The original cast of Bravo’s beloved “Real Housewives of New York City” have packed up their pinot and defected to a rival network, Page Six has learned.
Sources say that Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon and Ramona Singer have signed a deal with E! and expect to have a new show on the air by the end of the year.
The same gang had tried to ink a deal with Bravo for a “Real Housewives of New York: Legacy” show in 2023, but — as we reported at the time — the talks fell apart over money.
The news comes as the current iteration of “RHONY” flounders.
Bravo had wiped the slate clean in 2022, canning the whole cast and hiring a whole new battalion of warring women, this time around with former J. Crew exec Jenna Lyons. (The intention had been to essentially split the show in two, airing both “RHONY” and “RHONY: Legacy” concurrently).
But that project is up on bricks after viewers failed to warm to the new crew.
For the first time since its inception, “RHONY” is not on Bravo’s schedule, while producers search for a formula that reclaims its former magic.
Adding a wrinkle to the tale, Bravo and E! were once part of NBCUniversal, but the media giant spun E! off as of this month, and it’s now owned by new company Versant. So Bravo will be competing with a cast it birthed on a rival company’s air.
Bravo had effectively controlled reality TV for the past decade. But with Netflix investing heavily in “Housewives”-esque shows, and this new “RHONY”-in-exile show underway, it seems that Bravo is no long the only game in town.
Said a source, “This cast really represented the golden years of ‘RHONY.’ After Bravo fired Jill, Kelly, Alex [McCord] and Cindy [Barshop], the ratings dropping 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.”
From the early cast, only Alex McCord and Bethenny Frankel are missing. McCord lives in Australia, and Frankel has sworn off reality TV.
De Lesseps, Morgan and Singer made it until the final season before the dramatic purge at the end of the 13th season.
E! didn’t comment.
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