Leah Remini Is Getting a Diamond! King of Queens Star Joins RHOBH Season 16

Beverly Hills just landed one of its most recognizable Housewives yet. Leah Remini is joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 16 as a full-time cast member, bringing the actress, producer and famously outspoken television personality into the Bravo universe.

Remini is expected to begin filming in Los Angeles this week, joining a season that's already in production. She becomes the second major newcomer announced for Season 16 following Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles alum Tracy Tutor, who revealed earlier this month that she was trading luxury real estate for a diamond.

And if Bravo was looking for someone unlikely to sit quietly through an uncomfortable dinner, this casting certainly makes sense.

Leah Remini Is No Stranger to Reality TV

Most viewers know Remini as Carrie Heffernan from the long-running CBS sitcom The King of Queens, where she starred opposite Kevin James for nine seasons. Her television career, however, stretches well beyond sitcoms and includes plenty of experience in the unscripted world.

Remini previously opened up her home life to cameras with TLC's Leah Remini: It's All Relative and later produced and hosted the Emmy-winning A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. She's also appeared on Dancing With the Stars and served as a co-host on The Talk, so stepping in front of reality television cameras isn't exactly unfamiliar territory.

What will be new is entering the very particular world of RHOBH, where friendships, grudges and dinner-table arguments have a habit of becoming season-long storylines. Remini has built a public persona around speaking her mind, which could make watching her navigate this group particularly interesting.

Who Is Returning for RHOBH Season 16?

Remini and Tutor are joining a cast filled with familiar faces. Kyle Richards, Erika Jayne, Dorit Kemsley, Sutton Stracke, Bozoma Saint John and Rachel Zoe are set to return as full-time Housewives, while Kathy Hilton and Jennifer Tilly will appear as friends of the cast.

One Season 15 addition who won't be returning is Amanda Frances, who confirmed earlier this month that her time with the franchise had come to an end after one season.

Season 16 has already started filming, although Remini is joining production after cameras began rolling. That means she'll be walking into a group with plenty of existing history while simultaneously figuring out where she fits into the Beverly Hills dynamic.

RHOBH Season 16 Just Got a Lot More Interesting

Adding Remini gives Bravo something more than another new Housewife. She's coming into the franchise with decades of television experience and significant name recognition among viewers who may not even regularly watch Real Housewives.

Pairing her with Tutor also gives Season 16 two newcomers who already have established identities outside the franchise rather than introducing viewers to complete unknowns. How either woman gets along with the returning cast is another question entirely, and that's probably where the fun begins.

Bravo hasn't announced a premiere date for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 16 yet, but with filming underway and Remini officially entering the mix, there are already plenty of reasons to keep an eye on Beverly Hills.