One of my guiltiest, “why do I watch this?” guilty pleasures is “Flipping Out” on Bravo, and a highlight of last season was crazy Jeff Lewis’ gift of a modern-art portrait to his longsuffering housekeeper, Zoila. She hated it; she thought she looked ugly, and she was right. (See?) It may have been art, but it made her grotesque, even after a fix. So, during the “Flipping Out” reunion, our own Andy Cohen suggested that Bravo sell the portrait and Zoila get the money. Jeff agreed, then tried to backtrack, but the sale went on, and here is the result:

PORTRAIT OF “FLIPPING OUT’S” ZOILA CHAVEZ SHATTERS BRAVO’S ONLINE AUCTION RECORDS REACHING MORE THAN  $10K

NEW YORK – August 20, 2008 – An auction for the portrait of Zoila Chavez, Jeff Lewis’ loving housekeeper from Bravo’s “Flipping Out,” broke records for BravoTV.com, raising over $10,000. The auction for [Zoila] Chavez’s portrait was announced during the “Flipping Out Reunion Special” which aired on Bravo on August 12, 2008. The painting was featured in an episode this season and was originally given to [Zoila] Chavez as a birthday present from Lewis. The online bidding frenzy lasted for one week, finally coming to close yesterday evening. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to Lewis’ devoted housekeeper.

” If I knew how much the painting was going to sell for, I never would have agreed to surrendering all the proceeds,” joked Lewis. “I am worried that with this much cash in hand, she might leave me. But in all honesty, she deserves every penny for having put up with me for so long.”

The second season of “Flipping Out” scored record high ratings for Bravo, delivering over one million total viewers for four consecutive weeks and earning double-digit growth among total viewers compared to the previous season.