I did not think it would make it to television, original cast member Lauri Peterson tells EW.
She wasnt alone in that lack of foresight.
Reality wasnt a thing back then, De La Rosa adds.
Credit: Chris McPherson/NBC
It was a very foreign concept to me.
Keough echoes her sentiment, I dont think I even knew what a reality show was.
The first seasons opening credits begin with the foreword, Seven million families live in gated communities.
Jamie Trueblood/NBC via Getty Images
How It All Began
Keoughs family provided the inspiration.
Youre like Ozzy Osbourne without the drugs, Keough remembers Dunlop telling her.
Im going to write a TV show about you guys.
Jamie Trueblood/NBC via Getty Images
I must have had a screw loose, jokes Gunvalson about her decision to join the show.
Michaels essay included details about his mother, who was both the familys breadwinner and a hands-on mom.
Gunvalson and Peterson worked together in Gunvalsons home office.
I swear to God, two days later, cameras showed up at the office and they began filming.
I wasnt thinking fame.
For De La Rosa in particular, that first season was an enormously formative experience.
I didnt even know who I was at 23, she says.
I was literally growing up in front of America.
What did I know about life, about the world, about marriage, about raising kids?
One: I wasnt ready for marriage, and two: Slade didnt deserve that.
But I was being 23, and I was finding myself.
Fast-forward 10 years later, its not focused on that, unfortunately its focused more on drama.
And they would ask you 50 times until you answered it the way they wanted.
Peterson misses the emphasis on family most.
I just really remember filming with my children.
Filming with the ladies, the other housewives, was minimal, she recalls.
Now, the focus is on the women.
And, of course, conflict is always good.
The competition for the spotlight makesThe Real Housewiveslike a game ofSurvivornow, she says.
They position themselves and find allies.
Its pretty funny, actually.
from Peterson while on the phone with her sons school principal.
The taglines arent the only things that have become more cultivated.
Now, the women are more polished, Peterson says.
The first season was very different; it was raw.
It was us in a raw form.
Gunvalson agrees: It was just so organic and natural, and nobody went in with an ulterior motive.
As time goes on, however, You learn a lot.
Theres a big learning curve, Keough says.
They are unanimous in their regret for their fashion choices circa 2006.
I have not watched it since it was off the air, Gunvalson says.
I just know I wore really nasty-looking clothes.
Keough confirms: Vicki burned her wardrobe.
I cringe when I see it, Peterson says.
I hate my hair, I hate what I was wearing, I hate my makeup.
Not my best fashion moment, or my best moment in general, on the show, she admits.
Where Are They Now?
And if De La Rosa was a housewife now?
(She isnt, but never say never, she says.)
But first, coffee.
I downsized from 8,000 feet to 5,000 feet, 6-car garage to 5-car garage, she says.
My friends are all laughing; its like, This isnt downsizing!
I want to have a great-ass time, and I really dont want to fight.
