The Real Housewives Of Melbourne have a lot of real money and a couple of the show's stars hope the series inspires women to go into business on their own.
Newly single 55-year-old Janet Roach and Jackie Gillies, wife of Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies, say the Foxtel show should be more than just about viewers living their life vicariously through the cast.
Roach says the six women who appear in the Arena channel series created their own good fortune and hopes viewers take more notice of that than of the personality clashes.
"I hope they are inspired," Roach told AAP while dining at Matt Moran's ARIA restaurant in Brisbane.
"The truth is the only money you really get to keep is the money you earn yourself ... and everyone is capable of making money."
Of the six Melbourne-based women, Roach was the first to sign.
The remaining Housewives are Gillies, barrister Gina Liano, business woman Andrea Moss, catering owner Chyka Keebaugh and devoted mother of two boys, one girl and three step-sons, Lydia Schiavello.
They all live in Melbourne's affluent suburbs, such as South Yarra, Toorak and Malvern and flash their jewellery as often as their bleached teeth on the series.
Roach said the invitation to appear in The Real Housewives Of Melbourne could not have been better timed.
The property developer had just ended her 14 year marriage after saying she caught her septuagenarian husband cheating on the internet for a second time.
It was Roach's second marriage and it was a break-up she wished she didn't have to have.
"I would have preferred that my marriage not fall apart," Roach said.
"I gave him an ultimatum and he is in his seventies and I didn't think I would have to come across this again but you have to have some dignity.
"I am just honest on the show and I am not proud of everything that is on the show but it is real.
"It could not have been better timed in regards because I was so busy I didn't have time to think about anything else."
Roach said she has known Liano for some 25 years. She knew of Moss, Keebaugh and Schiavello through their circle of friends.
The odd one out is Gillies, 33, who moved to Melbourne in April last year, only a couple of months before filming started.
Gillies did not know any of the women before she was cast on the series and, like Roach, she hopes the series inspires women to be successful.
"Absolutely I hope it inspires women...there are a lot of positives in this," Gillies said.
* The Real Housewives Of Melbourne premieres on Sunday, February 23 at 8.30pm on Foxtel's Arena channel.
