Australia's reality TV queen Gina Liano and her fellow Real Housewives of Melbourne are about to take Hollywood by storm.
The Australian version of the long-running American Real Housewives franchise will make its debut this weekend on US television.
The series is being screened on Sundays by the cable channel Bravo, which is owned by NBC Universal.
NBC Universal's Australian production company, Matchbox Pictures, produced the local version.
Promotional clips from the series, which features barrister Gina Liano, businesswomen Andrea Moss and Chyka Keebaugh, psychic Jackie Gillies, property developer Janet Roach and socialite Lydia Schiavello, are already airing on Bravo.
Bravo is broadcasting the series on its flagship cable channel, as well as Bravotv.com and its video-on-demand service Bravo Now.
The channel will air the 10 one-hour episodes which were produced, and the two-part reunion special, hosted by designer Alex Perry.
Australian fans who want to follow reaction to the series on social media, however, will have to set their alarm clocks; the series has been scheduled for noon on Sunday, US Pacific time, which is 5am AEST Monday morning.
Bravo launched the franchise with The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006.
It was followed by The Real Housewives of New York City and The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2008), The Real Housewives of New Jersey (2009), The Real Housewives of D.C. and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2010) and The Real Housewives of Miami (2011).
Although the channel has unofficially put the brakes on producing new versions of the Real Housewives franchise in the US, several international versions have been launched, including The Real Housewives of Athens (2011), The Real Housewives of Vancouver (2012), France's Les Vraies Housewives (2013) and, in 2014, The Real Housewives of Melbourne.
Of all of the versions, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is the strongest performer in broad marketing terms, largely because of the popularity of its star, British-born, Los Angeles-based restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump.
Foxtel has commissioned a second season of The Real Housewives of Melbourne. Filming is expected to begin by the end of 2014, for broadcast in 2015.
