Why RHOLagos Should Overhaul Its Cast Following The Reunion Saga

When NeNe Leakes stormed off The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 12 reunion, that was the last we saw of her. Nene Leakes’ case is much more mundane in comparison to Iyabo Ojo, Chioma Ikokwu and Tania Omotayo’s shunning of the RHOLagos Season 2 reunion. In the case of the cast of The Real Housewives of Lagos, they ‘gave’ a show, received backlash and refused to attend the reunion as a result of the backlash they got.

Iyabo Ojo released a statement attempting to mitigate the situation. She stated that after deliberation, she had chosen to listen to her family, loved ones and most especially her man (Paul Okoye) to not attend the reunion. Reasons? Unknown. However, a few weeks before, she released a statement, where she revealed that she chose to play the villain on the show this season and how she was never really meant to be mean to Faith Morey – a new cast on whom the new season was centred.

Chioma, on the other hand, made no statement, and Tania Omotayo resorted to making her Instagram page private – in a move assumed to protect her online space from trolls. Regardless, the question remains, why did these women, who happen to have formed a friendship on the show, refuse to show up for a reunion they signed up for?

Usually, when housewives express disdain for the show, the usual excuse is that they have a problem with how the show was edited. But in this case, the producers of the show did this trio a favour, considering they had horrible things to say about the other cast, especially Laura Ikeji, someone whom they feigned to care about to bash the new housewife, Faith, who seemed unbothered by their cohorts.

How did it all start

Laura Ikeji had no friends. In season 1, she appeared to struggle with getting along with the women, and it seemed like none of them wanted anything to do with her. It was no surprise that at the beginning of season two, the housewives kept the energy. It all changed when a new set of housewives came in, and Laura introduced Faith Morey, who seemed to not have a problem being a one-woman army.

From not caring about Laura, the housewives (Chioma, Iyabo, and Mariam), all of a sudden started fishing for signs that Faith was not indeed friends with Laura. It led to many escalations in which, most of the time, Faith looked composed enough to handle – a trait that has earned her praise among the RHOLagos fanbase.

The issues were not the fights, it was the reason behind those fights. Why the sudden care for Laura? Is it because Faith seemed too confident or is there something else, we, as viewers didn’t see? It was so horrible to the extent that at their second meeting, Iyabo feigned as if she had no clue who Faith was and went on to step on her train (Faith wore a mini dress with a ruffled train designed by Pearl Bridals) because she thought the outfit she wore was too outrageous for a spa date.

Why was this a shock?

Everyone knows Iyabo Ojo, whether as an actress or as a social activist. With her platform, she has supported downtrodden personalities bullied and abused by people in positions of power. She did it during the 2023 elections with her campaign for Peter Obi despite her colleagues feeling differently and she did it with her support for Mohbad – a deceased music star who was allegedly subjected to abuse by his record label. However, RHOLagos Season 2 Iyabo Ojo and the Iyabo Ojo people have come to know and love is quite the contradiction.

From body shaming Laura Ikeji, who was pregnant at the time (that part of the show was edited out and only shown at the reunion), to intimidating Faith Morey for no known reason, she reeked of insecurity, a difference in persona in comparison to the confident woman everyone has known her to be.

Chioma Ikokwu, popularly known as Chioma Good Hair, on the other hand, is not exactly the people’s favourite. In season 1, on multiple occasions, she has been referred to as an instigator, but beyond that, judging from the first two seasons of The Real Housewives, she seems like a young woman who loves the fine things of life and doesn’t like drama. So when she has issues with people, she tends to avoid them entirely or escalate the situation to the maximum.

With Tania, it’s a bit difficult to ascertain who she is, but everyone knows she’s witty and tends to stay out of confrontations like Chioma. Is that why they decided not to join the reunion?

Regardless of their statement, RHOLagos deserves a better cast. A cast that is committed to the story and not quick to save face based on a decision or a statement they had made on the show. When you come on a reality TV show, there’s an unwritten acceptance of public criticism and a level of solace a cast has to have because both their actions and inactions will be judged based on the context given. This is why reunions are a brilliant idea. Reunions do not only give closure to the audience, they bring drama and resolution. The cast gets to tell their side of the story and the audience gets clarity.

When a part of the cast of an seven-woman show refuses to show up, it paralyses the whole franchise and stunts the work of hundreds of the creatives involved. In plain terms, the RHOLagos season 2 reunion was nothing to write home about. It was 1 hour and 20 minutes of horror as the housewives struggled to have conversations because half the cast involved in the scuffle were absent without reason. The host, Latasha Ngwube, struggled as well.

This alone is enough reason for the producers of RHOLagos to rethink their casting criteria – the cast should not be bigger than the show, get a new set of cast, and tighten up the contract in a way that ensures that every cast attends the reunion and gives us a show. The viewers deserve that, simply because the reunion was such a letdown.