The 14th season of The Real Housewives of New York City (RHONY), which starts this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, will include a completely new ensemble of Bravosphere celebrities from the upper strata.
The group of enduring apple-bearing women were replaced by a new group of rich friends and prospective rivals during a turbulent 13th season that was marred by accusations of racism among the cast as the long-running program debuted its first Black cast member.
Sai De Silva, a creator of fashion content, Ubah Hassan, Erin Lichy, a luxury real estate developer, Jenna Lyons, a former executive creative director and president of J.Crew, Jessel Taank, and Brynn Whitfield, a communications specialist, are among the people whose lives will be documented this season.
Cohen acknowledges the difficulty the guests will of RHONY face due to SAG
When it comes to changing the cast of RHONY, Cohen acknowledges that “We’re rolling the dice here.” However, the reality TV entrepreneur also stated in the Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter that “We looked at so many people and we met folks every way from Sunday before we landed up selecting this group. We gave this a lot of thought, and I believe it is evident in the people we ultimately selected.
Here, the focus is primarily on unscripted television. Since I’m not in control of programming at Bravo, I can’t really comment on it, but The Real Housewives of New York is wrapped up, produced, and finished, so it won’t have any impact at all.
Certainly, it will have an impact on the visitors we have. All talk programs, in my opinion, have noticed that SAG members who are actors aren’t advertising their movies. There will therefore be some difficulties with the guests.
The fact that they work well together makes them the ideal bunch of ladies. People with established friendships were what we were looking for. Some of them are acquainted with one another; others are not. They are entertaining, humorous, aspirational, and trendy. They go about living. They are sharing intimate details of their life with the camera. All of them are energetic. They have experience. They, in my opinion, represent a distinct New York from what we have previously seen. They vary widely. They are spread all around the city, which has a new and lively vibe.
Cohen discusses the sudden announcement of Lizzy Savetsky’s departure from the RHONY
Originally set to join the cast, Lizzy Savetsky announced her departure in November from RHONY, partly as a result of antisemitic incidents and criticism from fans. Cohen added,
I honestly can’t add anything to what’s already been said. Right now, our attention is on the cast and the nature of the program. I believe that occurred during the first few days of production, and I have covered all of my bases in regards to that. We begin the season with a group of characters on many of the shows we make, but occasionally relationships break down for a variety of reasons. It’s not completely, I guess. Unique.
