NEWSLuann de Lesseps Admits She Was 'Surprised' By 'RHONY' Casting Shakeup, Reveals Her Status With The Series
Earlier this month, Andy Cohen shocked Bravo diehards when he announced that The Real Housewives of New York City will be going through a bit of a shakeup. To start, there will now be two iterations of the series: RHONY: Legacy will follow some of the series' most well known ladies, while another Big Apple-based show is casting an entire new group of women.
The most recent season was plagued with problems from diversity issues to boring storylines, and starred Luann de Lesseps, Leah McSweeney, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, and Eboni K. Williams, and though de Lesseps has been on the show since its 2008 inception, she admitted she was blindsided by Cohen's announcement.
"I was not mad at it," she insisted to the Daily Mail. "I was surprised, obviously — not expecting that left hook." The reality star, 56, added that she still has no idea whether she'll appear on either series, but she's holding out hope.
"I still don't have a contract — no official ask," she stated. "But, to do the OG show would be great fun." Whether she's on the show or not, the mom-of-two has plenty of names in mind that she would love to see on Legacy: Dorinda Medley, Kelly Bensimon, Jill Zarin "and even Aviva Drescher. I think she got a bad shake from the last shake," she noted.
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When asked who she thinks should be left out of the show, she quipped, "I've been doing this a long time darling and I'm gonna have to plead the fifth."
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If the TV star doesn't return to Bravo, she'll still be plenty busy, as her cabaret show kicks off in Connecticut on Saturday, April 16. "It's a fun, fun show," she insisted. "Get ready for the ride!"
Cohen touched on the casting shakeup during an interview with Variety.
"We talked about everything. There were people who really wanted: 'Let’s just totally start over.' And then there were people who were like, 'Wait a minute, but what about this group that we’ve invested 13 years in?' I think that’s why this is really listening to everybody," he explained. "We have a pretty active research department at Bravo. So I will say when research comes to the programming execs, it’s usually not that surprising given what we’re already hearing."
