonja and Ramona good people? Probably not, but even those with a weak moral compass deserve companionship — and thank God these two found each other! In Season 10, their friendship reached new heights when they clung to each other for dear life during the iconic boat ride from hell in Cartagena. 

Luckily, they survived the rocky waters and made it ashore where things got all the more harrowing. While sharing yet another room with Sonja on another cast trip, Ramona found herself with a bad case of the runs. Ramona went on to poop all over their shared hotel room floor, and Sonja didn’t even bat an eye — has any friend ever been so dedicated?

Though they sometimes bickered — all besties do! — they were always getting up to something hilariously messy together. When we look back, we have to ask: Was anyone ever having more fun than Ramona and Sonja? 

The sweet friendship between Gina and Emily is one of the only high points of the ailing “Real Housewives of Orange County.” They constantly make us laugh, as seen in the Season 18 photo above when an over-served Emily tried — but failed — to hoist her friend over a wall to escape a floundering engagement party. What would they have achieved had they successfully escaped the soirée? We can only guess!

Back in Season 16, the duo had us laughing on the floor when Gina called in a psychic medium to help cleanse her soul after she brought a ghost back to California from a haunting cast trip. As the medium unspooled the demon out of Gina’s body, like she was tugging on some invisible rope attached the depths of Gina’s soul, Emily got caught in a fit of laughter on the couch. She covered her face up with a pillow as the healer began to throw the invisible thread out of a nearby open window. In that moment, we saw ourselves: Who hasn’t fallen into a fit of giggles with their bestie at an inappropriate time?!

But there is depth to this relationship, too. Emily has called on Gina to help her through her son’s health challenges while Gina leaned on Emily during her difficult divorce. If we had to put our money on one Bravo friendship that might outlive the franchise entirely, it’s this one. 

At first glance, the bond between Angie and Mary seems unlikely — Mary is the show’s underdog while Angie is the franchise darling — but they each possess inexplicable eccentricities that complement each other. They’ve come together over the years to share in life’s lows and highs, culminating in a slow-burn kind of friendship that makes the relationship all the more believable. Angie has supported Mary through her challenges with her son, while Mary has offered Angie support among her many conflicts with the women. 

In Season 6, Mary even supported Angie through a tumultuous “Below Deck Down Under” crossover, which saw Angie sustain a serious finger injury and face a bout of seasickness. Instead of dining with the women on the luxurious upper deck of the vessel, Mary ate her dinner in her cabin to keep Angie company — amid the stench of vomit and all! Though there’s something we don’t quite understand about these two together, it makes watching their friendship blossom all the more sweet. 

When it comes to ride-or-dies, Gizelle and Robyn are the textbook definition of the term. Equal parts reasonable and shady, these two always have each other’s backs. Their friendship clearly exists off camera, and there’s no blind loyalty here: Gizelle did interrogate the questionable antics of Robyn’s husband, while Robyn threw her own fun shade at Gizelle at BravoCon in 2025. They are secure enough in their friendship that they can poke fun and throw shade without risking ruining the relationship.

Together, these two were never afraid to stir the pot. In Season 3, the duo even teamed up with Ashley to stage a fake pizza delivery at Karen’s alleged residence to try to prove Karen was lying about owning her home. They dressed up in elaborate disguises — wigs, mustaches, and baseball hats — and executed a delightfully flawed mission. 

Though Robyn has since left the show, their friendship carries on with their “Reasonably Shady” podcast proving that their love for each other was never as flimsy as a simple showmance — it’s the real deal!