Looking back, it’s strange to think that it’s just been two years since we watched The Real Housewives of New York apologise profusely and fade away from our television screens for an unspecified period of time. RHONY delivered the most drama, the most memes, and the most recognisable faces up until Season 13, making it perhaps Bravo’s most reliable franchise.
It was as if the wheels that had kept the programme running ran over a tack when Bethenny Frankel, the show’s guiding light, left the series before Season 12. Devoted viewers watched the show slowly deteriorate over the course of the following two seasons until it was nothing more than a rubberized shell of what it once was. A far cry from the starry-eyed, naive ladies who dined from the show’s origins, it was still better than most reality television, but the intoxicated, middle-aged women we knew and loved were suddenly filled with both fury and hyperawareness.
In all honesty, it’s no longer worthwhile to watch our backs. I’ve been doing it for too long, and now my neck is starting to ache. We will always have RHONY in the past. We must now move on with the RHONY that is: a completely new cast made up of brave, tenacious business women. If Bravo’s bold attempt to revive this franchise will be successful, only God and Andy Cohen can tell. However, we can gorilla glue our fingers together and wait and watch.
A brief introduction to our new group of characters kicks off Sunday night’s Season 14 debut. In that order, we have Brynn Whitfield, a lion-maned, flirtatious wild child who claims to be a marketing consultant but we can find no evidence of that; Jenna Lyons, the fashion industry icon and former head of J.Crew who is now a false lash expert; Jessel Taank, a publicist who takes great pride in her work; Sai De Silva, a content creator and five-foot-nothing firecracker; Ubah
Although this may not be a new franchise, the premiere begins a little shakily because to the complete cast change, which is typical of any current Housewives beginning. It’s no longer possible to introduce us to each woman gradually and with a wink that the performance is, after all, only a show. Our first exposure to group dynamics must now occur during bestie hangout sessions and play dates. All brand-new Housewives franchises must get beyond this unpleasant obstacle in order to find their footing.