Bravo Rebooting RHONY With Brand-New Cast & Announces Spin-Off
After Bravo announced that The Real Housewives of New York City would be on a hiatus after its dismal season 13 ratings, producer Andy Cohen finally revealed that the franchise will be back with an entirely new cast. RHONY season 13 was met with a lot of challenges, having been filmed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cast had very limited options for shooting locations, and they couldn’t take glamourous trips like they usually do every season.
Fans spoke out about their disappointment with RHONY season 13. Newcomer Eboni K. Williams, the first Black woman on the show, was met with criticism by some for being overly “preachy” about race and diversity. The other RHONY women also failed to form a strong bond with Eboni, and many even stopped talking to her after season 13 ended. Many fans have also expressed their dislike of Leah McSweeney and thought she didn’t bring any entertainment to RHONY besides her many dramatic outbursts.
It seemed as if the Bravo executives have listened to their RHONY fans. Andy recently told Variety that Bravo is rebooting the franchise from scratch while also debuting a new spin-off that features former RHONY cast members. Andy shared that he is excited about the new challenge and said, “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.” Fans, along with Leah, have previously criticized the RHONY cast for being all-white and of the same background, despite New York City being a melting pot of so many different cultures.
Andy told Variety that the reason he wanted to announce the reboot is that Bravo wants to spread the news so that they get real, authentic people on the show. He emphasized, “This is a major casting search. We’re going to be casting all over Manhattan and the boroughs–part of the search is spreading the word.” He pointed out that the first seasons of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City were really successful because they started from scratch. He added that the casting worked because they were all genuinely friends in real life, and that is “one of the things that is going to be fun about [the RHONY reboot].”
Fans of RHONY will be excited to hear that the franchise will get an entirely new cast to shake things up, but they’ll still be able to watch their old favorites in the throwback show. Andy mentioned that he has former RHONY cast members in his mind and hinted that it may be Sonja Morgan and Luan de Lesseps. Andy pointed out that the Real Housewives spin-off The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip was a hit due to the mashup of fan-favorites from different franchises and said Bravo took notes from it. Although casting for The Real Housewives of New York City has yet to start, fans can’t wait to see who the new stars will be.
Source: Variety