AthenaX clashes with Krissy Marsh before the tantrums, tears on Real Housewives of Sydney Reunion
THERE are tantrums, there are tears, even an off-camera threat of violence. The Real Housewives of Sydney: Reunion special is the best yet.
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IN show business, they say, you should never work with children or animals.
Perhaps we should add ... or a Real Housewife of Sydney.
When “spiritual” housewife Athena X Levendi arrived for Switched On’s cover shoot in News Corp Australia newspapers — to pose opposite her Real Housewives of Sydney rival and co-star Krissy Marsh — it was clear she was determined to clash.
While the brief called for ball gowns or cocktail dresses, Levendi was having none of it, divining: “I’ve talked about it with my style coach and it’s not me.”
Marsh, a former model who was happy to take direction, just rolled her eyes at the theatrics.
It’s a simple snapshot of the past nine months since Marsh, Levendi and the rest of the Real Housewives of Sydney — including Nicole O’Neill, Victoria Rees, Matty Samaei and Lisa Oldfield — began filming the first, explosive season of Foxtel’s popular reality TV franchise.
While Levendi’s wardrobe wobbly may seem minor, it’s symbolic of her personal battle with Marsh and just one of the wars which erupt in this week’s reunion special on Foxtel’s Arena.
It’s a simple snapshot of the past nine months since Marsh, Levendi and the rest of the Real Housewives of Sydney — including Nicole O’Neill, Victoria Rees, Matty Samaei and Lisa Oldfield — began filming the first, explosive season of Foxtel’s popular reality TV franchise.
While Levendi’s wardrobe wobbly may seem minor, it’s symbolic of her personal battle with Marsh and just one of the wars which erupt in this week’s reunion special on Foxtel’s Arena.
There are tantrums, there are tears, as well as an off-camera altercation which saw Levendi physically restrained by a producer as she tried to attack Rees.
Kylie Washington, who has helmed six seasons of the franchise in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, admitted she had never experienced anything like the brawling by AthenaX Levendi, who had to be restrained during filming.
“Athena just really wound herself up ...[and] you need to break them apart and just go, ‘okay, enough now,” Washington, the show’s executive producer said.
In dramatic footage, Levendi can be seen threatening to “f*cking smash” her co-star Victoria Rees, after the two women clashed during the recording of the finale episode of season one of the Foxtel series.
The incident was captured after production had “wrapped” for the day, as cast and crew packed up to leave.
Real Housewives of Sydney Reunion Special – Sunday May 14 at 8.30pm only on Arena. pic.twitter.com/Tk7js2udib
— Brightly (@Brightly5) May 8, 2017
Levendi launched her attack, screaming at Rees: “you better wash your f**king mouth out. I’ll f**king smash you.”
Producer Lisa Potasz can be seen standing between the women, trying to obstruct Levendi, yelling: “Athena, Athena, Athena. You can’t do that.”
The spat had begun on-camera, with Rees insulting Levendi when she said: “when you think everyone’s an a***hole, you’re usually the a***hole.”
Levendi’s retort was a low-blow, telling the adopted Rees: “not even your family wanted you.”
Their personal battle is picked apart during the series’ reunion special, to air this Sunday.
But according to Levendi, her problems on the provocative series began with Marsh.
“If the collective chooses to alienate one person then it’s very easy for everyone to join that collective. Once Krissy went on that campaign of saying I was nasty, I just kept hearing it in every episode ... every Housewife was saying it. They were nasty,” she says.
But if memory serves, it was Levendi who made waves from the first episode, when she referred to Rees as “a fat little girl.”
In a now infamous cocktail party scene, Rees retaliated by throwing Levendi’s fishing net cape into Sydney Harbour.
“We really focused on one word I said, the F-A-T word, and that was purely in defence. I never even said it as an accusation, that was a description,” she explains.
Levendi, who married into the Levendi Jewellers family, claims she was unfairly bullied by her co-stars, who she alleges trolled her on Instagram and used “brainwashing” techniques to turn the audience against her.
“I feel like Cinderella and they were the three ugly sisters,” she says, of Marsh, O’Neil and Rees.
“They had specific key words that they used every single episode to brainwash the viewer and convince the viewer, and I find that very calculating and very cunning.”
Marsh laughs off the mind games accusation, arguing: “I’ve tried with Athena but it’s just easier not to engage at all. It’s just easier ... you just get a barrage back.”
The pair have not had contact since April, when the reunion episode was filmed — dominated by Oldfield rebuffing criticism over her conduct, both on the show and social media since; while Levendi escalates her feud with Rees, when she calls her a “b*tch” and a “wh*re” in Greek.
Given the acrimony and drama, will the women return for a second season?
Marsh says, “I don’t know. I’d have to think about that,” while Levendi is also unsure.
“I’d have to go into a very deep meditation, go into another dimension and hopefully meet my guides and ask them.”
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The Real Housewives Of Sydney: Reunion, Foxtel Arena, Sunday, 8.30pm
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