The Real Housewives of New York City

**The Real Housewives of New York City** (abbreviated RHONY) is an American reality television series that premiered on March 4, 2008 on Bravo. Developed as the second installment of The Real Housewives franchise, it has aired eleven seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of women residing in New York City.

The current cast consists of Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, Dorinda Medley, Tinsley Mortimer and Leah McSweeney. Previous cast members include original cast members Bethenny Frankel, Alex McCord and Jill Zarin; and later additions Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Cindy Barshop, Aviva Drescher, Heather Thomson, Carole Radziwill, Kristen Taekman and Jules Wainstein.

The success of the show has resulted in the conceptions of spin-offs Bethenny Ever After and Bethenny & Fredrik.

## Overview and Casting

### Season 1-4

While in pre-production, the show was initially titled Manhattan Moms. It was later rebranded to become the second installment of the then-new Real Housewives franchise. The first season premiered on March 4, 2008, and starred Bethenny Frankel, Luann de Lesseps, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin.

Kelly Killoren Bensimon was added to the cast for the second season, which premiered on February 17, 2009. The third season premiered March 4, 2010 and saw the addition of Sonja Morgan as a main cast member, along with Jennifer Gilbert in a recurring capacity. In August 2010, Frankel left the show in order to expand her Skinnygirl product line.

Cindy Barshop replaced Frankel for the show's fourth season, which premiered on April 7, 2011. After the fourth season McCord, Zarin, Killoren Bensimon and Barshop were effectively let go from the show.

### Season 5-8

In April 2012, Bravo announced a revamp to the cast for its fifth season, integrating Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill and Heather Thomson into the main cast. The season premiered on June 4, 2012. Production for the sixth season was set to begin on May 8, 2013, but the cast instead chose to go into salary negotiations with Bravo, effectively delaying shooting. Drescher, Morgan, Radziwill, Singer, and Thomson renewed their contract in May 2013, while de Lesseps was demoted to a recurring role. The sixth season premiered on March 11, 2014, a year later than planned with Kristen Taekman as the latest housewife. Drescher was dismissed after the sixth season.

The seventh season premiered on April 7, 2015, featuring the return of Frankel and addition of Dorinda Medley. Thomson and Taekman did not return. For the eighth season, which premiered on April 6, 2016, Jules Wainstein was added to the cast, while Thomson returned in a guest appearance. Wainstein left the show in September 2016 for personal reasons.

### Season 9-present

The ninth season premiered on April 5, 2017. Tinsley Mortimer joined the cast, while former housewives Thomson and Zarin appeared as guests. The tenth season premiered on April 4, 2018, with the cast of ninth season returning. Thomson and Zarin both appeared as guests. It served as Radziwill's final appearance on the show.

The eleventh season premiered on March 6, 2019. Barbara Kavovit joined as a friend of the housewives and Zarin appeared as a guest. Frankel departed the series after the season for a second time. The upcoming twelfth season is set to feature Leah McSweeney joining the cast.

## Critical Reception

The Real Housewives of New York City has received criticism for the lack of diversity in its cast. Then current cast member Frankel stated in 2017 that she would like to see the series "represent New York more." Writing for the New York Times in October 2019, author Tracie Egan Morrissey posed the question, "If less than half of the city is white, why is 100 percent of the cast of 'The Real Housewives of New York City' white?" Former cast member Thomson also stated that during her time on the series she had pitched several women of color to the show's producers to diversify its cast members due to her concerns about the issue.

## Spin-offs

* Bethenny Ever After
* Bethenny & Fredrik

## Other Media

In July 2012, Bravo released a social networking video game version of The Real Housewives of New York City titled as Real Housewives: The Game. Following weekly new episodes, a new game was available based on the story.

In 2016, On Location Tours hosted an official The Real Housewives of New York-themed tour in New York City. The tour is centered around giving passengers an almost four-hour trip to visit numerous places where current and former housewives "have dined, shopped, dated or had a fight or two," and is described as the "ultimate, one-of-a-kind 'Real Housewives' experience."