Brandi Glanville

Unafraid to speak her mind on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" (Bravo, 2010- ), Brandi Glanville stood out as one of the hit reality franchise's most outspoken and controversial cast members. She launched her career as a model, yet remained relatively unknown until she married actor Eddie Cibrian in 2001. After their marriage ended due to Cibrian's 2009 affair with singer LeAnn Rimes, Glanville endured a media firestorm that tried to paint her as a scorned wife. Instead, she stepped out of her ex-husband's shadow after joining "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in 2011. On a reality series teeming with epic rivalries and intense confrontations, Glanville always stood up for herself against her castmates. Viewers loved Glanville's carefree nature, which helped her become a series regular the following season. She was even more candid off-screen, constantly engaging in tabloid and Twitter wars with her ex-husband's new wife Rimes. Regardless, her well-documented feuds only boosted Glanville's media presence and career. In 2013, Glanville added author to her résumé with the publication of her best-selling book "Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders," opening up about her personal highs and lows, while also revealing what made her, amidst all the drama, a survivor.

Brandi Glanville was born on Nov. 16, 1972 and raised in Sacramento, CA. She began modeling at 16 after moving to Paris, France, walking the runways for Giorgio Armani, Chanel, and Gucci. Early in her career, the future reality star also graced the pages of Glamour and Cosmopolitan. A statuesque beauty, Glanville caught the eye of actor Eddie Cibrian, who rose to fame on the small screen with featured roles on "The Young and the Restless" (CBS, 1973- ) and "Third Watch" (NBC, 1999-2005), where he co-starred as a womanizing firefighter. The couple married in May 2001 and had two sons together. Glanville mostly stayed out of the Hollywood spotlight until 2009, when her marriage fell apart after Cibrian reportedly had an affair with Grammy-winning singer and actress LeAnn Rimes, whom he met while filming the TV movie "Northern Lights" (Lifetime, 2009). Cibrian and Rimes went public with their relationship shortly after she separated from her husband Dean Sheremet. Glanville and Cibrian divorced in September 2010, less than three months before he and Rimes announced their whirlwind engagement.

With one failed marriage and two children to raise, Glanville appeared on the Bravo reality series "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in 2011. She joined the show during season two as a recurring "friend of the Housewives" and immediately butted heads with the cast, most notably sisters Kim and Kyle Richards. Glanville's then-ongoing divorce from Cibrian was a hot topic throughout the season, but it also showed a layer of vulnerability underneath her outspoken demeanor. The following season, she was promoted to series regular and proceeded to make an enemy out of Adrienne Maloof, another cast member whom Glanville revealed had used a surrogate to carry her twin sons. Yet Glanville's on-air rivalries paled in comparison to her intense and public feud with Rimes. The women lashed out at each other in celebrity magazines and on Twitter, occasionally calling a cease-fire for the sake of Glanville and Cibrian's sons. With hopes of telling her side of the story, Glanville released her memoir Drinking and Tweeting: And Other Brandi Blunders in 2013. She set the record straight about her marriage, her husband's extramarital affairs, and her loudmouthed personality, all of which helped her book land on The New York Times bestsellers list. That same year, Glanville went after comedian and vocal "Housewives" critic Chelsea Handler, spewing profanities and calling her names during an appearance on the Bravo talk show "Watch What Happens: Live" (2009- ).

By Marc Cuenco