It’s out with the old and in with the new in the Big Apple, and the new Real Housewives of New York City are here to shake things up. The season has been a whirlwind of stunning homes, fabulous women, Cheesegate (IYKYK) and sparkling designer clothes — just what we need from any Real Housewives franchise.
The reboot cast — which includes publicists, fashion icons, real estate agents, moms, and models of all races, sexualities, and ethnicities — screams fabulous. The six women will replace the former housewives, all of whom have been off air since 2021 or earlier. The new group comes after a (frankly) terrible Season 13 and accusations of racism against former cast member Ramona Singer. It was so bad, in fact, that there wasn’t even a reunion for the season, which was a first for the franchise.
Luckily for us, though, we have a new group of women ready to take their place, and give us a new take on our favorite franchise. Learn more about these leading ladies (and their performance on the first episode) and where to catch the latest RHONY episodes below.
Everything You Missed From The First Three Episodes
Now this is "the new era of New York" we've been waiting for! Social media has been filled with praise ever since the first episode aired last night, and for good reason. The cast, which includes Brynn Whitfield, Erin Dana Lichy, Jenna Lyyons, Jessel Taank, Sai De Silva and Ubah Hassan, took us into their beautiful Brooklyn brownstones and stunning SoHo lofts, letting viewers meet their families and uncover relationship dynamics within the group.
Many of the women ran in similar circles before the show, so there are established dynamics fans are still working out. In the premiere alone, the women fought over cheese (hence "Cheesgate") and dinner plans, nearly ripped one of Jenna's Valentino lace tops while hugging and gawked over her massive shoe closet. While the drama is undoubtedly petty in the grand scheme of things, the inner workings of their relationship dynamics is exactly the kind of content we want to watch every Sunday. Guidice-Gorga drama and Gerardi-Shah scandals be damned!
Fans are with us on this one, too. “Erin and Sai fighting over cheese is the type of rich, petty nonsense I love about Housewives. I’m sold,” one fan joked, as another Twitter user shared “The RHONY reboot with a new cast might have been a great idea after all."
“This cast is gold and I can see a lot of great things coming from them all on this show. We needed this reboot,” another viewer commented. We're ready to shift “back to the petty basics,” that's for sure!
In the following two episodes, Erin hosted the women in her Hamptons home, though it didn't go quite as planned. Upon their arrival, Erin only supplied caviar(??), leaving many of the women hungry after their long journey. While Brynn was initially MIA due to a cold, Jenna gifted each of the girls a hand-picked piece of lingerie — much to the dismay of Jessel. The issue wasn't the type of gift, but more-so her discomfort in her own body and outward hatred of the slip dress she received. This certainly caused tensions in the group — after all, no one wants to hear that you hate their gift!
Additional moments of intrigue include Jenna sleeping in her own Hamptons house rather than Erin's, Ubah insisting on eating in a North-facing direction, Brynn's struggle with a door, Sai and Brynn sharing aspects of their upbringings and Jessel opening up about her body image and sex life discourse.
Even with all of this, though, fans can't help but notice this underlying passive-aggressiveness between the women — and they've potentially uncovered the source.
Season 14 Background
Your First Look at The Real Housewives of New York City Season 14 | RHONY Sneak Peek | BravoThe current season hasn't arrived smoothly. Lizzy Savetsky, who was once the seventh Season 14 Housewife, “mutually parted ways” with the show last year following what she claims were “anti-semitic attacks” after her casting was announced. As a “proud orthodox Jewish woman,” it’s certainly possible that Lizzy was subjected to anti-semitic attacks, but it seems that the real reason for her dismissal came from her and “her husband’s use of the N-word on set while recounting a discussion between two of its stars,” Page Six reported. Unfortunately, things only devolved from there. When cast member Brynn Whitfield asked Lizzy — who has a reputation as a matchmaker — if she’d set her up with a Jewish man, Lizzy said that while she has no problem with Jews dating gentiles, she prefers to only set up Jews with other Jews, sources told Page Six. At the time of her dismissal, Lizzy had only filmed a couple of scenes for the show, so she isn't featured in the new season.
As we know, Erin is a proudly Jewish woman and still remains friends with the fiercely-Zionist Lizzy. Additionally, the entire current cast still follows Lizzy on social media aside from Brynn, who (considering her biracial, half Black and half Caucasian race) was the likely target of Lizzy and her husband's racial slurs.
Fans suspect that the women may have "taken sides" following the incidents, leading to an underlying and unresolved discourse.
Additionally, fans recently uncovered Erin's controversial political history. According to public records, Erin donated four times to WinRed, the RNC's legal fund for the January 6, 2021 Capitol rioters and a major aspect of Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" campaign. For obvious reasons, this rubs many RHONY fans the wrong way, and has led many fans to question her morals.
The 12 seasons prior, though, were nothing short of hilarious — giving fans a slew of iconic pop culture moments that are still used today (“I’ll tell you how I’m doing: Not well, b*tch!”). It will be hard to top the content the initial cast of RHONY gave us, but we have faith that these women will give them a run for their money.
Keep reading for all the juicy deets on the new cast, and what the old cast has been up to. 👀
Meet the new women behind RHONY Season 14
(Also — how good are these taglines?!)
Brynn Whitfield
“Hailing from a small Midwestern town, Brynn moved to New York and never looked back,” Bravo shared. A self-proclaimed “trophy-wife-in-training,” Brynn is always the life of the party and owns her narrative as a bi-racial woman. With her marketing and communications career currently on hold, “Brynn is searching for what she really wants out of life and attempting to heal from past hardships. While she craves stability and having the kind of family she longed for as a child, her fear of commitment and busy schedule jet-setting around the world tend to get in the way.”
Erin Dana Lichy
A “real” New Yorker, this social butterfly was born to a Manhattan-based Israeli family. Erin’s innate work ethic and keen eye for spotting the next trend has led to a prominent reputation in the New York luxury real estate scene, in addition to running her own interior design firm. “With the only things more important than her career being her three children and her husband, Abe, this cosmopolitan is the definition of an overachiever who loves nothing more than to prove she can do it all,” wrote Bravo.
Jenna Lyons
Jenna is the “former President and Executive Creative Director of J.Crew Group, where she was widely recognized as the creative force behind the American retail chain’s phenomenal rise from floundering catalog chain to one of the most coveted fashion brands in the US,” Bravo wrote. Today, Jenna is a queer Co-Founder and CEO of her direct-to-consumer beauty brand, LoveSeen, and resides in a SoHo loft with her son Beckett.
Jessel Taank
Jessel is an outgoing and unreserved fashion publicist, brand consultant, wife, and new mom to twin boys known for thinking outside the box. Born and raised in London, her British-Indian upbringing is “always seeking resolution, but her British sense of humor sometimes gets lost in translation with the New York sensibilities surrounding her,” Bravo shared.
Sai De Silva
Sai is a Brooklyn native and Afro-Latina content creator. Her passion project blog, Scout the City, quickly evolved into an online lifestyle destination where she chronicles her adventures of chic parenting and all things fashion. Sai currently resides in Brooklyn, alongside husband David Craig and their two children, London, and Rio.
Ubah Hassan
This Somalian “hot sauce maven” doubles as a model and philanthropist who moved to New York and made it her home. “Channeling her zest for life, Ubah is the creator of hot sauce company, UBAHHOT, which she hopes is her ticket to making it big in New York,” Bravo shared. “Landing a spot on ‘Oprah’s Favorite Things’ gave her business a boost, and now she’s looking to take it to the next level.”
Where is the former cast now?
You can't lie — the OG RHONY ladies made for great TV.
Alex McCord
You can never forget the McCords. A Ph.D. student, this psychologist relocated from Brooklyn to Byron Bay and seems to be enjoying life. Alex is still married to Simon, much to the surprise of many.
Bethenny Frankel
Bravo/NBC Universal
Our favorite TikTok beauty guru is also a skinny girl — we mean the owner of Skinny Girl. Bethenny is always on social media, and channels her business savvy into large-scale brands and philanthropic efforts.
Carole Radziwill
Bravo/NBC Universal
Arguably one of the most stylish RHONY Housewives, today Carole Radziwill is a contributing editor at Town&Country and a storyteller at The Moth.
Dorinda Medley
Dorinda is living her best life, that’s for sure. Despite leaving the franchise on not-so-great terms, she’ll be back soon enough. For now, this jet-setting socialite is enjoying life just as she should be: richly. Oh, and her Berkshires home is doing just fine.
Jill Zarin
Jill’s entrepreneurial spirit is still going strong. A mom to daughter Ally and dog-ter Bossi, Jill is constantly popping up at red carpets, fashion shows and pickleball courts.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon
Kelly hasn’t slowed down one bit since leaving RHONY. While we don’t think she’s running in the middle of NYC streets anymore, we can’t be sure. Today, she keeps up her modeling and real estate ventures, and has been named a “real estate mogul” by Forbes, a “tastemaker” by the New York Times and her team is in the top 12% nationwide at parent brokerage Douglas Elliman, or at least that’s what her Instagram bio says.
Luann de Lesseps
Charles Sykes/Bravo
Oh, Luann. The former Countess is still a cabaret star and Bravo icon, at least if you ask us. Most recently, Luann teamed up with fellow ex-Housewife Sonja Morgan for a new Bravo show, Crappie Lake, which has received a slew of hilarious reviews. Luann also joined the former RHONY ladies on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 5, which will likely premiere next year.
Ramona Singer
While Ramona doesn’t spend as much time on Bravo as her counterparts (for good reason), she’s traveling around the world and now serves as a broker at Douglas Elliman.
Sonja Morgan
Charles Sykes/Bravo
You can't not love Sonja. As mentioned before, the former-housewife-slash-Bravolebrity starred alongside Luann in Crappie Lake and will be in Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Season 5, and we can’t wait to see her shine. If you want to see more of Sonja, her Insta (and TikTok) is full of incredible content that you would expect from a wealthy 50-something living life to the fullest.
Tinsley Mortimer
This socialite-turned-influencer may no longer be in the New York City party scene, but she seems to be doing just fine. Tinsley is just as glamorous as ever, and is no longer involved with the Chicago-based man she left the show for.
Where can I watch "RHONY?"
Catch the new season every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo, or the following day on Peacock.
Stay updated on all the latest Real Housewives scoop with Brit + Co.
Header image courtesy of Sean Zanni/Bravo.
This post has been updated.
