Andy Cohen Knows Rebooting RHONY Was 'Controversial.' Why He Did It Anyway
The RHONY discourse continues years later.
Bravo is the home of some of the best reality shows of all time, namely the Real Housewives franchise. The series (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) has. number of cities, but classic New York City has always been one of the biggest fan favorites. Fans were shook when it was revealed that RHONY was being rebooted, with an all new cast replacing the beloved OGs. Andy Cohen knows this was a controversial move, and recently explained why he did it anyway.
RHONY stars like Countess Luann have said being dropped "felt like a death", and there are plenty of Bravoholics who miss seeing the old crew on the network. During a recent interview with Vulture, the producer and broadcaster spoke about the upcoming 16th season, which will be the third post-reboot. He teased:
We’re halfway through filming, and it’s everything that we wanted it to be. I think people are going to be really happy. We’re getting great personal story. We’re getting great interpersonal story. We’re getting a ton of humor and a ton of drama.
Well, this definitely sounds exciting. The first two seasons of the RHONY reboot have had mixed reactions. While some Bravo fans enjoyed the new ladies, others missed the originals like Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, and Luann de Lesseps. But it sounds like Season 16 is going to bring it, including the return of Carole Radziwill as a "friend of."
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Later in the same interview, Andy spoke about the "controversial" decision to reboot RHONY, and the scrapped legacy series that ended up being a season of Ultimate Girls Trip. In his words:
We did something controversial when we blew up a beloved show that was coming off two not-amazing seasons. I think we did the right thing. We almost split it in two and did that RHONY Legacy show and then we didn’t do that show.
He's not wrong. The last two seasons with the original RHONY cast were rough, especially in the midst of movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. I'm still recovering from the Black Shabbat dinner, and particularly Ramona's behavior during it. But there are still some fans who would prefer seeing the original ladies rather than the reboot.
It's unclear when The Real Housewives of New York City will premiere its 16th season, but a number of cities are airing right now as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Namely Beverly Hills, Atlanta, and the new (delightful) Rhode Island.
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Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.
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