RHOCheshire Episode 2 Recap: Like A Cork In The Ocean

By Chris Adelaide

It's a new day in Cheshire, and while The Creme De La Creme Ball may be over, some of the ladies are still resonating and dragging out the Magali 'ticketgate' drama. In between nagging her daughter Darby, Dawn is seething about Magali. She is completely ignoring the truth about ticket-gate, which Magali explained in the last episode, and would rather stick pins in her eyes than have to go on a night out with her. Well get those pins ready Dawn, because you're on a TV show where you HAVE to be together.

A hungover Tanya visits Leanne and they head out to meet Ampika for a boxing class. Tanya has never boxed before but is willing to give it a go. On the way there, she asks how Leanne is feeling after her confrontation with Magali the night before. Leanne says her getting involved was more to do with Magali talking badly about Dawn - which she didn't do, it was actually Dawn talking badly to everyone about Magali - but Lapdog Leanne is inclined to believe her owner, I mean friend, Dawn.

Tanya is nervous about boxing, especially after seeing how good Ampika is at it, and tries to take a drink of water while wearing her boxing gloves. The bottle falls to the ground, water everywhere, and I think I just grew to like Tanya even more, because that's something that I would do too. Tanya is awful at boxing, so resorts to her famous drunk dance move 'baby dinosaur' instead and decides never to try boxing again. After the session, the ladies sit down and talk soon turns to men, but while Leanne and Tanya discuss their footballer husbands, single Ampika can't help but feel out of place.

Elsewhere in Cheshire, Magali and Lauren are having drinks and getting to know one another better. Lauren feels Magali was given a hard time by the others at the Ball and she wants to give her a chance. They both love to talk and Lauren indulges Magali in some intelligent conversation, like how the man who invented the toilet was called Mr Crapola. "I'm not stupid - I have Sky News!" Lauren exclaims at an amused Magali. Without the outside influence of the other ladies, they hit it off instantly. Magali sees Lauren as a shining butterfly, full of positivity, and Lauren can't help but notice that Magali has manners and is well bred, unlike some of the other women.

'Momager' Dawn still isn't pleased with how her daughters' girlband, Alula, performed at the Ball. She visits them in the studio after having already spoken to Darby about it, and this time confronts all three band members. When asked how they felt the performance went, an unnamed band member responds that it was 'fab' and Dawn got those pins from earlier ready, set to poke an eye or two out. She asks if the girls are ever offended by her and the same unnamed member shakes her head furiously as Dawn jangles the pins in her hand off camera. Darby tries to respond, but her mum just shouts over her, just like she did with Magali when she tried to explain her side of the ticket debacle. It's a common theme with Dawn

Back home after boxing and soaking her single cares away in the tub, Ampika is calling all the ladies to invite them to a dinner party at her home, no husbands allowed. Lauren is still at lunch with Magali when her call comes through, and just as Ampika is about to hang up after inviting her, Lauren mentions that she is with Magali and asks if she can come too. Lauren puts the phone on loud speaker, a Housewives staple, and Ampika is unsure but says that she is welcome to come. Magali is excited to meet her outside of Dawn's influence, and Ampika says she just doesn't want any trouble at the party, so she's going to address the situation as soon as Magali arrives. Maybe not the best idea for a trouble free night, especially considering Ampika hasn't heard the whole story of what really happened.

It's the day of the dinner party and Ampika has hired a chef and two muscular hunks to be topless waiters for the night and they greet the guests at the door as they arrive. When Leanne, Dawn and Tanya arrive, Ampika tells them she plans on addressing their issue with Magali, and Leanne quietly pats her hair and blinks her eyes, wondering when Dawn will allow her to speak next - this could be her storyline!

Magali feels nothing can go wrong as she walks in with new friend Lauren by her side, and before she can even put her clutch bag down and say "Hello",  Ampika brings up the Ball. It's pretty awkward and even Dawn looks shocked and confused. Dawn's doctor had told her that she would no longer be able to display those facial expressions after her latest round of Botox, but there they are for all to see. Leanne just looks like a rabbit in the headlights - there goes all hope for her having a storyline this episode. Sucks to be you, Leanne. Down girl.

Ampika says tonight is just about having a good time, but this is a pretty uncomfortable way to start the evening. Magali thanks her for the invitation, and the atmosphere is making everyone feel awkward. Tanya wants a hard hat, Magali would like to sip her champagne without being harrassed, and Leanne just wants a brain. Follow the Yellow Brick Road, Leanne, follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Everyone finally sits down at the table and the shirtless waiters bring out the first course. It's all going pretty well until Lauren asks where Tanya is from originally, and Tanya is unimpressed when Lauren mistakes Sunderland, where she is from, as Southerland. Lauren asks whose children go to a state school and Tanya, who isn't from Southerland -just FYI, is happy to announce her kids do because she doesn't want them growing up like Lauren, who she brands a "snotty old goat". Ouch.

Talk turns back to Dawn's Event and specifically Alula's performance. The ladies were impressed by the band, but Dawn says she wants her daughter to be hungry for success and doesn't see a problem in teling the girls that they need to lose weight. Unsurprisingly, everyone else around the table reacts badly to this, and even Leanne malfunctions temporarily and says Dawn should be careful what she says. Dawn grabs her collar and Leanne takes it back, whimpering, while Magali just sits back and watches the spiders eat one another. She's smart enough not to get involved in this tangled web.

The main course arrives and apart from Ampika and Magali, nobody else is impressed by how pink the steak is. "I'm more f*cking cooked than that" Tanya jokes, while Ampika and the chef silently glare and agree for the steak to be cooked longer and returned with a side order of spit.

Marriage is the next topic of discussion, and Ampika can't handle the conversation. She feels left out and it's clear how uncomfortable she is while they all discuss their husbands. Just as the re-cooked steaks arrive, she flips and tells everyone to leave. Dawn tugs on Leanne's collar again and she offers to take Ampika outside and calm her down - she just sniffed out a new storyline, and pounces on it fast!

When Ampika returns, she tries to explain her behaviour and says she feels alone  'like a cork in the ocean', and after reading all the fairy tales as a child, she expected a beautiful castle and Prince Charming. Before anyone can start singing 'Someday My Prince Will Come', she suddenly reveals that she's been a mistress to a man for six years. The women's jaws drop. Magali isn't afraid to say that she feels it's wrong, and when Ampika says she loves him, the other ladies turn their heads in shock after such a bombshell. I don't think anyone had expected Ampika's Prince to come with baggage.

Next Time: Ampika regrets her dinner party revelation; Tanya throws a launch party for her book and Magali takes on Leanne!

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Photo Credit: ITVBe