The Big Picture

The new star Taleen Marie navigates shifting friendships in the drama-filled second season.
Taleen’s innocent joke led to chaos, showing how real the drama on the show truly is.
Taleen shares insights on her costars, emphasizing genuine connections amidst shifting friendships.

For the second season of The Real Housewives of Dubai, the theme has been the quickly shifting friendships between the women on the reality series. Old friends have found themselves in shockingly new feuds. And all it took was a twisted game of telephone. With paranoia hotter than the desert heat, The Real Housewives of Dubai Season 2 has been appointment television. And one of the reasons is new star, Taleen Marie.

Joining the program originally as a friend of Caroline Brooks, Taleen Marie was thrown headfirst into the fray after an “innocent” joke made its way into the friend group. Of course, with everyone having an opinion, an incident at a Beyoncé concert became the catalyst for this season’s drama and thus, the shifting friendships. But the super mom of two and brilliant entrepreneur has already found her footing, not allowing the drama to get in her way. So how is her first season on The Real Housewives of Dubai going? The drama is real!

The Real Housewives of Dubai A group of women navigating their ultra-wealthy lifestyles in the United Arab Emirates.Release Date June 1, 2022 Cast Chanel Ayan , Sara Al Madani , Caroline Brooks , Lesa Milan , Nina Ali , Caroline Stanbury Seasons 1 Network Bravo Streaming Service(s) Bravo Now Franchise(s) The Real Housewives Showrunner Mary Agnes Expand

Taleen Discusses Bringing Her Life to the Screen
Taleen Marie officially joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Dubai for its second season. Taleen moved to Dubai fourteen years prior, where she lives with her husband, Rafael Khanoyan, and their two children. With a great personality, Taleen has integrated into the show seamlessly. It’s been a smooth transition, but what is it like being on the biggest franchise in the world? “Almost surreal,” Taleen says. Having grown up watching a few of the franchises, Taleen stated it’s a trip. She is loving being a part of the first international franchise from Bravo.

When speaking on bringing viewers into the world of Dubai, Taleen revealed the city has evolved, comparing it to a metropolis like New York or LA. She finds the city to be a safe place to raise her family, who is enjoying the experience just as much as she is. She even stated that her husband, Raffi, has been feeling like the eighth housewife! He was skeptical at first, but she says that he and the kids were made for it. She knew it was a big decision, but she’s been glad to share “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” As she is balancing her life as a mom and entrepreneur, she’s been working on her fitness empire, Tal Fitness, which will be launching an app. She’s part of an incredible cosmetic line, CTZN Cosmetics. And to top it all off, she’s got a dating app in the works! All on top of being a part of The Real Housewives of Dubai.

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As viewers of The Real Housewives Cinematic Universe are well aware, no matter the franchise, drama is bound to happen. And it came as a bit of a shock to Taleen as to just how real it is. “The biggest thing for me is just how real the drama actually is. A lot of people say, you know reality TV, it’s staged. It’s scripted. No. This was 1000% real, and you just have to navigate because it’s all kind of happening in real time.” So far this season, The Real Housewives of Dubai has amplified the drama. And it all seems to be caused by the new energies that have emerged as new friendships have forged while established bonds have been tested.

Taleen Marie and Caroline Brooks’ History Runs Deep

Taleen was first introduced onto the show thanks to a little incident that got blown out of proportion. And Taleen was eager to break down what exactly happened at the Beyoncé concert regarding “vaginagate.” To start, it didn’t even happen at the concert! She said, “We were all having fun. Maybe I took a little bit of a trip. Like there were no naked cartwheels. There were no vajayjays in the mix. And now that I know Caroline Stanbury very well, it was definitely said in a very like British bantary, in a very jokingly way.” She noted that Stanbury called Brooks and said, “Taleen definitely knows how to have a good time. I saw her topple over, and that’s when, you know, vaginagate started. And then where it got to, in the telephone game, and how it was presented to me, and how it was brought onto the show, just became convoluted.” But knowing Caroline Stanbury, she realized it was blown out of proportion.

Taleen’s entry point onto the second season of the show was through her friendship with Caroline Brooks. She had known her for some time, but when asked if they had issues prior to joining the show and if the show amplified something that was there, Taleen revealed, “Yes, we’ve had issues before. She’s not the easiest person to get along with. And I don’t mean that in such a negative way. She’s like a very strong personality. She’s an alpha, right? Very opinionated. It’s either black or white. There’s no shades of grey. She sticks to her guns. So we’ve kind of butted heads in the past, but I do think the show definitely magnified that side of things.”

Taleen Marie Spills the Tea on Her Co-stars

As a new member of the group, Taleen has seen firsthand how chaotic some of the gatherings can get. Even when it’s a well-intended event. When it comes to the Queen’s Dinner hosted by Chanel Ayan, Taleen is still confused about how the evening escalated to the point that it did after her side conversation with Stanbury. But she chalked it up to paranoia from the other ladies. They didn’t know what they were talking about. So perhaps it was the right conversation to have just at the wrong time. She just wanted to have a real conversation about what she had heard Stanbury’s husband, Sergio Carrallo, speak to her husband about. No malice was intended, but with the cameras rolling, Lesa Milan was concerned that the topic of conversation could have been about something else. As Taleen revealed, Lesa Milan may have called her the b-word four times, but Lesa Milan also apologized to her after the fact four times.

We ended our chat by playing a little game of “Tea Time,” where we did a word association about her cast mates. For Lesa Milan: “Pageants.” Sara Al Madani: “Buddah.” Saba Yussof: “Who?” Chanel Ayan: “Iconic.” Caroline Stanbury: “Legend.” Caroline Brooks: “Complicated.” For Taleen Marie? She ended with “genuine.” Needless to say, she’s enjoying her time with the woman of The Real Housewives of Dubai. The friendships are shifting and there is much more in store in the second half of the season. And she even teased, she might have music on the way too! Keep an eye and ear out!

The Real Housewives of Dubai airs new episodes every Tuesday at 9:00pm on Bravo. All episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock. Watch the full interview with Taleen Marie above.

Stream on Peacock