The Real Housewives of Sydney is returning for a second season in October 2023, six years after the original season aired.
The new RHOS cast includes newcomers Terry Biviano, Dr Kate Adams, Caroline Gaultier, Victoria Montano, and Sally Obermeder.. The new group will be joined by original cast members Krissy Marsh and Nicole O'Neil.
The five other Real Housewives original cast members — Athena X Levendi, Lisa Oldfield, Matty Samaei, Melissa Tkautz and Victoria Rees — are not returning for the second season.
Strap in and get ready for a wild ride, as we take you through what the original cast has said since the season wrapped up and what they're doing now.
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Lisa Oldfield
Lisa Oldfield was one of the most controversial original cast members of RHOS. Over the 12-episode first season, she clashed with pretty much every other contestant.
After the show aired, Lisa separated from and later divorced her ex-husband David Oldfield. David, who appeared on- screen throughout the first season, co-founded the right-wing One Nation political party alongside Pauline Hanson and was married to Lisa for 18 years.
After the divorce, Lisa told news.com.au that she was left broke and struggling to pay the bills.
"All of a sudden, I didn't have a roof over my head, I didn't know where I was going to live," she told the publication.
"David always paid the bills and did the budget. We both had different skill sets — there was nothing untoward about it, but numbers bored me."
In 2020, Lisa announced she had split up with her boyfriend of one year, James Law, by posting a video of herself flushing a diamond ring he gave her down the toilet.
"Should have had him #spayed along with the dog," she wrote in the caption.
In July, after Binge announced the second season was on its way, Lisa spoke about her experience on the show on Instagram.
"I naively joined the cast in 2016, despite suffering from a severe neck injury, a miserable marriage and a father (whom I adore) who was very ill," she wrote at the time.
"I tried very hard to pull out of my commitment to the program but was assured the producers would support me." Instead, she claimed, "They exploited my vulnerability, lied and pitted me against women I did not know (and had deliberately cast knowing full well we had nothing in common)."
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Lisa also alleged that Foxtel blamed her for the show's cancellation.
"When Real Housewives of Sydney failed, I was unilaterally blamed by Foxtel for it being 'too mean' (even though Foxtel and the late [Foxtel head of television] Brian Walsh in particular had months to edit the final copy)," she wrote.
After the show was cancelled in 2017, Walsh told the Daily Telegraph he thought the contestants' behaviour went 'too far'.
"A lot of the women in this show were nasty for nasty's sake," he told the publication.
"I particularly felt Lisa Oldfield and Athena X Levendi were driving their own agendas," he continued. "I've raised my concerns with the production team from this season. I felt the bad language and behaviour throughout the series did go too far."
Athena X Levendi
In 2021, four years after the show first aired, Athena X apologised to fans for her behaviour during the series and deleted her Instagram feed.
"I feel I owe an apology to the viewers who experienced some form of trauma or personal offence when watching Athena X on RHOS," she wrote in a statement on her Instagram feed.
"Just so you know it wasn't easy playing a strong character or digesting the viewers' perceived impressions for my on-screen reactions or 'character'," she continued.
"These days I'm working on a new version of myself!"
The year prior, Athena told her followers on Instagram the rest of the cast were never her friends.
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"Just to clarify, the ladies that were cast were never in my friend zone. Just a group of random women forced to act like friends," she wrote.
"For those who might be confused and ignorant, RHOS was a produced television show. I was cast to be portrayed a certain way (I refused to be manipulated or bullied). Just to make it very clear, I was never friends with any of them," she continued.
"RHOS was not real life and I don't see any of those 'actors' in my real life. I say actors, as that's my perception from that experience!"
She's since returned to Instagram and at the end of 2022, she updated her followers on how her life is going.
"2022 was a AMAZING YEAR FOR ME! EVERY YEAR HAS BEEN filled with grace and growth for me!" she wrote at the time.
"I love myself more than Ye loves himself."
Matty Samaei
Matty was the peacemaker amongst the women in the first season. In the years since the show wrapped, she's kept a relatively low profile and has focused on her business ventures.
The 47-year-old continues to be a popular cosmetic nurse, running her business Medispa by Matty in Sydney's Double Bay.
She's also launched Forever Young By Matty, a range of anti-ageing pillows, and hair and body care products.
Melissa Tkautz
Before joining the cast of RHOS, Melissa Tkautz had a long career in the entertainment industry as a singer, actress, model and presenter.
She starred in E Street, Paradise Beach and Housos, and released a bunch of ARIA chart-topping singles including 'Read My Lips' and 'Sexy'.
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In 2022, Melissa was a contestant on SAS Australia. She made it through to the second episode, but after being set on fire and being submerged in water, she withdrew before the rope course.
“What they didn’t show on camera, by the time we got to the warehouse and I had to climb up (the rope) we were all physically exhausted, we had drills all morning which they didn’t air," she later explained on The Morning Show.
“It wasn’t so much the ladder reaching...some people either walked along the pole, some people climbed, I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that.
“I’ve got chicken arms, I just don’t have that physical upper strength that is required."
She later told New Idea that she went on the show to prove to her kids — Ayla, 12, and Cuba, 8 – that their mum can do anything.
“I was at a stage, especially after lockdown, where I thought that I needed to shake things up,” she said.
Victoria Rees
Victoria Rees has also kept a relatively low profile since starring on RHOS.
In 2017, after the first season aired, she reported Lisa Oldfield to the police for 'cyber bullying' her son.
The incident occurred after her son commented on one of Lisa's Instagram posts and asked that she stop insulting his mother on the show. Lisa then replied "Is your mother monitoring your social media activity? Probably not. She's probably on her 30th Skinny Bitch."
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In 2021, she made headlines again after criticising Coon cheese's decision to rebrand to Cheer.
She currently lives at Bondi Beach and is an investor in three businesses — Wrinkles Schminkles, Victoria Lime & Soda, and Glam Squad.
Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Sydney premieres on Binge on October 10.
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