Bravo Is Rebooting “The Real Housewives Of New York City”

March 23, 2022 / Posted by:

The last season of The Real Housewives of New York City was a bigger trainwreck than LuAnn DeLesseps at a gay piano bar. The ratings took a nosedive, filming during COVID effed up the vibe (there were only five series regulars), and the cast responded to the addition of Eboni K. Williams, the first Black RHONY cast member, with constant microaggressions and racism. Most of the discrimination came from original cast member Ramona Singer. The very unpleasant season didn’t even get a reunion, due to “scheduling issues” (although many thought it was Bravo protecting Ramona’s image for the then-upcoming spin-off, Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip).

The thirteenth season aired from May to September 2021. According to RHONY law, the fourteenth season should’ve begun filming this past fall. But it didn’t. In November Andy Cohen said things were “kind of on pause.” Many speculated that the show would get canceled, or, if it did return, Bravo would clean house and recast. Today we finally got our answer: The Real Housewives of New York City will be split down the middle!

Andy Cohen tells Variety that the current series will be rebooted and completely recast, and a second series will be created so the former cast members can do their thing:

“You know that we’re at a crossroads for ‘RHONY,’” Cohen said. “We’ve spent a lot of time figuring out where to go. And the plan that we’ve come up with, I think, is a real gift to the fans.”

Bravo’s first priority is to fix the mothership — a challenge Cohen looks forward to enthusiastically. “There are thousands of stories to tell here,” he said. “This is the most multicultural, diverse, and energetic and exciting city in America: We are searching for a multicultural group of friends who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country. We’re looking for a group of women who are real friends, and who are of diverse backgrounds, races and religions.”

So far there are no casting announcements for either show, but Variety speculates that Ramona won’t appear. This is based on the fact that Andy mentions Bravo is looking to cast old Housewives who are “beloved by fans.” And while Ramona is many things (delusional, rude, racist, anti-Semitic, absolutely fucking bonkers), “beloved” is not one of them.

Andy says that he’s not super-focused on the legacy version of the series. He’s more excited about starting from scratch on the main series:

“I want us to find five new stars that nobody’s ever heard of, who have real connections to each other. Who are friends. I want it to be fun! I want it to be funny. I want it to tick the boxes for everything that we love about the “Housewives.” They’re fun, they’re outspoken, they’re dramatic. They’re aspirational. They’re successful, they’re opinionated. And they’re their own group. We’ve been telling the story really well of this group of women for a long time. Which, by the way, if you really look at it over 13 seasons, very little turnover.”

He wouldn’t confirm if Eboni K. Williams will return, only saying that the network is “interviewing multiple groups of friends,” and Eboni will be considered if she is interested and “has friends that would meet our casting goals.”

So far there’s no official title for the second show, but Andy says it’s being referred to internally as “RHONY: Throwback” or “RHONY: Legacy.” How ’bout, “RHONY White: Awww, Just Let ‘Em Be Old & Problematic.”

Pic: INSTAR

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