Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images and Bravo
As a longtime fan of the original Real Housewives of New York, a Dorinda Medley warrior and Ramona Singer apologist, I mourn the loss of the veteran cast on my television like a deceased relative. (I’m only slightly kidding).
After 13 years on the air, one of the oldest and highest-rated Housewives franchises came crumbling down after a staggeringly bad and borderline-unwatchable Season 13. Already hampered by filming restrictions due to pandemic, the season was largely defined by uncomfortable racial conversations—guided by the show’s first Black castmate Eboni K. Williams—a glaring lack of chemistry, and a lot of random outbursts from Leah McSweeney.
Leading up to the ultimately axed reunion, it seemed like there were some tricky behind-the-scenes tensions at play. Apparently, things were so messy that the easiest choice at the time was to completely disband and rebuild the show from scratch.