A major shakeup is underway for the second-oldest spinoff in the Real Housewives franchise. Andy Cohen confirmed that a brand new cast of women will replace the old cast in the upcoming fourteenth season of New York. And the ousted alums have the chance to be in a separate, “all-star” spinoff comprised of RHNY fan-favorites from over the past 14 years. However, a new report suggests that Luann de Lesseps won’t return for the new show and the reasons behind the supposed exit make some sense.
Luann De Lesseps Eyeing A Different Future Instead Of Spinoff?
According to sources for Radar Online, Real Housewives of New York OG Luann de Lesseps won't be part of the veteran spinoff at all and has seemingly already made a move to greener pastures. The outlet claims that de Lesseps – who has been on her mainstay show for all of its 14 years – inked a deal with Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ former home on the E! network. One can imagine that such a decision would make for a bigger upgrade in platform/compensation for the reality star.
Evidently, the bottom dollar line was indeed a major point of concern in regard to turning down the spinoff. Per reports, the future cast of alums in Real Housewives of New York: Legacy (as it’s tentatively being called) will in fact be getting a significant pay cut. Bravo’s marked-down offer to stars for an entire season of the spinoff is reportedly just $100,000. Just to put it in context, RHBH’s Erika Jayne supposedly made upwards of $600,000 for her last season’s salary alone, and she’s only been a main castmate for 7 years. Luann de Lesseps has been a regular for all 14 years of her series, so it's not hard to understand why she may have felt the need to look elsewhere for opportunities.
A Year Of Upsets For The Real Housewives Franchise
Luann de Lessep’s potential exit would be yet another to rock the Real Housewives world in the past year. RHOC’s Kelly Dodd and Braunwyn Windham-Burke were in fact replaced after the controversial fifteenth season of the show. (Lately, Windham-Burke has made allegations that Bravo and her former castmates were homophobic towards her.) Additionally, longtime Atlanta stars Cynthia Bailey and Porsha Williams both preemptively left the network in 2021 to pursue other endeavors.
Rumors have likewise been swirling for some time that a cast shake-up was in store for Real Housewives of New York. In the last season, Eboni K. Williams’ conversations about race prompted controversial reactions from her co-stars and the fanbase online. It wasn’t long thereafter for Bravo to cancel the show’s reunion special for the first time in its history. Now, with the reboot, Andy Cohen had shared that the plan is to have more diversity and inclusivity moving forward.
After Luann de Lesseps’s recent drunken bar antics, a big question was whether she would continue to share her story on-camera or just a start new leaf. It would seem from the latest reporting that it could be a combination of the two. But how many other alums have their feet out the Bravo door? We'll have to wait and see what ultimately happens as updates related to the new show breaks.
The forthcoming spinoff is slated to find its own new home on a streaming platform, not Bravo itself. So likely, in the vein of Below Deck: Down Under and Ultimate Girls Trip, fans will see it on Peacock’s subscription service.
