Brandi Glanville
Brandi Lynn Glanville (born November 16, 1972) is an American television personality and former model. She is best known for appearing on the reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2011–2016, 2019–2020), seasons two and five of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip (2022–2024), and her occasional acting roles.[1] She also hosts a podcast called Brandi Glanville Unfiltered and has appeared on television shows Celebrity Apprentice, both the British and American version of Celebrity Big Brother, Famously Single, and My Kitchen Rules. Glanville has released two books, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders (2013) and Drinking and Dating (2014), which became New York Times Best Sellers.[2]
Brandi Glanville
- Television personality
- author
1988–present
2
Early life[edit]
Glanville was born in Salinas, California[3] and raised in Sacramento, California as the middle child of Judith (née Swinehart) and Guy Glanville. She has stated that her father grew marijuana, which she would sell as she got older; on Celebrity Big Brother UK, she admitted that she (along with her siblings, older sister Tricia and younger brother Michael) had previously blackmailed her father in order to obtain money.[4] Glanville’s father actually worked three main jobs to support the family, including at a grocery store and a gas station. Her mother worked as a housekeeper.[5] Glanville attended Willow Rancho Baptist School and Gloria Dei Lutheran School and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, Sacramento.[5]
Career[edit]
Fashion[edit]
At the age of 16, Glanville moved to Paris, France to begin modeling,[6] after being signed to Elite Model Management. In addition to Paris, she worked in cities such as Hamburg, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York and Tokyo.[7][5] By the time she turned 18, she was walking in shows for Paris Fashion Week, among others.[4][8] Glanville has appeared in several magazines, including Glamour,[9] Cosmopolitan, NW[10][11] and Beverly Hills Lifestyle Magazine.[12][13][14] She appeared on the magazine cover of UK's The Times in January 2014.[15][16]
Glanville has worked for well-known fashion brands and designers, including Valentino, Versace, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, and Gucci.[17][5] She has also appeared in a commercial for Coors Light beer.[18][19]
In December 2012, she launched a clothing line called "Brand B", which was sold exclusively on Amazon.[20][21][22] Glanville's T-shirt line was launched in her official online store in 2014. The tops feature slogans such as "Medicated" and "It's Not Fun To Be Sober" and were priced between $25 and $30.[23][24]
Television[edit]
In 2011, Glanville appeared on the second season of the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH).[25] She made several memorable appearances throughout the season as a "friend of the housewives", and appeared on their reunion episode.[26][27] She revealed to radio host Howard Stern that she made $18k as a part-time cast member during her first season on the show.[28]
The following year, she and Yolanda Hadid (mother of Bella and Gigi Hadid) joined the cast of RHOBH as official housewives for the show’s third season, Glanville becoming the first friend of the show to be cast as a full-time housewife.[29] She was fired from the series after its fifth season in 2015[30]
Glanville made random appearances in the future and appeared under “guest” capacities for the show's sixth, ninth and tenth seasons.
In 2013, she co-hosted an episode of CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper's talk show Anderson.[31] In February 2013, she worked as a fashion correspondent and hosted the Academy Awards for ABC's On the Red Carpet.[32][33] In 2013, she also appeared as herself on The CW's teen drama series 90210, in the episode titled "Dude, Where's My Husband?". She portrayed Erica in Lifetime's television film Missing at 17 (2013),[34] Housewife Veronica in comedy film The Hungover Games (2014) and Tech Whitley in Syfy's disaster television film Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016).
In 2015, Glanville competed on the seventh season of Celebrity Apprentice,[35] where she was fired two weeks before the finale.[36][37] She also appeared on the E! reality series Famously Single in 2016.[38] In 2017, Glanville competed with Dean Sheremet on the FOX reality cooking series My Kitchen Rules,[39] where they finished in third place. Later in 2017, she participated as a housemate on season 20 of Celebrity Big Brother UK, where she was the fourth housemate to be evicted from the show, on Day 18.[40] In 2018, Glanville appeared as a houseguest on the American version of Celebrity Big Brother, on the series’ premiere season,[41] where she was the fifth person to be evicted, on Day 24. She also appeared on the second season of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition with her father, Guy Glanville.
In 2022, Glanville (along with a mixture of housewives from different franchises) appeared on the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip; the season was filmed in late 2021 at Dorinda Medley's Blue Stone Manor in The Berkshires, New England.
In 2022, Glanville was, reportedly, being considered for a return to the RHOBH (as part of a cast 'shake-up' for its thirteenth season), after the departures of veteran housewife Lisa Rinna and newcomer Sanela Diana Jenkins.[42]
In 2023, Glanville appeared as a contestant on Peacock's reality TV series The Traitors.[43] However, she was absent from The Traitors reunion. Additionally, Bravo and Peacock confirmed that Glanville would be returning for the fifth season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, with other returning cast members Phaedra Parks, Vicki Gunvalson and Eva Marcille, set to premiere in 2024.[1][44] Glanville was allegedly removed from filming after an altercation with original The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Caroline Manzo.
Books and writing[edit]
In February 2013, Glanville released a book with Leslie Bruce, Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders.[45] LA Weekly called the book "the best piece of celeb literature we've ever come across."[45] People magazine also gave the book a positive review by writing: "Yet as crazy as she might come off here (and on TV), she's strangely relatable, like someone it would be really fun to have drinks with."[46] Glanville's second book with Leslie Bruce, Drinking and Dating: P.S. Social Media Is Ruining Romance was published on February 11, 2014. The book focuses on her relationships and dating life as a single mother.[47][48]
In 2014, Glanville wrote a weekly column for an Australian celebrity magazine NW.[49]
Other ventures[edit]
Glanville is active on social media and endorses products such as beauty and wellness products on Instagram. She has partnered with several brands, including Hand MD Skincare hand care range,[50] Lifeline Skin Care products,[51] FabFitFun beauty subscription box,[52] Teami Blends teas[53] and Singles Swag subscription box.[54] On November 4, 2013, Glanville began a weekly podcast show entitled Brandi Glanville Unfiltered.[55] On the podcast Glanville discusses her life, popular culture, and holds interviews with various personalities.[56]
Glanville's Sonoma County Chardonnay titled "Unfiltered Blonde" was launched in partnership with Rippey Wine Company in April 2015.[57][58][59] The wine received a bronze medal in the Celebrity Wine Division at the 2015 Los Angeles International Wine Awards and was rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.[60][61] She has also created an Android mobile application called Blunder Block.[57]
On July 7, 2022, Glanville debuted her first single named "Life of a Housewife" under the name B-Geezy.[62]
Philanthropy[edit]
Glanville served as the Celebrity Grand Marshal at the Sacramento Pride in June 2013.[63] In July 2013, Glanville and Charitybuzz organized a charity project auctioning off a chance to spend an entire day with her, valued at $10,000.[64] Proceeds from the auction benefited The Foundation For Living Beauty, which provides free services to help women with cancer and cancer survivors.[33][65] She supported the David Foster Foundation Miracle Gala and Concert in Calgary on September 27, 2014.[66]
She supports children's charity Make-a-Wish Foundation and chose the latter as her charity of choice when competing on Celebrity Apprentice.[67] Through Celebrity Apprentice, she was able to secure a donation of $80,000 to the foundation. In December 2014, she promoted and encouraged the sales of Make-a-Wish Foundation's holiday cards on Facebook, Twitter and her official Bravo blog.[68] In April 2015, she participated in Make-a-Wish Foundation's "Walk for Wishes" charity walk and had a personal goal of raising $15,000 for the organization.[69][70] She received a Woman's Achievement Award from Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies based in California on May 6, 2015.[71][72] In June 2017, Glanville participated in a bachelor auction with television personality Eden Sassoon. The event raised money for the breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen, as part of the Babes For Boobs charity event.[73]
In March 2018, Glanville, Carole Radziwill and Teresa Giudice participated in "An Evening With Celebrity Housewives" charity event at The Ridgefield Playhouse.[74] Proceeds from the event's meet and greet tickets benefited actress Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation.[75]