The Real Dallas Housewives

Real Housewives? 7 awesome women we'd love to see represent Dallas on TV

It's official: The Real Housewives franchise is coming to Dallas. We spotted a Bravo camera crew at the 20th annual DIFFA/Dallas Holiday Wreath Collection, with their cameras pointed at LeeAnne Locken and Tiffany Hendra, among others, even though the network has yet to confirm the cast.

According to a spokesperson, "Bravo has not yet made any announcement for The Real Housewives of Dallas and has no further comment." Another spinoff, The Real Housewives of the Potomac, also is set for 2016.

The executive vice president of Bravo Media, Shari Levine, does say in a release that the network is "happy to extend the franchise with Potomac and Dallas, giving Bravo fans more of what they desire: stories of dynamic women who make us laugh, cry, cheer, and experience unforgettable moments we can't stop talking about."

"As for The Real Housewives of Dallas, it's a natural extension of the franchise with a Southern twist that 'ya'll' will enjoy," echoes Andy Cohen, who serves as executive producer of the franchise, in the same release.

While we wait for the official word on whose exploits we'll be following, we put together a list of badass women we'd be excited to see represent Dallas on the small screen.

Suzanne Droese
Droese's fabulousness is matched only by her fabulous client list. The founder of Droese PR always is out and about with her architect husband, David, at haute events like Two x Two. We also appreciate how this mother of twin teenage boys and entrepreneur empowers the young women who work for her.

Nancy Koen
Our editors' pick for this year's Stylemaker Awards, the fashion industry veteran also is the co-founder of B. Stellar Jewelry. The East Dallas mom is stylish, obviously, but she's also just so darn likable.

Dawn Neufeld
The wife of former NFL player Ryan Neufeld is much more than just a celebrity spouse: She's also a lawyer, TV personality, CultureMap video host, and activist in the autism community. Neufeld's volunteering efforts have stretched across Dallas and beyond, and her autism involvement has no doubt helped shine a light on the condition her son shares.

Melissa Rountree
Mom, Realtor, champion of myriad causes, and our 2014 readers' choice Stylemaker, Rountree is the whole package. And, because she doesn't seem to sleep, she's also a fitness instructor at Bar Method and the founder of online fitness apparel retailer Level 3 Active.

Pat Smith
Obviously. The famous philanthropist's beauty is matched only by her generosity. She does untold good works through her Treasure You foundation and with her husband, NFL great Emmitt Smith, and their charities. Who wouldn't want to see this power couple in action?

Gail Warrior
We're always eager to check in with Warrior, who, aside from running her company Warrior Group, heads up the Heart of a Warrior Foundation and oversees Warrior Elements, a luxury active lifestyle brand. Plus, that name, right?

Kimberly Whitman
This lifestyle and entertaining expert has built up quite the brand, writing several books and serving as Southern Living editor-at-large and Today Show contributor. Oh, and did we mention she's also the new lifestyle editor-at-large at CultureMap? (And the social maven's RSVP Social Calendar is coming with her.) She's always been someone worth watching.

Nancy Koen

Photo by Hoyoung Lee

Nancy Koen

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All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

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