Wrangling eight reality TV stars is no easy task, especially when you’re not a native English speaker. But Thepsiri Thapthimthong, aka Pepsi, did just that for the third season of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip,” which is now airing on Peacock.
Pepsi, the butler/concierge at the Village Aye resort in Thailand, catered to each of these demanding divas’ needs, from killing bugs in their room to fulfilling outrageous orders. Before each of the women arrived in Phuket, Pepsi FaceTimed with them individually to prepare them for the trip.
“I was worried for him,” Alexia Nepola told TheWrap. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s not gonna be able to handle all of us! But guess what, thank God we had him and he was totally able and capable. And showed us a thing or two along the way!”
Marysol Patton, Nepola’s “The Real Housewives of Miami” cast mate, said Pepsi reminded her of her late mother (and fan favorite) Elsa Patton.
“We have this dinner where I have all the ladies dressed in white,” Patton recalls. “We were having a cocktail-making class and I was hosting. And he sat us all down, and he started talking to us and reprimanding us. And I could have sworn my mother was speaking through him. I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ I kept telling Alexia. ‘That’s my mother. That’s my mother talking. My mother has taken over his body.’ He was talking to us just the way my mother would have talked to us if she had been standing there on that trip with us.”
“Pepsi was probably the best part of that trip,” Candiace Dillard Basset agreed. “He was so sweet and so accommodating and so knowledgeable! He would share whatever we needed to know about Thailand and the culture. And he made us feel safe.”
The “Real Housewives of Potomac” star continued: “I was having a lot of anxiety, about being away from home and being around people that I wasn’t familiar with. And it was really hard for me mentally to adjust. I wasn’t really talking to my husband because we were in a fight. And I think that exacerbated my anxiety a lot. So, you know, waking up to this sweet face who was bringing me fresh food every morning was such the highlight of our day.”
But Dillard reveals that Pepsi wasn’t a pushover. “You’ll see him really lay into us at one point in the trip,” she teases. “He let us have it because we were acting a fool in his house.”
“Pepsi was up before any lady got up in the morning and he stayed up,” said Gizelle Bryant, “He put us to bed and he woke us up in the morning. Every day!”
Not only did Pepsi deliver breakfast every morning. He also fulfilled some very unusual requests, including finding Kentucky Fried Chicken for Porsha Williams … in Thailand.
“I will say [KFC in Thailand] looks a tiny bit different and tastes a little bit different.” the former “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star told TheWrap. “But, you know, it was fulfilling. It was everything. I had it every other night!”
The housewives were so taken by Pepsi’s charm and hospitality that they’d love to return the favor.
“I think we all individually told him that if he wanted to come to the States, we will pay for his flight, we will put him up,” Williams said. “We want him to come eat in our cities. I will show him everywhere. And I will probably just want him at my house with my family all day because he was a good time!
“We’re gonna take to a Cuban place!” declared Miami wives Nepola and Patton. “Eat some croquetas, rice and black beans! And we’d take him dancing for sure.”
With the invitations extended, perhaps we’ll see Pepsi as a “friend of” in future seasons!
Listen to Pepsi describe the “The Real Housewives” in his own words:
“The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” Season 3 is streaming on Peacock.