‘Sunday Night Football’ alternate broadcast: If you love Bravo and chaos, this one’s for you

Peacock’s alternate Sunday Night Football broadcast, Reality Hot Seat, featuring reality star commentary seems like it was produced specifically for me.

I primarily watch three types of shows: Live sports, documentaries, and a whole lot of Bravo. So Peacock and NBC have a very clear idea of what I like, and I absolutely loved the idea of this alternate broadcast. In theory, anyway.

I’ll sometimes pop on the Manningcast during Monday Night Football to see specific guests, and I do really enjoy the Manning brothers’ commentary and jokes at each other’s expense. But I tend to miss a lot of game action because I’m distracted. I expected the same with this alternate broadcast, and I was right. But it was worth it.

This matchup was between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs, but that did not stop Boston Rob from doing the most Boston thing ever and wearing his Drake Maye jersey on set. There was a live studio audience of Chiefs and Texans fans, and while this wasn’t the most knowledgeable panel overall when it comes to the NFL, it was fun as a viewer and particularly as a Bravo fan.

What the alternate broadcast was like

The broadcast was hosted by television and podcast host Justin Sylvester, and featured guest co-hosts Heather Gay from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Kate Chastain from Below Deck and Traitors, and reality competition icon Boston Rob Mariano.

Summer House’s West Wilson was a part of the production as a sideline reporter joining live from Arrowhead Stadium. Unsurprisingly, it was so loud in Arrowhead that he could hardly hear anything the group in the studio asked him. But Wilson is a massive Chiefs fan and a longtime sports journalist, and he looked like he was having the time of his life — until he got a shot of the studio and saw that Sylvester had put on a Texans jacket and Boston Rob started talking shit about the Chiefs.

If your priority is actually to follow the game, this is not the broadcast for you. They did have side-by-side videos of the studio and the game broadcast, and the game was on a huge screen behind the couch on set, but it’s slim on analysis and heavy on the Bravo tea. Boston Rob knows his stuff, and he did his best and explained some of the basics about football, but this was a talkative crew and the conversation was extremely wide-ranging. In the second quarter it basically turned into the rest of the group interviewing Boston Rob about the game as the game was being played.

Countess Luann De Lesseps, a member of the original cast of Real Housewives of New York and recently a guest on Bravo’s Love Hotel, performed her song ‘What do I want for Christmas?’ during the halftime show. It seemed like her earpiece was off early in the performance but unsurprisingly, Luann recovered beautifully. The Countess was also asked which artist she’d love to share a stage with. Her answer was Miley Cyrus, because, “I like a badass.”

The audience members who are fans of the winning team got a prize — well, honestly everyone who loves Real Housewives of Beverly Hills got a prize, but the fans of the winning team got to choose between an exclusive preview clip of Below Deck Med, RHOBH or the new Vanderpump Rules, and RHOBH was the winner. We got to see Mauricio saying WAY too much about dating to Kyle Richards. Ick.

Here are some other highlights from a chaotic evening.

Highlights:

• Traitors alum and brother of Zac, Dylan Efron, joined the broadcast via video so we could bear witness to his bromance with Rob from their Traitors time together. Sylvester asked him which Bravolebrities would make the best quarterback, and Efron’s immediate answer was Andy Cohen. I regret to inform you that Dylan Efron, despite being charming and adorable, does not know ball. Andy Cohen is 5’9, and while it’s not unheard of, it’s rare for a quarterback that height to succeed. Efron did name Real Housewife of Beverly Hills’ Bozoma St. John as his best backup quarterback. Quarterbacks are often intelligent, strong leaders and tall, and she checks all three of those boxes, while Andy only checks two (the most important two, though!)
• Boston Rob is just as Boston as you’d expect. He would not let any comment pass without bringing up the Patriots. Kate Chastain mentioned Patrick Mahomes as the best quarterback in the NFL, and Rob brought up Drake Maye. Maria Taylor mentioned the Falcons, and Rob brought up 28-3. I’m married to a Patriots fan so I’m used to it.
• And Rob is also hilarious. Exhibit A: His take on Patrick Mahomes’ pregame outfit? “He looks like Teddy Ruxpin.”

• Petition to rename penalty flags punishment flags, which is what Heather Gay calls them.
• Hotseat guest Melissa Gorga from Real Housewives of New Jersey confirmed that she and her husband Joe no longer have beef with her sister-in-law Teresa Giudice. She also said that the Gorgas are a family of Giants fans, which you know Boston Rob absolutely hated to hear.
• Top Chef’s Kristen Kish, who is also on the upcoming season of Traitors, joined the hotseat and name-dropped Donna Kelce as one of the cast members she enjoyed getting to know in the castle. She also said that Buffalo chicken dip is a favorite of hers to bring to a tailgate, and I agree.
• Speaking of Donna Kelce, Wilson did a sideline interview with her pregame at Arrowhead that aired during this broadcast, and she talked about what it’s like to be the mom of two NFL players, and she said it can be intense, but she loves the excitement and the competition. A self-described Traitors fangirl who has watched all of the international versions too, Mama Kelce said it’s also an intense experience.
• I am pretty sure that neither Sylvester nor Heather had ever seen a doinked field goal before, and watching them, along with the studio audience, absolutely lose their minds over it reminded me that the doink is truly one of the finest moments in sports.
• I have long thought that Kate Chastain should be on pretty much any show that involves giving commentary on anything, and she did not disappoint on Sunday night. She took a turn at the telestrator, demonstrating her sense of humor more than her football analysis chops as she drew what happened on the doinked field goal. Chief stews really can pull anything off.
• “Hail Mary is a prayer, but also a football move.” – Kate Chastain, ball knower
• Maria Taylor was the best hotseat guest, no shade to anyone else. I love Bronwyn Newport from RHOSLC and the Summer House folks. But Maria brought some actual football expertise to the broadcast. I think Boston Rob was so relieved to have someone else around who knew what pass interference is.
• West Wilson’s Summer House pals Ciara Miller, Carl Radke, and Kyle Cooke joined the show in the second half — Carl in a Steelers TJ Watt jersey, Kyle in a Patriots Tom Brady jersey, and Ciara in red for the Falcons, even though I assure you that West wishes it was for the Chiefs.
• Poor West: Each time they cut to him on the broadcast, his voice was hoarser and he looked sadder. He said the vibes in Arrowhead had definitely shifted, and Kate Chastain tried to encourage him by reminding him about Chiefs vs. Bills in the 2022 Divisional Round in Buffalo, a game that the Chiefs were losing with 13 seconds left to play. West’s dad left the game early and the Chiefs, as everyone knows, came back and won in an instant classic. Nothing like that happened for the Chiefs on Sunday night, but it was nice of Kate to try!
• West does not think Travis Kelce will retire after this season, because he’d probably rather go out on a high note. I think he’s right.
• Boston Rob looked more and more miserable the more anyone around him talked about football. I don’t think Tom Brady himself could convince Rob to be on this show again.

My verdict here is that there’s no way I’d choose this broadcast over the main one on a regular basis — I feel like I actually watched about six minutes of game play, and there were times when everyone on set was talking at once — just like a Real Housewives reunion — and that gets old very quickly. And if you don’t love Bravo shows and reality competition shows, or if you’re going to be annoyed by a bunch of chatter from people who don’t get football at all, this is not the show for you.

But overall, it was fun for me! I loved the previews, I loved all of the Bravo and Traitors details we got, and I was entertained by the sheer, unadulterated chaos — again, just like a Real Housewives reunion — from start to finish. And in the future, if Reality Hot Seat is an option going forward, if we end up with a Sunday Night Football game that’s boring and/or a blowout, I’d definitely switch over.