Bronwyn Newport Loves To Argue, But Only In Couture

Bronwyn Newport believes that if you dress for the part, it will come. “The right event comes my way when I have the right outfit,” the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star says, en route to an appointment with Christian Siriano. Fortunately, between the fashion week circuit and her press appearances for RHOSLC’s newly premiered Season 6 — including a stop by Watch What Happens Live planned for tonight — Newport has no shortage of opportunities to get dolled up these days.

Ever since she strutted into RHOSLC Season 5 in a $15,000 heart-shaped coat from Saint Laurent (which “Friend of” Britani Bateman infamously called a “costume”), the 40-year-old Newport has set herself apart with her singular, couture-meets-kooky style. She was a couture client (and niche fashion influencer) long before RHOSLC. Reality TV has only helped her sartorial reputation, which she’s recently parlayed into a style-centric Substack and red-carpet fashion correspondent gigs — though she once feared it’d have the opposite effect. “People in fashion were like, ‘We don’t want our stuff on Housewives. You might not get invited to shows anymore,’” she says. “I’m so grateful that hasn't been the case. I’m able to say ‘No, I can argue in couture and also talk about the couture.’”

Of course, she’s doing press in designer clothing, wearing a green sequined blouse and skirt from Oscar de la Renta and a Dolce & Gabbana purse that looks like an espresso machine — ironic, since she’s not much of a coffee drinker. Though a lapsed Mormon, she says soda is still her “vice of choice.” (Her go-to Swig order? Dr. Pepper with vanilla cream and peach syrup.)

From the moment we arrive at the designer’s lavish SoHo showroom, greeted by a mannequin in a voluminous felt gown and an assistant’s doting dog, Newport is visibly more at ease, flitting through racks of off-kilter runway looks like an e-girl at a Labubu factory, asking “This one needs a hat, right?” with every outfit. She and Siriano have the rapport of high school BFFs, gossiping like no one’s around and planning which Fashion Week events they’ll attend in Paris as Newport sifts through his wares. She adds a padded glittery plaid minidress to her tab for fun and tries on the pantsless tuxedo gown that Allison Janney wore to the Las Culturistas Culture Awards, which Newport weighs wearing to a wedding she’s officiating.

Siriano doesn’t work with Bravo stars often, but Newport is the exception. (Last year, he told WWHL host Andy Cohen that she’s the only Housewife who pays for her own clothes.) He even feels comfortable enough to throw shade at the all-red ensemble she’s planned to wear on the show that night, and he eventually convinces her to ditch the look for one of his — but only after he agrees to be her guest to the show. “I don’t know that he would admit it,” she adds later, “but I think Christian likes it when I wear his stuff on camera.”

Newport has the glow of retail therapy as we bid Siriano goodbye and head to nearby eatery Sant Ambroeus. Settling into a booth, we both order watermelon-infused tequila cocktails. “Captain’s log: There is neither Codigo nor Vida tequila in this. I’m not choosing a side,” Newport says pointedly, in reference to her co-stars’ rival tequila brands.

While many Housewives launch new businesses after joining the show, Newport isn’t joining the tequila war — instead, she’s using her platform for more creative projects. “I’ve really been selective about [doing] things that are so important to me, even if they aren’t a traditional Housewives venture,” she says. Along with her new fashion gigs, Newport has branched out to Broadway, co-producing the 2024 revival of Cabaret and the new musical Queen of Versailles starring Kristin Chenoweth, which she calls “unbelievable.” She hopes to keep entering fields that aren’t usual Housewife territory, even hinting at writing a children’s book.

After facing her own ups and downs, Newport’s privileged to be in a position where she can pursue her passions. Though born in Brazil and raised between the Netherlands and San Francisco, Newport was brought up Mormon, and her life was upended when she was kicked out of Brigham Young University and excommunicated from the church over an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. She ultimately landed on her feet, raising her daughter, Gwen (now 18), as a single mother while building a career in finance. But it was only when she wed tech executive Todd Bradley, 66, that Newport gained the freedom to pivot to fashion and, now, reality TV.

She was a fan of the Bravo franchise but hadn’t watched RHOSLC before joining, as she didn’t want the show to color her perception of Lisa Barlow and Meredith Marks, whom she knew socially. But it was those connections — and her penchant for designer clothes — that caught the attention of Bravo producers, who tried to cast her several times before she agreed to join Season 5.

Newport’s first season was eventful, to say the least. Viewers watched as her friendship with Barlow devolved into a feud, which culminated in Barlow calling Newport out for lying about buying a $4 million necklace. (Newport ultimately confessed she’d misled her co-stars. “It gives the women some ammunition that they didn’t need to have,” she says. “There was no question before that they could trust what came out of my mouth, and I did that to myself.”)

It’s only gotten more heated in the first two episodes of Season 6, which saw Newport bring up reports about lawsuits against Barlow. In response, Barlow called her a “gout d*ck-sucker,” digging at her 26-year age gap with Bradley. Her intent was to give Barlow a taste of her own medicine when it came to gossiping — but in retrospect, she admits, “I don’t feel good about it.”

Later this season, a court case from Newport’s own past will be brought to the cast’s attention. “I hired an attorney in my past to help me with something, and the women really try to twist it into something negative, like I was a criminal,” she teases. “It’s not what they’re making it out to be, but they know I can’t speak on it because it was sealed. That feels kind of dark to me.”

But what’s affected Newport the most since joining the show is the public response to her marriage. While she was ready to combat gold digger accusations, she didn’t expect viewers to think Bradley was overly patronizing, especially when criticizing her involvement in the ladies’ arguments. “Todd is very much himself on and off camera,” she says, taking a bite of her penne arrabiata. “When you saw Todd being like ‘That was embarrassing’ or ‘You didn’t live up to your own standards,’ I hear that as Todd being really supportive of me and wanting the best out of and for me.”

Still, Newport and Bradley took the criticism seriously. “Todd was able to say, ‘It does come across harsh, which means it probably is harsh, which means I could speak to you in a different way,’” she says. This time around, Bradley stepped back from group events — though he’s continued to film scenes with Newport. “I want to be friends with these women, and my friendship with them needed to be separate from any feelings that Todd had about them, which were frankly pretty negative,” she says, busting out into a laugh.

Newport knew what she was getting into when she became a Housewife, but it’s still been an adjustment having her every move scrutinized. “I got pulled over and didn’t have my registration ’cause we just got a new car,” she recalls. “Somebody sent me a screenshot that was like, ‘I’m writing a story because I got a tip that you were pulled over for not having a current registration.’ I was like, ‘Wow, the streets are really talking.’”

Later on WWHL, she’ll make the streets (aka the Internet) talk even more with more comments about Barlow. But Newport is prepared to handle any blowback. “A lot of people say things about us [reality stars] because we put our lives out there. One thing I can control is what I look like on the outside,” she says. “I’ve changed all the things I can. I’ve had a rhinoplasty. I dye my grays. All I can control is my clothes.”