SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
The Real Housewives of Vancouver, BC
Apr 5, 2012, 2:23 AM | Updated: 6:36 am
If you’ve seen one “Real Housewives” episode, you’ve seen them all. Now the world gets a glimpse of a Northwest neighbor city through the latest franchise.
The reality show features beautiful, rich women, and occasionally the men who support them. They have luxury cars, designer wardrobes and massive mansions in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Orange County, Beverly Hills, and Vancouver. Vancouver, British Columbia?
Last night the “real” women of Vancouver debuted on the Slice network, which you can only see here if you have satellite TV or watch clips online. The show’s drama centers on five Vancouver women, described as the city’s “most-privileged.”

Vancouver’s housewives are: Christina, Reiko, Jody, Mary and Ronnie. Photo courtesy Slice TV
Christina Kiesel, 30, has been divorced twice and freely admits she’s living on alimony. Christina says, “Vancouver is a goldmine and I love to go digging.”
Reiko MacKenzie, 37, is the owner of nine luxury cars including Ferraris 599 GTO and 458 Italia.
Jody Claman, 48, is the closest to a self-made businesswoman. She has a husband and three kids.
Mary Zilba, 47, is a former beauty queen and pop star. She has three teenage sons and a huge penthouse. Mary is “the other woman” in her new relationship.
Ronnie Seterdahl Negus, 43, has five children and a husband, and a few other toys including a private jet, yacht and 200-acre California vineyard. “At this stage in my life, I can afford to say it like it is and look good doing it,” she says.
The show features the women planning a ski trip to Whistler. I could do that, and that’s the only thing I have in common with the B.C. housewives.
I can’t relate to their glamorous-looking lives, and that’s what I enjoy about the “Real Housewives” shows. It’s a temporary escape from my ordinary life, to one that’s filled with wealth, plastic-surgery-perfected bodies, closets bigger than my house, and unlimited opportunities. Happiness? I’m not sure they have that, so after about an hour, I’m fine with being a Real Housewife of Ballard.
By LINDA THOMAS