Bethenny Frankel is all for her fellow Real Housewives of New York City vets reuniting for a brand-new TV special.
“What do I think about the Housewives going to E! in a new reboot OG-style?” Bethenny, 55, asked herself in a Saturday, January 31, TikTok video. “I think it’s fan-f***ing-tastic. E! came in savage, barracuda-style, and said, ‘These bitches aren’t expired, so you know what? Let’s put them back up on the f***ing shelf.’”
A source confirmed to Us Weekly earlier this week that Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon and Ramona Singer signed a deal with the E! network to star in a new reality TV series. (Us reached out to a representative for E! for comment at the time.)
Luann, 60, Ramona, 69, Jill, 62, Bethenny and Alex McCord helmed the inaugural season of Bravo’s RHONY in 2008. Bravo eventually rebooted the Manhattan-based Housewives show for 2023’s season 14 with Jenna Lyons, Sai de Silva, Erin Lichy, Ubah Hassan, Jessel Taank and Brynn Whitfield taking over the reins.
Original ‘RHONY’ Cast Is Returning for New Special on E! Network
While the cast for the upcoming season 16 of RHONY has yet to be announced, the OG apple-holders have seemingly moved onto fresh pastures with their E! spinoff.
“Ramona is gonna come out of hibernation like a bear,” Bethenny said on Saturday, predicting what will happen on the new show. “Jill? The machinations, she’s been turning the wheels, making this happen. Jill [probably] had something to do with this ending up in the end zone, and I am happy for all of them.”
As for Bethenny, she left RHONY after season 3 but eventually returned in season 7 for five additional seasons until her retirement in 2019. Since then, she hasn’t looked back.
“I’ve been asked to go on so many television shows, and I’ve declined because of the time,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in her August 2025 cover story about a potential reality TV return. “Someone just recently asked me to do a show with them. They’re pretty famous, and we could get a show.”
‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ Alums Who’ve Moved to Florida
She continued, “I don’t want that bulk. I don’t want the bulk of the suits. I don’t want the bulk of the camera, the shooting, the hair, the makeup, the editing. It’s just too bulky. It would be a very specific situation, and it would have to be an astronomical sum.”
Bethenny has since left New York City — in addition to her suburban Connecticut mansion — for Florida.
“We were down in Florida and something very personal transpired,” Bethenny previously said on a May 2025 episode of her “Just B” podcast, referring to 14-year-old daughter Bryn. “My daughter, who had said years ago, ‘I want to move to Florida,’ she cried to me.”
She continued, “She meant it, and she begged me. She didn’t have to beg me, like, she was like, ‘I really want this.’ I know my kid and I knew that once this was presented … that she’d want to move. I was just like, ‘F***ing f*** it, OK.’”
Bethenny, who shares Bryn with ex-husband Jason Hoppy, has since seen her daughter thrive in the Sunshine State.
