From the moment the resurrection of The Real Housewives of Miami was announced (premiering December 16th on Peacock), the casting was one of the most bandied about conversations in the Bravo-sphere. Would it be a clean slate of brand new Housewives? Would we see former Housewives brought back? The answer has arrived (it’s a mix of former, brand new, and several “Friends of” sprinkled in) but one of the freshman Housewives is someone that no one saw coming; former Russian beauty queen (and the last Miss USSR) Julia Lemigova has joined the cast; and has the dubious distinction of being the first out lesbian Real Housewife ever cast for the franchise.
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Lemigova is a Real Housewife in every sense of the word. She spends a great deal of her time working on her family farm (telling E “we have lots of chickens, ducks, geese, quail, doves, cats, parrots, tortoises and two, maybe three, pregnant goats, a couple of donkeys on the way and god knows what else,” she revealed. “I also grow fruits and vegetables there.” Like many Housewives before her, she also joined the show through a previous connection, this time with former Real Housewife of Miami/current Friend of Adriana de Moura. While Lemigova is close friends with de Moura, she has grown close to fellow brand new Housewives Nicole Martin and Guerdy Abraira and says that “all the ladies are so much fun and have amazing personalities.”
And Lemigova’s wife-the Russian stunner is married to tennis icon Martina Navratilova. When asked if the tennis superstar was apprehensive about being a part of the franchise known to be filled with drama, Lemigova (a mother to two daughters) responded “She’s very sweet. She’s very supportive of me and that’s what makes us a really strong couple. We have a lot of sense of humor and even something unusual like me wanting to be on the show—normally I’m a more private person—she just thought it would make me happy and said, ‘Go for it girl.”
What does Lemigova think about shattering the glass ceiling for future lesbian Real Housewives? “I first want to say it’s about time!” She went on to say “I’m so grateful to Peacock and The Real Housewives of Miami for allowing me to show my family life. I want to normalize how we live and show that love has no gender. We are a very loving family with big and unique personalities.”
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