50 Fun Facts About The Real Housewives of New York City

The Real Housewives of New York City cast pose in the opening credits holding which golden fruit?

Apples nod to the Big Apple nickname, an idea that began as an allusion to the fruit held in the opening credits of Desperate Housewives.

Bethenny Frankel sold which cocktail brand to Beam Global in 2011 for a reported $120 million?

Skinnygirl began in 2009 as a pre-packaged margarita, and the sale put Frankel on the cover of that year's Forbes Celebrity 100 issue.

Luann de Lesseps held which courtesy title through her first marriage, to Alexandre de Lesseps?

Countess was the title she gave up by remarrying in 2016, and she had released her debut single, Money Can't Buy You Class, as Countess Luann.

Which housewife slammed her prosthetic leg onto a table at Le Cirque in RHONY's season six finale?

Aviva Drescher lost her left leg after a childhood accident, and Andy Cohen later said she had planned the restaurant moment in advance.

Which housewife threw a wine glass at Kristen Taekman during a lake outing in season six of RHONY?

Ramona Singer cut that weekend away short soon afterwards, and she went on to star in all thirteen seasons of the original run.

What did Bravo do to RHONY before season fourteen, a first for the Housewives franchise?

Bravo replaced the entire cast after the thirteenth season's negative reception, while planning a separate 'Legacy' show for some original stars.

Which star of the 2023 RHONY reboot spent years as president and creative director of J.Crew?

Jenna Lyons joined the retailer in 1990 and stayed twenty-seven years, and in 2013 she was dubbed the 'Woman Who Dresses America'.

Which original RHONY housewife co-wrote Secrets of a Jewish Mother with her mother and sister?

Jill Zarin said she agreed to do the series to win exposure for the family business, Zarin Fabric Warehouse.

Luann de Lesseps was arrested in December 2017 in which Florida resort town?

Palm Beach brought charges including disorderly intoxication; she later pleaded guilty to misdemeanours and agreed to go a year without alcohol.

Which RHONY housewife's behaviour on a season three trip led fans to nickname it Scary Island?

Kelly Bensimon argued repeatedly with Bethenny Frankel on the trip, and she had already left the island before it ended.

Which RHONY housewife was an Emmy-winning ABC News journalist before joining the cast in season five?

Carole Radziwill is the widow of Prince Anthony Radziwill, and her memoir What Remains spent twelve weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.

Which RHONY housewife from the first four seasons later became a psychologist in Australia?

Alex McCord moved to the home country of her husband, Simon van Kempen, and completed a PhD in clinical psychology there in 2026.

Which socialite left RHONY midway through season twelve to move to Chicago with fiancé Scott Kluth?

Tinsley Mortimer had already fronted her own reality series, High Society, which was cancelled in 2010 after eight episodes.

Which founder of the streetwear label Married to the Mob joined RHONY for its twelfth season?

Leah McSweeney was referred to the producers by Bethenny Frankel, who had left the series after the previous season.

Which attorney and broadcaster became RHONY's first Black housewife in season thirteen?

Eboni K. Williams had worked as a public defender and co-hosted the Fox News show Fox News Specialists before she was cast.

Which Somali-born model in the rebooted RHONY cast is the founder of her own hot sauce brand?

Ubah Hassan moved to Canada at 15, was spotted by a photographer in a park at 17, and later became the face of a Ralph Lauren campaign.

Luann de Lesseps married which businessman on New Year's Eve 2016, splitting within a year?

Tom D'Agostino Jr. was her husband for less than a year, long enough for season nine to bill her as Luann D'Agostino.

Dorinda Medley's Blue Stone Manor, host of many RHONY weekends, is in which Massachusetts region?

The Berkshires are home turf for her: she was born in Great Barrington, and the manor staged a 1920s murder mystery dinner in season ten.

Sonja Morgan worked with Heather Thomson in RHONY season five on packaging for which appliance?

A toaster oven was her branded product, and she turned up an hour late to the photo shoot that was arranged to promote it.

Bethenny Frankel's daytime talk show Bethenny, launched in 2013, was co-produced by which comedian?

Ellen DeGeneres helped create the show, which was cancelled after a single season even though 170 episodes had been taped.

Bethenny Frankel was runner-up in 2005 on an Apprentice spin-off fronted by which businesswoman?

Martha Stewart's edition of the contest showcased BethennyBakes, her business selling egg-free, wheat-free and dairy-free cookies.

Bethenny Frankel once worked as an assistant to which later Real Housewives of Beverly Hills regular?

Kathy Hilton employed her in 1990s Los Angeles, where the job sometimes meant taking Paris and Nicky out for ice cream.

Bethenny Ever After followed Bethenny Frankel's engagement and 2010 wedding to which man?

Jason Hoppy and Frankel's spin-off drew 2.1 million viewers to its premiere, at the time the highest-rated series launch Bravo had seen.

Bethenny & Fredrik followed Bethenny Frankel and Fredrik Eklund as partners in which business?

Real estate was his field: the Swedish-born broker has closed more than five billion dollars in residential sales.

Bethenny Frankel was a guest investor in seasons nine and ten of which ABC business series?

Shark Tank saw her team up with Kevin O'Leary to put $150,000 into the beverage company Snarky Tea.

Luann de Lesseps began headlining which kind of stage act in 2018 at Feinstein's/54 Below?

A cabaret show of her own making became her signature act, with guests such as Rachel Dratch, and within months she took it on tour.

Ferdinand de Lesseps, an ancestor of Luann de Lesseps's first husband, built which waterway?

The Suez Canal was the French diplomat's great success, and he also started work on the Panama Canal.

Dorinda Medley was the first player eliminated on season three of which reality competition?

The Traitors invited her back for its fourth season, where she lasted until the ninth episode and finished in tenth place.

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, featuring RHONY veterans, launched on which streaming service?

Peacock later built a whole season of the spin-off around New York alumni, billed as RHONY Legacy.

Which island hosted RHONY's season five 'pirate' trip and the later RHONY Legacy cast trip?

St. Barts drew the alumni back to the very same villa, years after Luann de Lesseps's night out with a Johnny Depp look-alike.

Which Colombian city did RHONY visit in season ten, a trip that ended with a traumatic boat ride?

Cartagena also saw an injured castmate wheeled over the cobblestone streets, and the boat scare came as the women were rushed off a private island.

In season six, the RHONY cast joined a real-life cattle drive during a trip to which U.S. state?

Montana also had the women fly fishing and skeet shooting, while one housewife stayed home after producing a doctor's note for asthma.

Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake sent two RHONY veterans to the town of Benton in which state?

Illinois was the setting because Benton's city council asked the pair to help build a playground, upgrade the animal shelter and host a variety show.

Newly debt-free, Sonja Morgan invited the RHONY cast in season seven to which island group?

Turks and Caicos produced one of the season's big rows, after Heather Thomson found a naked man in the room next to hers.

Before it joined the Housewives franchise, RHONY had which working title in pre-production?

Manhattan Moms was what the network called it when production started in September 2007, and the new name followed in January 2008.

What did Bravo cancel in September 2021 after RHONY's low-rated thirteenth season?

The reunion had followed every earlier American Housewives season, so going without one was a first for the franchise.

Barbara Kavovit, a RHONY friend of the housewives in season eleven, works in which industry?

Construction made her name: she founded Evergreen Construction in 2015, and in 2021 she briefly ran for mayor of New York City.

Dorinda Medley spent over a decade before RHONY running DCL Cashmere in which city?

London was her base until her divorce, after which she and her daughter Hannah moved back to New York.

Why was Luann de Lesseps reduced to a 'friend of the housewives' for RHONY's sixth season?

Living outside the city while the season was filmed cost her the full-time role, and she was restored as a housewife the following year.

How much was Bethenny Frankel paid for the entire first season of RHONY?

$7,250 was her fee for the season; three years later she sold her cocktail business for a reported $120 million.

Sonja Morgan's ex-husband John Adams Morgan won 1952 Olympic gold in which sport?

Sailing brought him the title in Helsinki, in the 6 Metre class aboard the boat Llanoria; the couple were married from 1998 until 2006.

Which fashion designer joined RHONY's fifteenth season as a friend of the housewives?

Rebecca Minkoff launched her label with her brother Uri in 2005, after a T-shirt she designed was worn on The Tonight Show.

Before modelling, Luann de Lesseps was licensed in Connecticut to work in which profession?

Practical nurse was her first career, before she became a Wilhelmina model; she grew up in Berlin, Connecticut, as one of seven children.

Bethenny Frankel worked as a production assistant in the 1990s on the set of which teen sitcom?

Saved by the Bell was one of several Los Angeles jobs she took after moving west in 1992 in the hope of becoming an actress.

Bethenny Frankel's father, Robert Frankel, and her stepfather both made their living in which sport?

Horse racing ran through her childhood: her father was a trainer, and her mother later married another trainer, John Parisella.

Sonja Morgan's fashion line sold in which discount chain until its 2020 bankruptcy filing?

Century 21 carried Sonja by Sonja Morgan, which was also sold at the Vanessa Noel store on East 64th Street.

Racquel Chevremont, who joined RHONY in season fifteen, built a career beyond modelling in which field?

Art curation saw her choose the artwork for the television drama Empire, and her casting gave a Housewives cast two openly gay women for the first time.

Luann de Lesseps guest-starred as a socialite in a 2011 episode of which crime drama?

Law & Order: SVU cast her in the episode Bully, in which her character makes a gruesome discovery.

Bethenny Frankel signed a 2019 deal with MGM Television and which producer, its chairman, for new unscripted shows?

Mark Burnett co-produced The Big Shot with Bethenny with her, but the series underperformed and the deal was over by June 2021.

Which pop star and former American Idol judge made cameo appearances in Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake?

Paula Abdul turned up in a series that also had the two leads catching crappie at Rend Lake and going mudding in a monster truck.