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, following The Real Housewives of Orange County, it has aired nine seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in New York City.
The series originally focused on Luann de Lesseps, Bethenny Frankel, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer, and Jill Zarin. The cast currently consists of de Lesseps, Frankel, Singer, Sonja Morgan, Carole Radziwill, Dorinda Medley and Tinsley Mortimer. Of the original housewives, Frankel initially left after the third season before returning for the seventh; McCord and Zarin left after the fourth season; and de Lesseps was reduced to a recurring capacity during the sixth season and returned to being a full-time cast member the following season. The remaining housewives joined in later seasons: Morgan in the third, Radziwill in the fifth, Medley in the seventh, and Mortimer in the ninth. Other housewives include Kelly Killoren Bensimon (seasons 2â€"4), Cindy Barshop (season 4), Aviva Drescher (seasons 5â€"6), Heather Thomson (seasons 5â€"7), Kristen Taekman (seasons 6â€"7), and Jules Wainstein (season 8).
The success of the show has resulted in the conceptions of the spin-offs Bethenny Ever After and Bethenny & Fredrik.
Overview and casting
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Season 1â€"4
While in pre-production, the show was initially titled Manhattan Moms. It was later rebranded to become the second instalment of the then-new The Real Housewives franchise. The first season premiered on March 4, 2008, and starred LuAnn de Lesseps, Bethenny Frankel, 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. Sonja Morgan was added to the cast during the third season, 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 joined the show's fourth season which premiered on April 7, 2011. After the fourth season, McCord Zarin, Killoren Bensimon and Barshop were effectively fired from the cast.
Season 5â€"8
In April 2012, Bravo revamped the show for its fifth season, which premiered on June 4, 2012. Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill and Heather Thomson were introduced to the show. 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. Morgan, Radziwill, Thomson, Singer, Drescher and de Lesseps renewed their contract in May 2013. The latter 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 next season. 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 9â€"present
The ninth season premiered on April 5, 2017. Tinsley Mortimer joined the cast, while former housewives Zarin and Thomson appeared as guests. The tenth season is set to premiere on April 4, 2018, with the ninth season cast returning and Zarin making a guest appearance.
Timeline of housewives
Episodes
Facebook game
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. It has been discontinued since October 2012.
Bus tour
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." The bus tour is endorsed by Bravo and is featured on their official website.
References
External links
- Official website
- The Real Housewives of New York City on IMDb
- The Real Housewives of New York City at TV.com