Real Housewives Recap

Real Housewives of Dallas serve up Frito pie and side eye

Cary Deuber of the Real Housewives of Dallas

Brandi Redmond, Cary Deuber, and Stephanie Hollman of the Real Housewives of Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Sondheim’s “Ladies Who Lunch” may drink as many cocktails as the Real Housewives of Dallas, but that’s about all they have in common. Our local ladies aren’t lounging in caftans, planning brunches on their own behalf. No, they’re wearing “Goth State Fair” couture to eat greasy Frito pies in a swanky house.

They mix with other moneyed swells in their hifalutin “charity world,” as lead Dallas housewife LeeAnne Locken always refers to it, but the main women on this version of the Bravo series don’t pretend to act high class. They regularly cuss like bouncers and backstab like high school mean girls. They put fake dog poo on luncheon hats and swap stories about which of them once got drunk enough to foul her own trousers.

In this week’s seventh of 10 episodes, the housewives still act trashy while doing some nice charity things. Viewers elsewhere who don’t know better must watch this show and think women in Dallas do nothing but drink, curse, reapply blusher, and attend charity functions.

At one event, we finally get to hear housewife Tiffany Hendra’s cute musician husband Aaron sing with his band in a fundraising concert at House of Blues. It’s a Tiffany-planned benefit for Light Up Tomorrow, which provides lighting and solar power in schools and orphanages in East Africa. (Aaron knows he’s a straightening-ironed ringer for Keith Urban. His Twitter handle is @MrKeithSuburban.)

To discuss charity parties yet to come, LeeAnne meets Tiffany at Toulouse bistro on Knox Street, where she introduces her to art collector and designer Heidi Dillon. In her to-the-camera confessional, LeeAnne talks about Heidi with such reverence, it’s as if she’s arranged a papal blessing for Tiff.

We see Tiffany and LeeAnne shop for used dresses at the Clothes Circuit consignment shop in Preston Center. Contrast their bargain-hunting with Cary Deuber being given yet another skintight Roberto Cavalli gown by her indulgent (second) husband Dr. Mark, who says the latest dress “cost more than my first car.” He makes her model it for him (and the camera) and then rushes to get it off of her.

Every word Mark utters to Cary alludes to sexual activity he’d like to be engaging in. Is there such a thing as marital sexual harassment? We get it, doc, you’re hot for your (second) wife. Every conversation doesn’t have to sound like a letter to Penthouse.

Last week’s RHOD featured uncomfortably real marital discord between the red-haired couple, Brandi and Bryan Redmond. She feels neglected during his long business trips. He walked out on dinner. This week he apologizes over drinks at Whiskey Cake Kitchen.

“If you give me attention, I will love you,” Brandi says to Bryan. This explains everything about Brandi and Bryan.

Cut to Brandi back at the Redmond mansion helping her ginger-haired kids with vocabulary words. “`Could,’” says Brandi, looking over her daughter’s spelling homework. “I could have some Jesus juice right now.” Brandi giggles, but she means it.

Making a splashy cameo in this episode, Heidi Dillon hosts the aforementioned Goth-themed Frito pie soiree that brings all the ladies together for some passive-aggressive hugging and side-eye throwing. Clueless giraffe Stephanie Hollman blinks blankly at Heidi, who has gossiped to Tiff and LeeAnne that Cary first met Mark “under his desk.”

Heidi, sly minx that she is, taunts Cary to do orally suggestive things to a corndog. Cary refuses and then makes like a banana and splits.

LeeAnne gobbles Frito pie (she grew up a carny kid, remember) and gives big face at Heidi’s dinner party. She’s “branding” her over-use of fuchsia blusher, by the way, by coming out with her own called “Cheeky.” Saw it on Twitter.

If there’s one thing a Bravo “housewife” loves to do it’s build a brand. Hello, Skinny Girl, Tipsy Girl, and Ramona Pinot Grigio — all spin-off brands from cast members on RHONY. RHOD’s main sponsor, we notice, is a bladder leakage-control product. Don’t see any of the ladies rushing to get their names on that.

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Real Housewives of Dallas airs at 9 pm. Mondays on Bravo. You can also watch episodes online.

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Big Tex Wrap-Up

State Fair of Texas bounces back with 2.1 million attendees in 2026

Crowds around Big Tex at 2026 State Fair of Texas

Photo courtesy of State Fair of Texas

Almost 2.1 people attended the 2026 State Fair of Texas, up from 2025.

After experiencing its lowest total attendance numbers in seven years in 2025, the State Fair of Texas bounced back in 2026, welcoming nearly 2.1 million visitors, according to an official release.

That represents a slight bump up from the 2,020,064 that came through the gates in 2025. Both numbers are still down significantly from the highs of 2019 and 2022, when more than 2.5 million people attended the State Fair.

The uptick in attendance could be attributed to the concerted effort to make the Fair more affordable this year, including lowering ticket prices, making games and rides cheaper, expanding days for free student tickets, and offering a free day of parking.

As usual, the busiest day of the State Fair was Saturday, October 10, the date of the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game, with more than 203,000 fairgoers in attendance, including the 92,100 fans in the Cotton Bowl.

The average attendance for the other 23 days of the fair was around 82,500.

“We are grateful to every fairgoer who joined us this year, as well as the team members, vendors, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this season possible," said State Fair of Texas President Mitchell Glieber in a statement. "As a nonprofit organization, a successful Fair helps fuel our work throughout the year, and we are proud of the impact we continue to make through agriculture, education, and community.”

Other notable numbers from the 2026 State Fair of Texas include:

An all-new look for Big Tex, standing 55 feet tall, sporting a 95-gallon Resistol cowboy hat, a Cavender’s shirt measuring 245 by 192 inches, Levi’s 501 jeans measuring 380 inches wide by 290 inches long, size 96 Lucchese boots, and a Shiner belt buckle.
The unveiling of an official State of Texas Historical Marker from the Texas Historical Commission for Big Tex, honoring his enduring legacy as a beloved Texas icon and symbol of State Fair tradition.
An estimated 110,655 pounds of food were collected and donated to the North Texas Food Bank.
More than 28,600 members of the military and their families visited the Fair over 24 days, utilizing the special discount offer in gratitude for their service.
Approximately 500,000 prizes, valued at an estimated $1.8 million, were won at the State Fair Midway, enough stuffed animals and prizes to fill approximately 90 semi-trucks.
Approximately 450,000 Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs were enjoyed by fairgoers.
The State Fair of Texas is estimated to generate more than $600 million in economic activity each year, serving as one of the most impactful annual events in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

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