If you have been following the ‘Real Housewives of New York City’ saga over the past few years, you already know the original cast has been a hot topic. Now, it has all come to a head. Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Jill Zarin, and Kelly Bensimon have signed a deal with E! for a brand new show,
Page Six first broke the news.
The news lands at a particularly awkward moment for Bravo. The network made the bold decision to wipe the slate clean back in 2022, replacing the entire original roster with a fresh crop of New York women led by former J. Crew exec Jenna Lyons. The idea had been to run both a rebooted ‘RHONY’ and a legacy version side by side. That legacy project never materialised after talks with the original cast fell apart over money in 2023. And the reboot itself has struggled to win over fans, with ‘RHONY’ notably absent from Bravo’s current schedule for the first time since the show’s 2008 debut.
A source close to the situation summed it up plainly:
“This cast really represented the golden years of ‘RHONY.’ After Bravo fired Jill, Kelly, Alex and Cindy, the ratings dropped like 40% and never really recovered. Meanwhile, the viewers just don’t like the new crop, and they’ve been begging for the old cast to come back.”
There is an added layer of intrigue to the whole thing. E! and Bravo were once stablemates under the NBCUniversal umbrella, but E! was spun off into a new independent company called Versant earlier this month.
That means Bravo is now set to compete directly with a cast it originally created, on a network that is technically a rival for the first time.
Of the original group, only Alex McCord and Bethenny Frankel are absent from the new lineup.
McCord is based in Australia, and Frankel has previously made clear she has no interest in returning to reality television.
The new E! show is expected to air by the end of the year.
E! has not commented.