Real Housewives of Sydney reunion dramas explode online
Fans were shocked to discover that O'Neill, who missed last year's reunion episode due to a family commitment and skipped many on-screen activities during this season, would once more miss the show's pivotal reunion episode, available to stream from today on BINGE and Foxtel.
O'Neill cops a walloping in the reunion but she has fiercely defended her actions, publicly airing email communications with Real Housewives producers and sharing her side of the story on her website overnight.
The online drama comes amid a particularly fiery reunion, which ended with several members of the cast conceding the divisions in the group may be beyond repair.
Nicole dials in as Osher twists the knife
Reunion host Osher Gunsberg noted O'Neill's absence at the top of the show, explaining that she would join via videolink from London shortly.
O'Neill's arch nemesis Terry Biviano called her absence 'convenient,' while Victoria Montano was keen to point out that O'Neill had offered to fly back for the reunion – an assertion Gunsberg quickly shut down.
'Well, the facts are, Victoria, that yes she did offer to fly back. There was a budget for that. It was economy class, and that was not acceptable [to her].'
And Osher twisted the knife later in the show as O'Neill joined the cast from her London hotel room.
'I didn't think you'd want to miss a reunion … again,' he said pointedly. 'There was an offer to fly you back, but economy class isn't for you?'
Stream The Real Housewives of Sydney on BINGE, available on Hubbl.
O'Neill explained it just wasn't feasible to fly home to Sydney when she had pre-existing business commitments in London.
After castmate Kate Adams complained she didn't think Nicole had 'pulled her weight' this season, Osher asked her: 'Nicole, you willingly signed up for this show again – do you feel like you showed up for it?'
'I feel like I showed up when I could. It was a bit more complicated than what I can explain right now,' she said.
After Biviano dubbed that an 'excuse,' Nicole delivered what would be her final words for the season: 'You're a bitter, bitter old woman, Terry.'
Nicole puts the show on blast
O'Neill told her side of the story online overnight, posting screenshots of emails with Real Housewives ' production team that appeared to show she had flagged she wouldn't be available for the reunion some six months in advance.
O'Neill posted several emails dated from April 2024 in which producers on the show gave some possible reunion filming dates – and Nicole then flagging that she'd be unavailable for at least one of the potential filming dates due to overseas travel.
She went into more detail in a blog post on her website overnight.
'I didn't skip it. I didn't storm off. I didn't have cold feet,' she insisted.
'When I signed my contract for the season, the reunion date was locked in. I planned everything around it – work, personal commitments, and yes, even travel. But at the eleventh hour, the date was changed. Unfortunately, by then I was already booked, packed, and set to be in London. This wasn't a spontaneous trip – these dates had been in my schedule for over a year, and production was aware of them,' she claimed.
A bitter end – and an uncertain future
The reunion ended on an especially sour note, with conflict between Caroline Gaultier and her Housewives allies-turned-enemies Terry Biviano and Kate Adams coming to a head.
Gaultier labelled her adversaries 'evil' and called Kate a 'thug in heels,' declaring: 'Once again, nothing is resolved, I want to go home, and I never want to see these two for the rest of my life.'
After the two warring parties had hurled abuse at each other, Gunsberg tried to wrap up the reunion by asking where the group could go from here.
Even cast peacemaker Sally Obermeder had to concede that things weren't looking good.
'Is there hope for this group of friends?' Gunsberg asked her.
'In my new era of not sitting on the fence? Not really,' she admitted with a shrug.
And it appears the drama continued even as the cameras stopped rolling – as the other cast members headed back to their dressing rooms, cameras captured Gaultier fuming to a producer that her experience had been 'disgusting,' she 'didn't even get to say what [she] wanted to say' and asking why she'd bothered turning up at all.
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