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Reality check of rich but hollow lives

Riches, trophy spouses, a reality check and coloured women charting their own career paths — the eight-episode Netflix series offers a peek into the uber-rich world of Miami millionaires. Luxe homes, fancy yachts, champagne and caviar meals, swanky wheels to...
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If you liked ‘Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives’, perhaps ‘W.A.G.s to Riches’ will work.
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film: Netflix W.A.G.s to Riches Supervising Story

Director: Nakla P Williams

Cast: Sharelle Rosado, Maranda Johnson, Ashley Wheeler, Lastonia Leviston, Alexis Welch Stoudemire, Porsha Berto, Sade Vanessa, Keeta Hill and Julz Goddard

Riches, trophy spouses, a reality check and coloured women charting their own career paths — the eight-episode Netflix series offers a peek into the uber-rich world of Miami millionaires. Luxe homes, fancy yachts, champagne and caviar meals, swanky wheels to beautiful women, ‘W.A.G.s to Riches’ is a super-rich world. But the current and ex-WAGS (wives and girlfriends) of famous men have moved on from being ‘kept b*****’ to earning their own millions, or so they say.

This group is led by boss lady Sharelle Rosado (from ‘Selling Tampa’), a real estate agent. She employs like-minded women Ashley Wheeler, Porsha Berto and Maranda Johnson. Lastonia ‘Stoni’ Leviston runs her high-end boutique Instatique; Sade Vanessa is a swimwear designer; Alexis Welch Stoudemire is a tech investor; Keeta Hill, a tech entrepreneur and the only white, half Puerto Rican, half Italian to be exact, runs an entertainment business!

And they are all dating, were ex to, married to or are due to be married to athletes and rappers, right from NFL stars Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson, Robbie ‘Chosen’ Anderson, Tyreek Hill, Philip Wheeler and Duke Riley; rapper Kodak Black, world champion boxer Andre Berto, amongst others.

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The opening episode that sees Maranda Johnson ‘Mjae’ buy her infant son Prince Kapri a 35-carat, big diamond Cuban, sets the tone for this larger-than-life series. Mjae admits that growing up, she couldn’t afford new Jordans each time they came, but whatever her daughter puts her finger on is hers. Also, she extols to teach her daughter the value of every dollar.

We don’t see the value coming, but what we see is Miami and its hotspots. The very first episode sees two women, Sharelle and Stoni, break into a fight over the latter’s leaked sex tape, and more scandals follow. Only, all this gossip happens at picture-perfect locales — Miami Beach Golf Club, where reportedly the deals are made on the course, House of Versace, magnificent mansions to exclusive clubs!

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There is enough intrigue and some run-ins with the law to keep going as one wanders between nine beautiful Black women, their stories, baby daddies to co-sisters or baby mammas. There is talk of racism, then reproductive rights to postpartum and blended family, and as one spends hours after hours, a total of 269 minutes, one hopes for it to make a telling comment on real lives.

Meanwhile, personal chefs to fire dancers, business mergers to the Black Baywatch beach volleyball keep one in awe of these truly fabulous lives. Who is it for? Any reality TV fanatic who will buy a fancy drama. One appreciates Black women running businesses, fashion on point with desirous bodies and even more envious lives and the fancy Miami experience that they bring. We love the innocent Alexis-Jonathan dating scene track.

However, it’s all superficial. No one truly strikes it home. Sharelle, with her big talk of elevating Black women businesses, is she shallow in her relationship? You want a share in your husband’s money, but are not ready to share yours? Let’s talk when these WAGS are ready to step up financial equality, take a stand on fidelity, and stop living off the baby daddies. If per chance you have watched ‘Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives’, ‘W.A.G.s to Riches’ is probably for you; the rest can just give it a miss.

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