'RHOD' Alum Stephanie Hollman Explains How 'Housewives' Salaries Work

Hollman took to social media to give her take on the hot topic.

Former Real Housewives of Dallas star Stephanie Hollman is weighing in on what Bravo pays its Housewives.

In a TikTok video she posted on Thursday, Hollman said merely being part of the Bravo franchise and at what point one can expect to start making money. It's fascinating insight, considering the subject of Housewives salaries is shrouded in mystery. Hollman also expressed some shock at Shah's salary (more on that in a bit).

"I will say, season 1 for me, I felt like I was paying to be on the show," she explained. "Like, I definitely spent more than I made. Season 5, I was making great money. Season 3 is when you kind of start making pretty good money, and that I think is why after season 3, you see a lot of Housewives that leave and then they keep a smaller percentage. It’s because they get expensive. I mean, season 5, it was very expensive."

As for Shah's salary, a lawyer unearthed legal filings connected to her federal fraud case, which purports the convicted felon earned $34,500 per episode. Shah appeared in three seasons of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.  The purported figure elicited some doubt from Hollman, and ET has since learned Shah's reported salary is not accurate. 

 

"I did read somewhere that Jen Shah -- I guess some paperwork came out -- that she’s making $34,500 an episode," Hollman said. "I only have five years of experience, but I will tell you that is over double what you normally would make season 3 in my experience. So, I will leave you at that. If she was getting paid that, she was getting paid a crazy amount of money to stay on season 3. I honestly love the girls in Salt Lake. I have not watched it, so I don’t know if it was worth the $34,500 paycheck each episode, but that is a big, big paycheck."

Back in February, the disgraced reality TV star reported to Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, to begin serving six and a half years following her federal fraud case conviction. Back in July 2022, Shah appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. 

Following her sentence, the Justice Department said it vigorously protected Shah's victims of financial fraud.

"With today’s sentence, Jennifer Shah finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. "These individuals were lured in by false promises of financial security, but in reality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. This conviction and sentence demonstrate once again that we will continue to vigorously protect victims of financial fraud and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent schemes."

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