Unguilty Pleasures: PhD-Level Obsession With The Real Housewives

 The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg, who was co-host with Lesley Goldberg of the cancelled TV's Top 5 podcast, was the resident TV show reviewer. He taught me a key attribute of being a reviewer. Fienberg felt that even if the reviewer didn't care for the genre being reviewed, the true measure of the show's value was if it nailed its artistic commitment to its target audience. 

That's important here because I've never seen a Real Housewives show in any of its geographic iterations -- New Jersey, Atlanta, Dubai, Cheshire & Jersey, and Toronto. However, Unguilty Pleasures excels at what it aims to do -- delight fans of the Real Housewives global TV franchise. It does so with wit, humor, a bit of snark, a dollop of adoration, and a heaping tablespoon of fangirl energy. 

Unguilty Pleasures with Liv Little and Scarlett Curtis is the ultimate Real Housewives breakdown - from two English girls with a PhD-level obsession with flawed women and absolute chaos.

Each week, writers and long-time Housewives superfans Liv and Scarlett deep dive into the drama, glamour, and unfiltered humanity of Bravo’s most iconic franchise, starting with the newest addition: The Real Housewives of London. Expect hilarious recaps, sharp cultural analysis, and conversations with fellow highly intelligent Housewives fans.

The show has more on its mind, however, as the co-hosts explain: "Beyond the diamonds, peaches and taglines, Unguilty Pleasures explores the big stuff hiding in plain sight: mental health, feminism, race, class, sexuality, wealth and the deliciously blurred lines between reality and fantasy."

The show's marketing insists: "Whether you’re Housewives-curious or a seasoned stan, this is your backstage pass to the mess, the madness, and the moments that made us."

Co-host Liv Little is the founder of gal-dem, an English online and print magazine run by women of color, which ceased publication in 2023.The gal-dem team consisted of more than 70 people of color from marginalized genders, most of whom were based in the UK but with others in countries around the world.  

In 2016, she was listed as one of the BBC's 100 Women. She published her first novel, Rosewater, in 2023. Little published her first novel, Rosewater, in 2023. Little won the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction in 2024. 

Scarlett Curtis began her career as a blogger and has written for The Guardian, Elle magazine, The Times and The Telegraph. Curtis was the Sunday Times Style 'Gen-Z' columnist from 2016 to 2018. She is the daughter of screenwriter Richard Curtis and broadcaster Emma Freud.

 In 2017, Co-host Scarlett Curtis founded feminist activist collective The Pink Protest, which, with Amika George, organized the #FreePeriods campaign to fight period poverty. They have also campaigned with anti-female genital mutilation activist Nimco Ali and The Five Foundation to successfully include female genital mutilation in the Children Act. In 2018, Curtis curated the Penguin anthology Feminists Don't Wear Pink & Other Lies, a collection of essays by 52 women on what feminism means to them, featuring essays by Keira Knightley, Alaa Murabit, Saoirse Ronan, and others. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2019.

Aiwan Obinyan, who is the Executive Producer & Senior Producer of the show, is part of the creative team at 

 AiAi studios, located in Leeds, England. The company produces documentary films such as Right To Move: The Unity Ball documentary series. They also developed audio design for projects such as Wax Print and the podcast Stacked. Their first in-house podcast was created in collaboration with UK Black Pride and proudly supported by GAY TIMES.

The show, which began in August 2025, and the co-hosts begin the show explaining that they have "a passion for flawed women and absolute chaos." 

The co-hosts joke that they've spent the last decade getting their doctorate in all things Real Housewives!

The co-hosts explain that, "We are here, once for all, to prove that reality TV is an art form."

The recapping the latest franchise, The Real Housewives Of London, interviews Housewives fans, and sprinkles a healthy dose of social commentary. All in all, a nice mix of content to enjoy.

I love the episode titles, from The Most Infamous Fights in Real Housewives HISTORY to the Queerest Housewives: From Erika Jayne & Kandi Burruss to Countess Luann (feat. Travis Alabanza).

My favorite episode so far is the September 18th show with Reality TV producer Richard Curtis. The episode is a thoughtful look at why reality TV works and the lasting joys of great entertainment. Richard Curtis joined the co-hosts to talk about producing Celebrity Big Brother for Comic Relief (his unexpected gateway into reality TV) and his deep affection for Bake Off, Love Island, and the iconic conclusion of the latest episode of Real Housewives of London. 

This episode demonstrates that the co-hosts more on their mind that harmless fun that is The Real Housewives franchise.  

Thanks to producer Aiwan Obinyan, sound design is superb, the co-hosts blend well together, still maintaining their individuality, and the show clocks in at a reasonable 40 minutes.

  Unguilty Pleasures is not simply ear candy. While Reality TV can be frivolous and an amped up version of real life, the co-hosts, based on their impressive resumes, annex themes about women, class warfare, relationships, and prejudice. I advise you to listen for the fun, but pay attention to the social commentary.