{"id":701374,"date":"2026-04-03T06:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/701374\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T06:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T06:28:17","slug":"takeaways-from-thursday-nights-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/701374\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from Thursday night’s premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cranston is essentially the center of the universe<\/b><\/p>\n

Outside of Rhode Island, Cranston might barely register on the map. But for many of the Housewives, the city just south of Providence with a population of roughly 82,000 carries more cachet than Newport\u2019s Bellevue Avenue. <\/p>\n

The episode opens with Alicia Carmody<\/a> and her longtime fianc\u00e9 Billy Kitsilis, who is the owner of Pizza Mamma, Angelo\u2019s Palace Pizza, and Antonio\u2019s Pizza by the Slice. They live in Providence, and are getting ready for a visit from Carmody\u2019s \u201cbig Italian family.\u201d <\/p>\n

Get Rhode Map<\/p>\n

A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/p>\n

In the next scene, Carmody\u2019s mother, Anita, is sitting in a car full of other women driving from Cranston to Providence. It\u2019s <\/b>only a 15-minute drive, but for many Rhode Island natives, that\u2019s just too far. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlicia wants to move back to Cranston some day, really bad, \u2018cause she misses being with family,\u201d her mom said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta pack a lunch just to go there,\u201d Sharon, Carmody\u2019s aunt, adds.<\/p>\n

Carmody said when she was pregnant, she and Kitsilis moved to Providence. \u201cThat was terrible,\u201d she said flatly.<\/p>\n

\"LeftLeft to right: Ashley Iaconetti and Kelsey Swanson.Seacia Pavao\/Bravo<\/p>\n

Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon\u2019s coffee shop is popular, but not a huge moneymaker<\/b><\/p>\n

Ashley Iaconetti found love on \u201cBachelor in Paradise\u201d<\/a>, where she met her husband, Rhode Island native Jared Haibon. In the premiere, Iaconetti opens up about their South Kingstown business, Audrey\u2019s Coffee House & Lounge<\/a>, which they opened just four years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow is it a huge moneymaker? No,\u201d she said. \u201cWe thought it would make more money than it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haibon, working the espresso machine, exposes more issues: \u201cThe ice machine\u2019s not working again? … It\u2019s always something, I swear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethElizabeth “Liz” McGrawScott Eisen\/Bravo<\/p>\n

Their social circles \u2014 like the rest of Rhode Island \u2014 are smaller than you think<\/b><\/p>\n

The show leans hard into the state\u2019s famously tight social web. The saying goes that in Rhode Island, just about everyone is no more than two degrees of separation.<\/p>\n

Cast member Jo-Ellen Tiberi previously dated fellow star Kelsey Swanson\u2019s boyfriend\u2019s brother (the boyfriend was not identified in the show, but described as part of one of Rhode Island\u2019s \u201cmost prominent families.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Cast member Liz McGraw revealed how she and her husband, Gerry McGraw, were related before they got married. <\/p>\n

\u201cGerry and I were married about six months, and that was when, you know, the whole Ancestry DNA thing was blowing up,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are related, somewhere down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Rhode Island\u2019s small size creates a lot of drama among the women. McGraw puts it best: \u201cIt\u2019s Rhode Island \u2013 when someone says something, we all hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @alexagagosz<\/a> and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz<\/a>.<\/p>\n