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Andy Cohen is standing by the new Real Housewives of New York City.
The rebooted RHONY has received some criticism from viewers on social media — and former Housewife Bethenny Frankel — who have called for the original cast to return. However, Cohen, 56, is happy with the show’s direction since it was revamped in season 14.
“I really believe in this group of women,” the Housewives executive producer told Deadline in an interview published on Thursday, November 21. “I think they’re very aspirational. I think they’re fun to watch. I think the clothes and the window into a different kind of New York is all what we wanted it to be.”
Referring to the old cast, Cohen continued, “We had 13 great seasons, plus a girls’ trip with that group of women, which is an incredible accomplishment. A lot changed, a lot shifted in [their] world and in life — Sonja [Morgan] is now living in Florida, Ramona [Singer] basically lives in Florida. Things have shifted.”
“So with this group of RHONY, we’re kind of looking to the future with them. I loved the original, but this is a new group,” he added.
The new cast of RHONY includes Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank, Ubah Hassan, Brynn Whitfield, Sai De Silva and Erin Lichy, all of whom joined the show in season 14. Racquel Chevremont joined the main cast in the currently airing season 15.
Despite throwing his support behind the show, Cohen admitted that there have been some teething pains with the new RHONY.
“I think there are a lot of interesting personal stories with the women in the new New York,” he said. “I think the group dynamic is a little bit of a challenge this season. I think the rap on the group in season one was, ‘Oh, there’s not a lot of history there.’ The interesting thing about them this season is they hang out a lot and they are a cohesive group.”
According to Cohen, “One of the growth areas is that a lot happens off camera, and that’s for a housewife show you need everything to happen on camera.”
Cohen’s comments come after former RHONY star Bethenny Frankel recently criticized the reboot and called for Bravo to rehire former cast members including Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan.
Frankel, 54, chimed in on criticism that the RHONY reboot is “unwatchable” in a now-deleted TikTok video shared on November 16, citing reaction videos shared via the social media platform. “Justice for Sonja, Dorinda [Medley], Luann [de Lesseps], Ramona,” she said.
“They were ride or die. That show was on their back and all of a sudden they all got replaced,” Bethenny continued. “They were all sitting on the shelf like Toy Story, hoping someone was gonna come play with them.”
She added, “You got like 200,000 viewers watching this piece of trash. So, go get the old girls and dust them off and mix them in. Humble pie is coming in hot.”
