The Bravo network is moving full speed ahead after firing four of the Real Housewives of New York City cast members!
For the past week, we have been hearing that the network had already cast 3 new ladies to replace the fired housewives — Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Cindy Barshop, and Kelly Bensimon — and now the identity of those women have been revealed!
The NY Daily News is reporting the women pictured above from left to right, Carole Radziwill, Heather Thomson, and Aviva Drescher, have signed on to do the show. Below are brief bios of each of the new poor souls ladies –
Carole Radziwill – Carole is a distant relative of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through her late husband Anthony Radziwill. Anthony’s mother Lee Radziwill is Jackie’s little sister. Anthony passed away of cancer in 1999 just four weeks after John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy died in a plane crash. Carole was very close friends with Carolyn. Carole, a former ABC producer and now a bestselling author, appeared on the Oprah Show in 2005 to discuss her memoir What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love. She has no kids and is reportedly single.
Heather Thomson – Heather is described as a successful designer and stylist. She owns the shapewear business, Yummie Tummie, which is sold in over 2,000 stores and has been featured as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things.” Jill’s not going to be happy about this! She has worked with the likes of Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez to help create and launch their respective labels. Heather is a married mom of two.
Aviva Drescher – is married to Reid Drescher, founder of Spencer Clarke Securities & Investment Banking. The couple have three children together. Sources says producers wanted a “Wall Street wife,” and Aviva just happens to fit the bill perfectly.
While Heather and Aviva have crossed paths with some of the RHONY housewives, a source states Carole has “never met any of the women.” Should be an interesting season!
Meanwhile Ramona Singer, one of the lucky three housewives who didn’t get fired by Bravo, is now speaking out on the firings while also revealing Jill was “cancerous” to her.
Ramona, who was “surprised” by the firings, tells the HollywoodLife, “I think Jill being gone will be [good] for me … Jill became a negative force in my life… It was just too much negative energy. There’s nothing wrong with having altercations and disagreements and arguments, but it can consume you and it can’t become cancerous. I felt with Jill, that’s what it became for me.”
In unusual Ramona fashion, she actually reveals she is sorta sad about the ladies’ departures. “I’m sad to see the other women go,” says Ramona. “I’ve been with some of them since the beginning and we kind of plowed the way with our show. So it’s sad, but it’s also on the same token, Bravo’s smart. They listen to the fans and I’m excited about it. Sometimes change is good.”
And finally, Jill continues to do her press tour, using the firing as a way to promote her Skweez Couture shapeware line. Jill gave an interview to GMA this morning during which she claimed she’s okay with Bravo’s decision because her line is now bringing in millions of dollars.
She also spoke about RHONY stating the show had become toxic and that while fans complained about all the fighting, it was sort of encouraged via the high ratings. Actually a valid point except things simply got too nasty on RHONY mostly thanks to Jill. When you start accusing your costar’s husband of physically attacking you to garner public sympathy, then that’s when the show stops being fun.
It gets even better as Jill also spoke about Taylor Armstrong. She said if she were in Taylor’s shoes, she would take 6 – 12 months off from talking to the press, while also quitting the housewives series. “Honestly, I wouldn’t talk to the press or anyone for six months to a year,” said Jill. “I would buckle down with my family and I probably wouldn’t come back on the show.”
Can you imagine Jill going 6 months without talking to the press??? Or even a week for that matter? Yes, neither can I! A video clip of Jill’s interview is below –
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE NEW HOUSEWIVES? PLUS THOUGHTS ON JILL & RAMONA’S COMMENTS?
