A group of long-time friends from Oklahoma are determined to put their state on the map and give America a glimpse into their quirky friendship in Bravo’s newest reality series Sweet Home Oklahoma (Mondays at 10/9c). The three blonde besties, who are all divorced career women and mothers, include interior designer Jennifer Welch, medical sales rep Lee Murphy and lawyer Angie “Pumps” Sullivan. Also part of the gang is Jennifer’s ex-hubby and good friend to the others, Josh Welch. The stand-out star — so far — is the ballsy, unapologetic, mother of three Angie “Pumps” Sullivan.
She’s a hoot. Once a closet smoker, Angie Sullivan (her friends call her Pumps) now openly peels on her long rubber kitchen glove before lighting up believing the glove helps mask the smell of smoke. And, she doesn’t give a darn just how ridiculous she looks in doing so. “I used to wear robes, and put my hair back in a ponytail,” she explains. “I double-robed so my kids wouldn’t know it, but now it’s a psychological thing with the glove. I don’t want to smoke around them without the glove.”
Pumps is that tell-it-as-it-is friend every gal needs. Her self-deprecating style of humor and non-Barbie doll appearance make her a refreshing face in the world of reality TV. “I think every time I see myself on TV, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas starts playing through my head,” she laughs. While Jennifer and Lee tend to remind her of healthier life options (she was Tulsa’s high school homecoming queen), Pumps is just fine in her own skin.
“You can tell by looking at them that they’re Barbie Dolls,” she says of her friends. “You can tell by looking at me that I’d much rather be in a candy store then be working out. They really want me to be in the workout mode, and I really don’t want to be. I’ve decided if I have the balls to sit there in my hippopotamus body, and be on TV, I just need to accept this is who I am and go on and live.”
As the mother to two teenagers and an 11-year-old, she initially had a million concerns over doing a reality series and exposing her children to potential criticisms. “We had many, many, many long conversations about, you know, ‘people are going to say horrible and hateful things more than likely, because that’s just what people do on the internet.’ Talking about privacy, talking about the hurtful things that will be said about me that will hurt them. So it’s an ongoing process. Every week with each show, we talk about it,” she says. “In the beginning they were more Gung-ho, and as it got closer to being on TV it was terrifying and overwhelming. For me too! I understood where they were coming from. It’s just been an open dialog and will continue to be.”
In the Monday, March 27th episode, the tables turn on Pumps when her pals get back at her with a prank of their own. “I made a mountain out of a mole hill of a prank. But it was not nearly as funny as Jennifer and I going to Lee’s date [last week’s episode]. They thought it was, but I didn’t,” Pumps explains of the upcoming episode. “I guess being the butt of the prank is not nearly as fun. I tend to be the butt of more pranks because I’m the most clueless, in terms of, I’m not really paying attention to what they’re doing, as much as they’re paying attention to what I’m doing.”
Unlike other female-focused reality series, this one is less about mean-spirited drama and gossip, and more so a celebration of friendship in middle America. “I’m really grateful, and so very blessed that I have group of girlfriends that I can go through life with,” Sullivan concludes. “Life’s hard!”