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The Daily Dish Dirty John

New Bravo Series Dirty John Takes Place in Orange County — So Will We See Any Real Housewives?

Could The Real Housewives of Orange County pop up in the upcoming true crime series?

By Laura Rosenfeld
Watch the Official Dirty John Trailer

Dirty John is set to be your new favorite true crime obsession when it premieres on Bravo later this year. Season 1 of the upcoming scripted anthology series will tell the story of how Debra Newell's seemingly dreamy romance with the charismatic John Meehan turned into a nightmare for her and her entire family. 

Dirty John is sure to have you on the edge of your seat for many reasons, one of which being that it's based on a true story. In fact, the series will be set in Orange County, where the real story also occurred. 

And when we heard that Dirty John would be taking place in the O.C., we had one huge burning question: Will any of The Real Housewives of Orange County make an appearance? They are some of the O.C.'s most famous denizens, after all.

Dirty John's executive producer and writer Alexandra Cunningham addressed that very question at a set visit during the Television Critics Association press tour earlier this month. "Well, we are trying to adhere to the spine of what actually happened, so they didn't show up during that," she said. 

However, Cunningham had nothing but kind words for the SoCal squad, calling the RHOC ladies, "lovely, talented people." "They're very successful, and we're happy to be on Bravo with them," she added. 

Dirty John will still be super star-studded, even without the RHOC crew in tow. Connie Britton and Eric Bana will star as Debra and John, respectively, in addition to serving as executive producers on the series. The cast also includes Jean Smart as Debra's mother Arlane Hart, Julia Garner and Juno Temple as Debra's daughters Terra and Veronica, respectively, Kevin Zegers as Debra's nephew Toby, Keiko Agena as Debra's co-worker Nancy, John Karna as Terra's boyfriend Jimmy, Sprague Grayden as John's first wife Tonia, and Cliff Chamberlain as John's best man from his first marriage Ethan. 

Keep up with what's going on in the O.C. Mondays at 9/8c. Check out a sneak peek of an all-new episode of RHOC, below.

Next on RHOC: It's Vicki Gunvalson's Birthday!
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