Leslie Fink says no thanks to RHOH?

Article from Culture Map Houston. Last I heard there was not going to be a Real Housewives of Houston, but who the hell knows.

Photo by Sofia P. van der DysLesile Tyler Fink is too fabulous to be constrained by being part of the ensemble Real Housewives of Houston cast. She's getting to carry an entire show.

A third reality TV series surfaces in H-town and Real Housewives gets the shaft
By Shelby Hodge
Scratch Leslie Tyler Fink from the Real Housewives of Houston roster. But don't weep for the dishy blonde in major designer labels. She now has her own reality show in the works. And this one, she says, is for real.

Leslie has nixed her participation in the potential pilot for a Real Housewives series after a different LA producer approached her about doing her own program. He had caught her on Channel 11's Great Day Houston and had seen her work and photos on the RSVPSocial website, of which she has a role and a financial interest.

With flowing blonde locks, luscious lips and a finely curated form, Leslie certainly has the visuals necessary. (The luscious lips, by the way, are courtesy of her very own lip-plumping lip gloss line by Leslie Tyler Cosmetics.) And with a mountain of discretionary income, she can afford and indulges in the finest in high fashion.

Wardrobe? No problem. Serious jewelry? A given. High-profile? Yep, she's a regular on the fast-paced party circuit.

Final negotiations are underway for the project that will feature Leslie doing what she does best — being Leslie. "I'm about empowering women," she says, "making women look good and feel good."

In the reality show, she will be advising women on how to dress, how to get fit and how to be their very best. Something she says she does for her friends all the time. "I'm about fitness, beauty and fashion." She's also about parties, life in the fast lane and hanging in the spotlight.

This opportunity is a much more solid offer, she says, than the Housewives project, which is iffy to say the least. Apparently, the fur flew when she stepped out of the Housewives running. That producer was not happy and not exactly gracious, according to Leslie.

"I'm a little entrepreneur," she explains. "I have to do what's best for my business (cosmetics and RSVPSocial). And this offer was real."

Leslie has a press release set to go out once the contracts are signed. In it, she describes the new project as "a ride in the super fabulous fast lane." Indeed

Bravo is not casting for Real Housewives Of Houston

Interview from Culture Map with Andy Cohen.

By Steven Thomson
The Bravolebrity himself, Andy Cohen is touching down in Space City to serve as the Celebrity Grand Marshal at Saturday's Pride Houston parade. The media mogul took a few minutes today to speak with CultureMap about his visit, his hit show — and all the Bayou City buzz over the producer jockeying for a Real Housewives of Houston.

CultureMap: Your serving as the Celebrity Grand Marshal of Pride Parade is a bit of a coup for Houston. How did this all come together?

Andy Cohen: They contacted me awhile ago — I'm gonna say it was sometime last winter. Summer was something distant in the future, that I couldn't even imagine happening. I asked around and heard Houston has a great event. The fact that it's at night — I thought it would be fun.

CM: Have you been to Houston before?

AC: My best friend's surrogate lived in Houston. I was there for less than a day to witness the birth.

CM: What is your impression of Houston? Do you have any expectations for the Parade?

AC: I expect it to be big, and fun, and hot, and just bold. Larger than life.

CM: Is this your first time marshaling a parade?

AC: This is my first. I've lived in New York for many years, where Gay Pride is so much fun. It's such an honor to come to Houston.

CM: Do you have any big surprises planned for tomorrow's parade?

AC: I'm gonna wing it. I'm just gonna have fun. I'm coming down with a friend — have a laugh, check it out.

CM: There's a lot of buzz in town about the potentiality of a Real Housewives of Houston. Is there truth behind the talk?

AC: It's not us. We love Houston, and we've done casting in Houston in the past, but we're not casting there right now. Maybe it's somebody who wants to do it.

CM: Your spontaneous Watch What Happens show is quite the hit here. What do you think makes it so addictive?

AC: I think it's fun, and that it's live. It's like a cocktail party, and it's inclusive. It's also a small show, sort of like Wayne's World, in which I'm doing a show from my den, but Jerry Seinfeld happens to be in my den, or Danielle, or Sarah Jessica Parker. I think it's a really specific sort of vibe — as unscripted as it could possibly be. The fact that it's so interactive is a draw.

Cohen told us that he plans on hitting the town after the parade — watch what happens

Real Housewives of Houston cast finalists

Story from Culture.com about the RHOH.

by: Shelby Hodge
Lucinda Loya is still in. Joyce Echols and Debbie Festari have bowed out. That's the current inside track on contenders for a Houston version of Real Housewives, but there's much more scoop on the players hoping to drop anchor in reality TV land.

Los Angeles-based producer Ron Muccianti, with dreams of a Real Housewives of Houston hit, has been back and forth from LA — wooing high-profile Houston women, auditioning and interviewing them and eliminating those who don't shimmer with the desired star power.

Apparently, it was quite a night of female egos at Mo's recently when Muccianti gave the women the opportunity to show him just how over-the-top/camera-ready they really are. Last week, the candidates did Skype interviews for the producer.

We can't tell you who was dismissed but we can tell you that Hugh Echols put his foot down, which is why his glamorous wife, Joyce, will not be exposing herself, as it were, to prying cameras. As she explained, "Whether you like it or not, you're going to be drawn into something stupid."

When it became apparent that the husbands were expected to have a role as well, Hugh firmly declined.

Jessica Meyer also turned it down and is opting to join forces with an Austin-based filmmaker for a different project. Debbie Festari thought better of it as well.

While Muccianti has asked the candidates to keep everything hush-hush and not give out his contact information, tidbits are emerging. Word is that the remaining contenders for the limited slots are Leslie Tyler Fink, founder of RSVPSocial.com; Patti Murphy, attractive social figure involved with Houston Ballet; Sharon Gaille, a regular at the Houston Symphony events; Crystal Wall, wife of rapper Paul Wall; divorcee Daphne Angelique, Jamie Kelley, wife of weight-loss guru Shaun Kelley; and Loya, an interior designer.

And, of course, the always-colorful, always-camera ready Cindi Rose with cameo appearances by her daughter, reality TV veteran Erica Rose.

The ladies are holding their breath as apparently only six will win the honor of small screen stardom.

Loya takes a cavalier attitude toward the project. 'It's a crazy thing to do and sometimes I'm a little crazy," she said via phone from Aspen. "I don't want to embarrass myself or my family . . . but I learned a long time ago that people are going to think what they want about you."

As long as the project feels right, she's on board. She's talked it over with her husband, movie-star-handsome Javier Loya, president and CEO of Choice Energy, and he is game if she is.

The reality show intrigue is heating up locally as Austin's Ashley Chiles jumps into the fray with her own potential project focusing on what she calls "larger than life Houston women." It sounds considerably tamer and classier than the so-called Real Housewives of Houston action, which despite the confusion, is in fact being considered for a pilot which would then be presented to Bravo for consideration for its copyrighted Real Housewives series.

Meyer signed on with Chiles as did Cindi Rose. It's as if two parallel universes are colliding and sending wannabe reality starlets into a frenzy. The cross-pollination and confusion between the two projects has been something to see.

Chiles separates her project from others, saying that her plan is for something "new and fresh and unique." She adds that it might even result in a collaboration between Meyer's Bullet Girl jewelry line and The Texas Huntress. That Web and DVD project was created by Chiles, a Houston native who happens to be the niece of actress Lois Chiles

The Real Housewives of Houston?

Story from CultureMap.com about the RH maybe coming to Houston.

By Clifford Pugh
Bravo has announced the next Real Housewives series: It takes place in Washington, D.C., with the infamous Michaele Salahi, and debuts Aug. 5 on Bravo. Could Houston be "housewives central" after that? The possibility of a series set in the Bayou City continues to intrigue CultureMap readers, who made our story on who might be cast in a Houston version of the popular reality show the top-viewed story for the third week in a row.

But the story that spurred the most discussion — and the most heated debate — was CultureMap editor-at-large Shelby Hodge's takedown of the national media for referring to Yvonne Stern as a "Bellaire socialite." Some who didn't read the story closely were outraged at what they perceived was a slap at Stern, an unwitting victim of a murder-for-hire plot hatched by her husband's mistress. But others saw it as a commentary on the lengths the media goes to to pump up a story.

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF HOUSTON?

Click HERE to read an article about a possible new RH franchise, and the women who may be the stars.