Yellow flower with episode title

D’Andra doesn’t take anyone’s nonsense… except her Momma Dee’s!

In this episode, we discuss D’Andra Simmons storylines from Real Housewives of Dallas Season 2:

⚪D’Andra vs Momma Dee ⚪D’Andra vs Stepmommyhood

Episode 89 on Spotify

Caitlin: Do you think all photographers in America know each other? Like, does Jeremy Locke know Kat’s husband from DC? Because they’re like a photographer convention, and they all show up together, and then they’re like, hey, I heard you were in Real Housewives. Me too.

Sharon: There should be.

Caitlin: Let’s take a selfie.

Sharon: Her husband’s hot, man.

Caitlin: So cute. It was funny on the reunion when she was like, so many people were.

Sharon: Saying, I know, but he is.

Caitlin: He’s like, what you think a photographer should look like? And they usually don’t look like.

Sharon: Yeah, exactly.

Caitlin: These. You look like cat’s husband.

Sharon: He probably could be attractive.

Caitlin: If he could have been. Yeah. If he wasn’t such a jerk. Hi, this is Caitlin.

Sharon: And this is Sharon.

Caitlin: And welcome to Real Housewives on Real Housewives, where we unravel housewives story threads and keep the tea flowing.

Sharon: So chic.

Caitlin: Hold on to your charitable donations.

Sharon: This week, we’re digging into Diandra Simmons from Real Housewives of Dallas season two, which aired August to November 2017.

Caitlin: The verses this week are Diandra versus mama Dee and Diandra versus stepmommyhood. The background info is that Diandra Simmons comes from a rich family in Dallas. They’re rich from oil and gas. She’s the founder and CEO of Skincare line Hard Night. Good morning, which she had to create because she was supposed to become the CEO of ultimate Living, her mother’s business, and her mom wouldn’t turn it over to her. I think she has it now. she worked for the department of Energy in DC before she came home to take over the family business, which always makes me sad. Cause that sounds like such a cool job.

Sharon: I know. She had, like, a real legit, high.

Caitlin: Powered job, and then her mom wouldn’t give her, like, the weird ultimate living supplements business. Like, come on. The government trusted her, but her mom doesn’t. She’s married to photographer Jeremy Locke. She was 48 when the season aired. Okay, so this is Diandra’s first season, but she got briefly mentioned in season one because Leanne name dropped her in the reunion as being one of her best friends. As she was in her wedding.

Sharon: Yeah. Which means it was kind of like she was a big deal.

Caitlin: She was.

Sharon: Exactly.

Caitlin: what do we think about D’Andra’s first season?

Sharon: I love, love, love D’Andrea.

Caitlin: I do too.

Sharon: Just love everything about her. I love Mama Dee.

Caitlin: Yeah. Her mom is a character in and of herself.

Sharon: I don’t fully get Diandra, but I love her.

Caitlin: Exactly. I actually have a question later kind of about that, because I feel like there’s, like, many personalities.

Sharon: Yes.

Caitlin: And I can’t pin them down.

Caitlin: Like, I couldn’t describe her, like, one word.

Sharon: Yeah, she would not.

Caitlin: Okay, here’s my other question. This one’s very important. Would you watch a tv show that just starred Mama Dee?

Sharon: Absolutely.

Caitlin: Yes. And, you know, she’s one of our followers.

Sharon: She is. She follows us. I love that because we love her. She loves us.

Caitlin: Exactly. Her mom.

Sharon: It’s just awesome. And, you know, she’s. That’s how she is.

Caitlin: I know. And the hair and the everything. I mean, it’s just like, you couldn’t draw a better person than she just is as a person. Like, it’s so fun. Okay, since we’re talking about her, let’s go into our first verses, which is Diandra versus mama Dee. So Mama Dee is not willing to hand her company over to Diandra. She’s also not willing to get rid of her broken tv, dvd, compress. No, not dvd. Vhs.

Sharon: Yeah. I don’t know why. I love that.

Caitlin: I love that. She’s like, is that broken? Does that work in your office? She’s like, no. It also felt like there’s this episode of Arrested Development where they won’t move. They want to stay on the top floor of the business, and they won’t move a floor down. And it’s like when they went to move business offices to the cheaper area, it exactly reminded me of that. It’s like you could tell mom that he wanted to stay in the fancier one, but, yeah, it’s actually a better business deal to move to this cheaper office. You could tell there was probably a family drama over that. So she waits ten years. Why do you think she won’t turn the company over?

Sharon: I think she just sees Diandra. She does not see her as an adult. Yeah, she sees her as her child, and she cannot get past her being a little girl. You know what I mean?

Caitlin: Yeah. Like, as long as she’s the mom, she needs to be the one in charge.

Sharon: Yeah, exactly. I don’t think she can. She’s just a control freak. And not unless it might not be bad. I mean, she’s successful.

Caitlin: Yeah. I mean, sometimes that gets you somewhere.

Sharon: It’s bad for working with your family. I don’t think she should work with family.

Caitlin: That I would agree. That’s why I kind of feel like it would have been a smarter career move for Diandra. I’m sure they’ve had a lot of, like, this is the family name and you take over the family business. But I think it would have been better for her to have her own career almost, because she’s so driven and her mom really stops that in its tracks. It’s just she’s so old at this point for her to not, I know, trust her. Couldn’t they have been. Here’s what I don’t understand. Couldn’t they have been, like, co owners or co presidents or co CEO’s for a little while? Like a training CEO? Like, just practicing?

Sharon: Yeah.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Sharon: It’s painful.

Caitlin: It is painful. Okay. So the worst part is that when Diandra is trying to prove her worth to her mom, she found this new product, and I don’t understand this. So it’s Swiss Alps algae. I guess lakes and stuff must get algae the same way oceans and stuff get algae. I mean, I guess any water can get algae.

Sharon: Okay.

Caitlin: But it feels weird to me that you have to go to the Swiss Alps to get the algae.

Sharon: This is special algae.

Caitlin: It’s very special. So is it, like, cold algae? Like algae. It only grows in cold weather.

Sharon: I always feel like, okay, was diandra out in the Swiss Alps and found this. Otherwise, how did her company.

Caitlin: Right. How come no one else is, like, jumping all over Swiss Alps algae?

Sharon: Yeah.

Caitlin: Because if she got some on her.

Sharon: Shoe and was like, see, they’re not a thing or everyone has it, or.

Caitlin: You know, it says they have the ability to thrive in freezing water with very low nutrient levels.

Sharon: So what does that mean for your skin?

Caitlin: I don’t know. They adapt to their environment by modifying their pigmentation.

Sharon: Okay.

Caitlin: Ooh, they look kind of pinky red in the snow.

Sharon: Ooh, they do look pretty.

Caitlin: I guess I always kind of just. I never thought about that, but I feel like I have seen sort of pink or red on snow. I don’t know what it does for your skin. I feel like what everything does for your skin is. Makes you younger.

Sharon: Well, I think what they do is they go and they’re like, we need something that hasn’t been used in skincare before.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Sharon: Go find some kind of mushroom or fungus or something.

Caitlin: What plant isn’t going to hurt us at this point?

Sharon: Exactly. Just throw it in.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Sharon: But Tiandra, I mean, she had. Her name is so good. Hard night. Good morning.

Caitlin: It’s such a good name.

Sharon: Such a genius name. And we went on her website recently, they have, like, not many products at all.

Caitlin: And I remember that being true the first time we watched Dallas, too. Cause this is a rewatch for us. So we’ve seen these before. And I remember looking. Cause I wanted to support her. And again, when you’re watching the show, everyone kind of promotes these products and you go on and you get a part of that. And the fact that she’s not following up with that. Yeah, it almost seems like.

Sharon: Yeah, that’s a good point because I’m like, well, is this a real business? Is this legit? Do I actually want to buy these products? Or is it just something you’re kind of, like, throwing together? Yeah, and same with the mama Dee’s vitamin company. I went and looked there. There’s, like, one product. I’m like, are they clearencing out or something? And they’re done, or.

Caitlin: It’s a little weird to me now, remember, I think we find out later that, like, her mom’s company is hurting for money more than she had let us know. Like, can we find that out in future seasons?

Caitlin: So maybe. Yeah, maybe it’s hiding a little bit of, like, the trouble. Like, maybe she doesn’t want to turn it over because she knows it’s not as successful.

Sharon: Oh, that could be.

Caitlin: And doesn’t want to admit to that. Okay. I googled and snow algae, which is what I’m calling it now, is good for hydration, wrinkles and skin tone. So it can improve skin hydration in as little as two weeks and reduce the depths of wrinkles by 30%. Okay, so go out and stick your face in some pink snow.

Sharon: I will not. Yellow snow. Pink.

Caitlin: You have to fly to Switzerland, though. You can’t just. You can’t just get it in any mountain.

Sharon: Me and Mark Duber.

Caitlin: Exactly. I mean, that’s who I kind of think found it.

Sharon: Exactly.

Caitlin: Or you should have found it.

Sharon: There should have been a collab. They shut up. Plastic surgeon Mark Duber recommends and Mama Dee.

Caitlin: Exactly. And her name just. She doesn’t need anything. She just is who she is. Diandra does get the key from her in the finale, but it doesn’t last. So do we think that was just totally. Do you think her mom meant it or do you think it was just for show?

Sharon: I think it was. I think D’Andrew thought she meant it, but she didn’t.

Caitlin: I think so, too. Okay, my other favorite dandra moment, just because it doesn’t fit anywhere, when she sent the robot of herself to the white party and then everyone was dancing with her like she was gone and she was out of town, but she sent that robot, which was like, an iPad on the face of, like, okay, well, I think this one’s easy. But who wins in Diandra versus Mama Dee.

Sharon: Mama Dee always wins.

Caitlin: Yeah. Oh, I don’t think there’s ever. I mean, until she’s gone from the.

Sharon: She’s gonna always win. Yes.

Caitlin: She’s gonna win. Okay. Cause I think it’s an interesting crossover from, like, her relationship with mama Dee. Let’s talk about Diandra versus her step mommy hood. So she has a couple stepsons, I think. But Keaton is Jeremy’s son, and he is now leaving the house after he’s been living with them for two months only.

Caitlin: They wanted him to get a job or go back to school. Cause he was having trouble. It was somewhere in the south where he lived with his mom. and that didn’t work. And then Diandra tried to get him to sell her, like, $20,000 dresses on eBay, but he wouldn’t do that either. I wouldn’t want to do that either. Perfectly.

Sharon: What I would.

Caitlin: Well, I mean, I’d want to make the money, but do you want to be responsible for packaging up, like, an $18,000 dress?

Sharon: I don’t know. As far as jobs go, I feel like there’s worse jobs than. It’s probably a pretty closet takes pictures of pretty dresses.

Caitlin: Yeah. She could probably pay somebody else to wrap it up. I mean, maybe she just wanted to get it. I think it’s also funny that, like, it’s. It kind of proves that this show’s a little bit older, because it’s, like, nowadays, I think selling that stuff with having a celebrity on the show would be a lot easier. Like, there would be different places you could maybe go through or, like.

Sharon: Yeah.

Caitlin: I mean, or ways.

Sharon: Yeah. Like, would a celebrity still sell it on eBay?

Caitlin: Right? I don’t think so. I feel like there’d be a different.

Sharon: It almost seems like you’d have someone come in and do, like, a big dandruff dresses auction show or something.

Caitlin: Give, like, a percentage to charity or something. so diandra gets really, really mad with Keaton. She loses it, and that’s the most. Because she’ll get frustrated with Leann and call Leanne out. And that’s one of the things I like about their friendship, is that even though they’re really old friends, she doesn’t let Leanne get away with a lot of the stuff that Leanne normally gets away with. But this is where we really see D’Angelo lose it, and it felt like Mama Dee losing it. Do you think that that’s how Momma Dee lost it with her?

Sharon: Yes. Although, to me, I guess to me, that is a very weak. Losing it.

Caitlin: Yeah.

Sharon: Like, to me, that was a normal parental reaction. Like, I could see my parents acting.

Caitlin: Like, I think, step parent. Do you feel like maybe that was a little different?

Sharon: Especially because she didn’t grow up with.

Caitlin: Exactly.

Sharon: She wasn’t really their parent.

Caitlin: Right. And that’s only been there for short. It’s like, how close were they at that point? I don’t know.

Sharon: That’s true.

Caitlin: Yeah. So I feel like she’s kind of, like, borrowing the spirit of her mom.

Sharon: I agree. I agree.

Caitlin: Yell at Keaton.

Sharon: it kind of wasn’t her place. I don’t necessarily think that’s what I felt. But I get the fact that she’s like, okay, if you’re staying here, this is my house. But, yeah, if I were her, I don’t think I’d want to get involved at all in that.

Caitlin: Do you think she just thought Jeremy would coddle him and not say anything and that’s why she stepped in?

Sharon: I mean, I think she was in the right frame of mind. I think he just kind of needed a kick in the butt.

Caitlin: I think so, too.

Sharon: He was just gonna do nothing if they let him do nothing.

Caitlin: Cause she felt like he wasn’t focused. Yeah, he was kind of self involved. But I think it was interesting because this was kind of another side of diandra, and it is sort of hard to tell because it’s like, I just wish she could channel a little bit of that side with her mom. Not to yell and scream, but just to be more assured of herself, because when her mom’s there, she just shovels. She’s like, I’m wrong. I won’t do it. Okay. And she’s very gentle and quiet talking with her mom. And it was kind of like, maybe this is how she wished she could speak to her mom, in a way.

Sharon: Yeah.

Caitlin: I don’t know.

Sharon: She’s interesting because sometimes she seems, like, super responsible, and then sometimes when she’s with her mom, or she’s talking about, like, her dresses.

Caitlin: Right.

Sharon: She seems sort of flighty and stuff, like, oh, my, 30 million dresses. But I don’t think she’s like that.

Caitlin: Because her house does seem more demure than, like, say, cameron’s house or, like, some of those big mansions that she could have.

Sharon: So I kind of like these different facets that she’s kind of, like, the girly girl, kind of ridiculous, but then she is this serious person.

Caitlin: Or they’re, like, out on, like, safari and camping and, like, yeah.

Sharon: and they have all these, like.

Caitlin: Different things from their travels, and that’s almost more important to her than the dresses.

Sharon: And it’s so weird to me. She held, like, a really high position.

Caitlin: Yeah, she did. And then she’s kind of an enigma. Like, I just don’t understand her or really what it is. Kind of seems like she just likes everything and she’s kind of good at everything.

Caitlin: That’s okay.

Sharon: I really like her. Like, I just feel like she’d be an interesting person to be friends with.

Caitlin: I think she and Mama Dee could have a show.

Sharon: I agree.

Caitlin: If you had to spin anybody off, she doesn’t need the other castmates.

Sharon: Agree.

Caitlin: Because it was interesting putting this together. She didn’t really fight with the other castmates. She fought with her mom, and then she kind of, like, told, and she didn’t take crap from anybody, and she told Leanne where to put it. But she wasn’t the one creating the drama between the women, which is interesting.

Caitlin: Especially for your first season, because you feel like in the first season, you’d be more tempted to really mix it up so that you get a second season.

Sharon: Yeah.

Caitlin: Yeah. Okay. who wins in diandra versus stepmommyhood? Like, do you think she handled it well?

Sharon: I mean, I guess Jeremy backed her.

Caitlin: Up, so I don’t think he was upset.

Sharon: The kid didn’t seem upset. Really? I think he kind of felt like, yeah, maybe this isn’t the right situation.

Caitlin: I scrolled through social media to make sure they had, like, future pictures of them together at events, and there was.

Sharon: Yeah, I mean, as long as it ended well, I think it’s fine.

Caitlin: Yeah, I think so too. And, like. And it is kind of fun to see those moments. Cause sometimes we get really cleaned up parenting moments on the show. It’s kind of fun to see the messier bits because everybody has messier bits. All, ah, right. I mean, I think she would have been a really good mom too. I mean, you don’t have to be a mom.

Sharon: No, you don’t have to be a mom.

Caitlin: But it’s nice to see the stepmom thing happen too, because oftentimes, especially on housewives, it’s like, there’s the stepchildren we never really see.

Caitlin: And it was nice to actually see one and see the stepmom react with this. Cause I think that’s important that people see that too.

Sharon: Exactly.

Caitlin: Yep. All right. That is our episode on Diandra Simmons. I’m excited that she gets another season.

Sharon: Yes.

Caitlin: And we’ll see even more of her. And she does get a little messier.

Sharon: Yeah, and put some more products out there, Dandra.

Caitlin: I know.

Sharon: I’m still looking.

Caitlin: Cause, I mean, we don’t know. This algae thing could be, like, the thing. I’m always sure the next thing is, like, the thing that’s gonna fix my skin, and this might be it. And we don’t know.

Sharon: We spend a lot of money on.

Caitlin: Skincare, and we haven’t seen her in Marshall’s.

Sharon: Yes, exactly.

Caitlin: So that means she’s still out. You know, she’s not completely out yet.

Sharon: Yes, exactly.

Caitlin: But we’d like to see her in Ulta. that’s how we judge. All right, remember, housewives bring the drama.

Sharon: But we bring the receipts.

Caitlin: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the subscribe button. And if you’d like to help support the podcast, please share it with others or leave a rating and review. Also visit us on Instagram and threads both at RH underscore on underscore rh for fun pictures and polls, or email us at rhonrhpodcast@gmail.com. thanks again, and remember to stay out of the shade.