Entertainment

Before 'RHOBH,' Brandi Glanville Was Busy

by Arielle Dachille

You think you know the wine-tossing, cuss-slinging, magnificent tornado of moods that is Brandi Glanville, but you have no idea. What's in Brandi Glanville's pre- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills past? Let's look at a timeline of her pre-housewives achievements, because the unexamined life of reality television is not worth living.

Even if she's been a bit unhinged lately, Glanville deserves some credit for making this season of RHOBH watchable. After 6 seasons, and the failure to make Allison Dubois the Medium a regular character on the show, Beverly Hills has lost a modicum of its chi-chi-chi. Even if some of the absurdity of the early seasons is waning a bit, at least we still have randy Brandi — the wreck-girl, saving grace of this saga. Over the course of Brandi's Housewives tenure, it seems that she's morphed into a mini Ramona Singer. Like Singer, she propels the plot forward with her inscrutable behavior, alcohol consumption, and general attitude. If they were to lose her, they'd lose EVERYTHING.

But let's talk more about Brandi. When did she meet Eddie Cibrian? What was her life like pre-Bravo? When did she move to Beverly Hills? How did she ever meet the notorious Dana, owner of the totally unnecessary $25,000 sunglasses? Let's go back in time, shall we?

Where It All Began

Brandi was born in 1972, and was raised in Sacramento, California. At 16, Brandi signed with Elite Model Management. You probably already know this, because she mentioned her modeling career no less than a bajillion and one times. Check out this early '90s example of her modeling chops. Thanks for finding that, housekeeper!

Modeling, With and Without Pants

Her Bravo TV bio states that she's been working for 17 years as a high fashion runway and print model, with gigs at Chanel, Armani, and Gucci under her belt. The blurb also drops the names of Cosmopolitan and Glamour. Here she is in a 1992 print ad, sans real pants.

"Study" Abroad

According to Starcasm, she lived abroad for six years when she began working. Also, here she is in an early '90s catalogue ad. Delia*s, perhaps? Well, probably not... but we can dream!

The Future Ex-Mr. Glanville

In the early '90s, Glanville moved back to LA after her stint in Europe, and met future husband (later to be ex-husband) Eddie Cibrian at a nightclub, as Starcasm reports. The pair got engaged in 1999, and was married a month and a half later in May of 2001. Somewhere in between, Brandi and Kristen Taekman met, becoming instant model buddies.

Then, along came her children! In June 2003, Glanville and Cibrian welcomed their first son Mason Edward, and another boy Jake in 2007. In '06, Brandi hung up her modeling spurs and began to look after her boys full time.

And Along Came LeAnn Rimes

Then, Eddie revealed himself to be the scoundrel we know him as. Cibrian had multiple affairs while married to Glanville, most notably with SURver Schaena Marie, then with LeAnn Rimes, whom he met on the set of the Lifetime movie Northern Lights in 2009. Later on that year, Rimes and Cibrian went public with their relationship, and by 2010, Glanville's divorce from Cibrian was finalized. The corpse of the Glanville/ Cibrian marriage barely cold, Cibrian and Rimes married in 2011.

Aaron Davidson/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

And She Lived "Happily" Ever After on Bravo

This is where the Bravo era started. In 2011, on the second season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Brandi was introduced to the cast as the young gun with a cheating ex husband. The rest, my friends, is history! She rose through the ranks, became part of the cast, and drunk tweeted her way to reality TV icon status.

Image: Reality TV Gifs/Tumblr (2); Getty Images