At long last, our Real Housewives of New York legends are back on Bravo. The apple-holder edition of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls trip made its triumphant three-episode premiere and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. The RHONY stars returned to the scene of a criminally chaotic girls’ trip of the past — St. Barths. Luann de Lesseps was returning to the same villa where the pirate debacle went down. Dorinda Medley was there and while she may have not hosted this round of RHUGT, she was far from calm. Sonja Morgan and Ramona Singer were quick to grab the nicest room. Plus, we have Kelly Bensimon and Kristen Taekman for good fun. Here’s everything that went down in the RHONY Legacy premiere, aka RHUGT Season 4, Episode 1: “Vive Legacy.”
Luann’s pirate PTSD
RHUGT Season 4 started on the right foot when the first scene featured Luann in a statement necklace. Lu was excited to return to St. Barths, even though her last trip was a little rocky. “It’s like going back to the haunted pirate house,” she joked. Lu opted to return to a private bungalow room with high hopes for finding a new pirate to start rumors with. Plus, Lu started drinking on special occasions again and the girls’ trip of the century counted. She better steer clear of any bushes.
Luann couldn’t wait for the first group dinner to tell the story of the pirate. To this day, she stands firm that she never had sex with the pirate. Rather, Sonja fessed up to hooking up with the Johnny Depp lookalike in the garden outside. Many people didn’t believe her. Sonja straight up told the table that Luann claimed that the two besties had “swapped semen.” Lu, always a Countess, was appalled at both the accusation and Sonjarita’s choice of words. Truly, as an OG RHONY fan, the amount of joy watching Lu flirt her way through St. Barth’s gives me is concerning.
Sonja and Ramona’s reunion
Sonja and Lu might be the new duo thanks to Crappie Lake, but Sonja and Ramona will always be iconic. When Ramona’s fate left her picking a room last and she realized she had to share, she and Sonja telepathically let it be known that they were taking the primary bedroom. Nature is healing. Sonja was flashing all of her goodies at Ramona, her glam squad, and the cameras, but do we expect anything less?
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Ramona and Sonja. Ramona called out Sonja for being a flaky friend. “When you stop filming with us, you dump us,” Ramona said. As always, Ramona’s delivery was rough. Ultimately, Sonja (after a therapy session with Kelly) was able to understand Ramona’s feelings and promised to do better.
Calm Kelly, sans jelly beans
Kelly was nervous that her RHUGT experience would be Scary Island 2.0, but she was off to a great start. She revealed that during her RHONY debut, she was freshly divorced, financially stressed, and mentally in a bad place. It left her feeling unsteady on TV and resulted in some infamous moments. Now, she’s ready to show the world what a grounded Kelly looks like — while still wearing six-inch high heels. “I just want to chill, drink rose, and be naked,” Kelly said. Don’t we all?
Kelly buddied up quickly with Dorinda on the trip, whom she claimed to have a history with. However, she revealed to her new bestie that “people” warned her to be wary of Dorinda’s temper. Dorinda got a kick out of the tea. “I don’t know who the people are,” Dorinda said in a confessional. “It’s kind of powerful.” I see a tornado of mess coming from Kelly and Dorinda’s alliance, and I can’t wait to see more.
Kristen pokes the bear
Kristen came back to reality TV after eight years with something to prove. She moved to LA and realized that many fans probably forgot who she was. Kristen started off the episode as a pseudo-audience member waiting for Ramona’s first outburst and observing her former friends. Then, she proved she’s nothing but a fan.
Kristen’s drama started when she joked about Dorinda saying she was put on pause. Everyone else in the group knew that saying “Dorinda” and “fired” in the same sentence was like pouring gas on a fire, but Kristen was ready to watch it burn. “Your show, as it was, doesn’t exist anymore,” Kristen said. “We’re both on the same show right now so call it fired, call it paused.”
Kristen later revealed that the “pause” joke came because she watched RHUGT Season 2 in the Bezerkshires. Kelly later called out Kristen for having an encyclopaedic knowledge of Real Housewives. Kristen defended us creepy fans who know everything, but Kelly pointed out it was different for someone in the group to be such an avid watcher. “She’s like the Google of Housewives,” Kelly said. “It’s very strange that she’s researching us.”
Dorinda’s startin’ again
Dorinda literally wasted no time going dark during the episode. She got locked into her labyrinth of a lame room after having to give up the master to Sonja and Ramona. Once Kristen gave her an inch, she took it as an invitation to play with her like a cat with a mouse. “Kristen, you were going to make a play for me,” Dorinda said at one point. “If you want to play, we can have a lot of fun.” That is so ominous coming from Dorinda of all people.
Luann described Dorinda’s behavior the best during the first dinner of the trip. “This is giving me ‘She’s startin” vibes,” Lu said. “Kristen has no idea that she’s raddled (see: rattled) the cage.” Dorinda went from repeating everything Kristen said to accusing her of being obsessed with her. The tension breaks with Dorinda tries to have a quotable moment. “Eagles don’t fly with pigeons,” Dorinda said. “So go get your breadcrumbs and get back to me tomorrow.” Sonja and Ramona were in a giggling fit at the moment, trying to dictate the line to Siri so they would never forget it. Have I mentioned I’m so happy to have our RHONY OGs back?
Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip airs Thursdays on Peacock. Episodes 1-3 are available to stream now.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE REAL HOUSEWIVES ULTIMATE GIRLS TRIP SEASON 4 PREMIERE? DO YOU THINK DORINDA WILL HAVE THE MOST DRAMA THIS SEASON?
