TWO women from the North Shore are among five soon-to-be-famous Lower Mainland residents cast in the newest spin-off of the Real Housewives franchise.
After weeks of rumour on the West Vancouver party circuit, Slice specialty channel confirmed Tuesday that Jody Claman of West Vancouver and Lions Bay resident Ronnie Seterdahl Negus will appear in The Real Housewives of Vancouver, the first Canadian edition of the popular American reality series.
Claman, a twice-married mother of three, is widely known in the community as the owner of the Glass House clothing store in Ambleside and the founder of Jody's Fine Foods, a catering company based at the same location. The latter is described by the show's producers as a "multi-million-dollar empire."
"Jody is funny, feisty, no-nonsense and strongly believes in telling it like it is," according to her bio on the Housewives site. "Although well provided for by her second husband, a handsome and extremely successful businessman, Jody takes great pride in earning her own living." In a clip published online by Slice, Claman compares herself to "Martha Stewart on acid."
Seterdahl Negus, a self-described "domestic goddess slash professional shopper slash mother of five," lives in a home on four adjacent waterfront properties in Lions Bay with her husband Russell Negus, founder of Abacus Private Equity. She sits on the board for the B.C. Centre for Ability, a charity that supports services for children with disabilities. The Housewives site describes Seterdahl Negus as a "true alpha personality" who "loves a good party and will often leave everyone wondering what she will say or do next."
The other Lower Mainland women in the show are Mary Zilba, a "singer and former pageant queen," Reiko MacKenzie, a sports-carcollecting Shaughnessy mother of two, and Christina Kiesel, a twicedivorced Vancouver "lady of leisure," according to the producers.
The show's two-hour premier airs April 4 at 9 p.m.
