Bravo’s new show “Sweet Home Oklahoma” is already gaining comparisons to early seasons of the “Real Housewives” franchise, and one person that can take responsibility for that is Angie “Pumps” Sullivan. While many would consider her the potential breakout star of “Sweet Home Oklahoma”, she is staying true to her Oklahoma roots. We sat down to chat about what it’s like to suddenly be a Bravo star, doing a show like this with some of her best friends, and what her family thinks of this wild new ride she’s taking.
You have definitely got to be one of the most outrageous personalities to hit Bravo since we started getting to know the women of “The Real Housewives” franchise. Do you wear the title proudly? Oh yes, I know! You know, when we first started talking about doing this, we were sitting around saying that you always have different personalities on these shows, and I said that I think I would be the crazy person on this show!
What made you sign up to do something like this show with such close friends? Insanity for starters (laughs)! I really was on the fence about it at first actually. I had gotten divorced, so I was going through that process and there were a lot of changes at that time. The timing was perfect, it was kind of like, it was a fun opportunity for me and I would never get that opportunity again. I was really thinking about it and my oldest son, I will never forget it, we were sitting at a stop light and he said to me “Mom, ninety nine percent of people in the world don’t get an opportunity like this”. I thought that coming from him, it just may be good idea. My girlfriends and I thought that when the opportunity came to us, we would give it a shot. The team is exactly who they said they were!
I think you definitely get to show us a very different side of Oklahoma, an Oklahoma that we may not even realize exists. Yes, absolutely. You know, I have lived here my whole life so I can’t even imagine living somewhere else. Whenever I go somewhere though, I appreciate it here so much more when I get back. The people, the ease of living, the pace, everything . I would never live anywhere else though.
You make the case to come visit Oklahoma very tempting! Absolutely! In Oklahoma though, we do have casinos which are big time; Vegas has nothing on us! We may not have the beach, but we do have the lake, which is great. The only downside of Oklahoma is the weather, but that’s really it. It’s become much more cosmopolitan since the professional basketball team came here. I am not cosmopolitan, so it has not affected me, but those that I know who are, they are quite happy about it.
Was it surreal having camera crews and people staring as you sat down to have lunch or hang out with your girlfriends? It was the weirdest thing on the planet. We would sit down to have lunch and I literally could not think of one thing to say. In about ten minutes though, you really do forget that the cameras are there and you give into the group of your friends and you just get into the groove of your relationships with your friends.
Were your ex husband and your kids as willing to go along for the ride as you were after awhile? My oldest, I had to let him know that people would say awful things on the internet, but he was fine with it after I explained it. My daughter was a little hesitant, and my youngest asked if we were going to be really famous and if we could get on “Celebrity Family Feud” (laughs); that’s really all he cares about.
I remember some of the tentpole shows for Bravo, specifically the “Housewives” shows, started with a small group of ladies who know each other intimately for a long time. Are there other women that you ladies are friends with that you could potentially bring into the fray? Oh yes there definitely are. It would be up to them in terms of a time commitment though. My friend Kay is in the show a bit. Jennifer did her house also, so everything definitely has come full circle and everyone is very connected.
One thing I notice is that you ladies seem to have decided to make your friendship a top priority. Oh absolutely. Right at the beginning we decided if it was going to be a friendship deal or a television deal, the friendship was going to win out, it was a no brainer. No one ever asked us or encouraged us to get upset with us either. In the beginning, I was laughing, because if they were looking for gorgeous or extreme wealth, they were out of luck! (laughs).
:Sweet Home Oklahoma” airs on Bravo on Monday 10/9c