Tag Team! OG Ramona Singer & Newbie Eboni K. Williams Downplaying 'RHONY' Drama As Ratings Plummet, Reunion On Hold
Drama in the Big Apple! After what many deem a disastrous season of Real Housewives of New York City, a cast shakeup seems inevitable, with rumors swirling that OG Housewife Ramona Singer is on the chopping block.
Though Singer has denied that she’s getting the axe from the popular Bravo series, simply replying “nope” after a fan bluntly asked her, “Did you get fired?” via Instagram, the 64-year-old blonde beauty may not get asked back to the hit series — which wouldn’t necessarily constitute being fired.
According to Page Six, casting for season 14 has not been determined, but Radar reported her future with the franchise is officially in jeopardy. “The only original New York cast member who has never left from day one is Ramona Singer but now her time is up,” a source spilled.
The insider continued: “Ramona will not be invited back to the next season of the show, which is currently not in production for a couple of reasons. One, she is too expensive. She is the only lady that has been on the show from day one, (Countess LuAnn [de Lesseps] was demoted to ‘a friend’ before returning as a full-time cast member) and her salary reflects it."
Ratings for the series — that has been on the air since 2008 — are in a free fall, with the most recent episode reportedly pulling in less than 800,000 live viewers, and the bombshell news that the reunion has been “canceled,” according to OK!’s source, has put Singer and her cast members on the defense.
“Ramona has pulled out of taping the reunion special that was scheduled for the first week of August,” a source exclusively spilled to OK!, adding that mega-producer “Andy [Cohen] is freaking out, and there is even talk of legal action as Ramona is in breach of contract.”
- 'RHONY' Reunion Special 'Canceled' After Ramona Singer Reportedly Getting The Axe, Andy Cohen 'Freaking Out,' Considering 'Legal Action': Source
- 'Real Housewives Of New York City' Producers Considering 'Permanent Hiatus' Following 13th Season, Execs Fear Series Could 'Poison' Entire Franchise
- Ramona Singer Pleads Her Case On Social Media As 'Real Housewives Of New York City' Future Remains Uncertain
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Bravo brought on newcomer Eboni K. Williams — the first Black star of the franchise — to go toe-to-toe with the ladies of New York, but the season quickly turned to topics about race, which the source noted was the network’s plan to hopefully “bring in a new audience,” but it appears to have backfired.
“Ramona is sick of all the race talk. She knows she’s going to be destroyed at the reunion and isn’t willing to go through with it if she’s already out,” the insider continued. “This is why Bravo didn’t want the news about Ramona getting out until after they taped the reunion.”
Newbie Williams recently fired back at the claims she is partially to blame for the decline of ratings. Refusing to be the “scapegoat,” she reportedly blamed the producers, as she puts it, she “doesn’t make final cut decisions about what ends up airing… but the producers do.”
Williams told TMZ that she “feels demonized” by some of her cast and viewers, adding: “If some of her castmates didn't show up for shoots with microaggression, there wouldn't be a need for the constant race discussions.”
