Is A Cotswolds Real Housewives-Style Show On Its Way?

Word on the reality TV street is this: a Cotswolds-based Real Housewives-style series is on its way. Here’s everything we know so far.

New Cotswolds Housewives Series: Will It Happen?

It seems the makers of Grand Designs are getting tired of recording the creation of quirky mansions and are more interested in scratching beneath the surface. And where can one find the very best British homes? Why the Cotswolds, of course. Here, honey-hued manor houses are decked out with all the modcons you could imagine – and then some. Think Range Rovers on the driveway, colossal kitchens kitted out with Agas and sub zero fridges, padel courts and ice baths in the garden, and carefully curated decor in each and every room.

The intrigue is natural and instant, but TV cameras have never before been invited inside. So the news that Naked Productions is eyeing up Charlbury as a location for its possible new Real Housewives-style reality series is certainly alluring. Who will buzz open the electric gates and welcome the public into their rarefied dens of, well, privacy? The wealth advisors and barristers? The newly arrived California billionaires? Kate Moss, Lily Allen, Jeremy Clarkson, Hugh Grant? The King himself? One thing is for certain, the paycheck won’t be the appeal.

Here’s what we know.

Hotel and private members’ club Estelle Manor (pictured) was reportedly asked to be involved, but swiftly turned the producers down

What We Know – And What Is Rumoured

We know that Naked Productions is working on a Housewives style series set in the Cotswolds, with the picturesque Oxfordshire town of Charlbury at the top of their wishlist. Journalist, novelist and socialite Plum Sykes is also rumoured to be on board to pen scripts and provide voiceover. And there’s no one better placed than she: her latest novel, Wives Like Us (2024), delves into the secret lives of the English countryside elite, set across fictional towns in Oxfordshire, right on the edge of the Cotswolds.

As for the locals themselves, it’s safe to say the reception to the news has been frosty, describing Charlbury as a ‘hidden gem’ they don’t wish to expose to the public. One local told the Mail, ‘It’s damnable enough that we’re already overrun with Americans. This will make it a million times worse.’

Local venues aren’t keen, either. Producers reportedly begged Estelle Manor to open its doors to their camera crews, but the hotel and private members club batted them away, with one insider saying the ultra-luxe yet ultra-discreet venue ‘laughed them out of town’. The same is apparently true of a number of local restaurants and bars, including Soho Farmhouse and one of the nation’s top gastropubs, The Bull at Charlbury. Meanwhile, Lady Bamford has ruled out her Bamford Club and Daylesford Organic farm shops as filming locations, thanks to an aversion to trash TV.

Top gastropub The Bull at Charlbury is reportedly one of many venues to have turned the production team away

Regardless, a pilot is on the way. According to insiders, the series ‘won’t be crass or intrusive and won’t have the catfights and drama of the Real Housewives. Instead, they will focus on the women having real careers and not just being bimbos.

‘It’s going to be posher than Made In Chelsea,’ another source asserts. ‘There’s an appetite with broadcasters at the moment to get a window into this world. You’ve got Ladies Of London, which is being rekindled on Bravo, you’ve got Real Housewives of London being made by Monkey Kingdom, and then you’ve got this Housewives of the Cotswolds series. There’s going to be a surge of those types of shows this summer.’ The success of Disney’s much-awaited adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals last autumn has also returned the spotlight to this very-real, very-exclusive enclave.

We also know the series definitely won’t be titled ‘The Real Housewives of the Cotswolds’, since Naked Productions doesn’t own the franchise’s copyright. Insiders say the producers ‘aren’t ready to announce anything, but they are working on a pilot based on [Real Housewives] which will take a number of days to make.

‘They are in the process of scouting shooting locations,’ the insider continues. ‘At the moment they are going to cast members’ houses and filming “master interviews”, which are an introduction of the show’s key stars.’

The success of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals on Disney+ has turned the spotlight back onto the clannish Cotswolds. (Pictured: Alex Hassell as Rupert Campbell-Black in Rivals, courtesy of Robert Viglasky/Disney)

Who Will Star?

A slew of Cotswolds residents are allegedly signed up, including nutritionist and entrepreneur Gabriela Peacock. Married to hedge funder David Peacock and calling a Cotswolds mansion home, Gabriela counts Princess Beatrice, Joan Collins and Jeremy Clarkson among her pals. She is said to be ‘wildly excited’ about the series, which she calls ‘classy’. Fittingly, then, she won’t be spilling any secrets about Beatrice. Another rumoured star is Sophie Stanbury, who previously starred in US reality series Ladies of London.

No more whispers tease who might appear, but there’s plenty of potential to plunder. Perhaps the wife of Great Tew landowner Nick Johnson, Saskia Johnson, will make an appearance – or country glamour fashion designer Jade Holland Cooper, wife of Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton and pal of Plum.

Elsewhere in the Cotswolds, former model turned private jet entrepreneur Suzannah Harvey (aka Suzie Jet) could fit the bill, and she’s got contacts across the AONB thanks to her popular private airport in Kemble.

Anything Else?

With Plum working on the scripts and a pilot reportedly in progress, we’re told more news about this potential Cotswolds Housewives series will be revealed soon. Check back here for updates.