Fall TV Blog

Sure, season 2 of The Real Housewives of New York City just wrapped with an extra-dramatic two part reunion special, but producers are already thinking ahead to season 3. The network just sent out casting notices targeted to ambitious women in the Big Apple.

“We’re always looking for new and interesting characters and to keep the show fresh” a rep for the show says. “There are so many stories to tell and we want to keep topping ourselves every season.”

(If you’ve got what it takes, email Bravo at tvrealitycasting@gmail.com)

PEOPLE thought, who better to join Alex, Ramona, Jill, Bethenny, LuAnn and Kelly than a famous face?

Here are our picks:

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What Part 1 of the Real Housewives of N.Y.C. reunion show lacked, Part 2 delivered: Catfights and fireworks galore!

It was “Kelly time” as we started off the show, zooming through a montage of Kelly’s best (worst) moments. One thing about Kelly, you can always depend on her slighting someone, whether she knows it or not. “Out of all the housewives, you are my favorite,” she revealed to Jill, right in front of everyone. Then she went off on a tangent about how different she is from all of the rest of the Housewives because she drives a pickup truck. “We got the pickup truck memo. We got it!” Bethenny said as Jill called Kelly out for living in a $15-million mansion and one of the most expensive buildings in New York.
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Whether she’s squirming around Simon van Kempen and Alex McCord or calling out her other Real Housewives of New York castmates on things she doesn’t like, Ramona Singer isn’t afraid to “say it like it is.” On Tuesday’s Housewives reunion special, she took a lot of heat after blogging about her castmates, but on the second half of the Watch What Happens special, airing Thursday (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo, Ramona fights back. Calling from New York, Ramona tells PEOPLE why she felt attacked by her castmates and explains her spats with Bethenny Frankel, LuAnn de Lesseps and Kelly Bensimon. – Brian Orloff

How do you feel the reunion special went?
I really felt that I was attacked. On the opposite couch you had Jill [Zarin], Bethenny and LuAnn. I sat down and go, ‘This setup isn’t good,’ because with every question that was asked of me, the three of them were pouncing on me. They were attacking me. Why am I being attacked for being myself? I don’t try to be someone I’m not, like some of the other people. I am who I am and I tell the truth. Maybe sometimes I’m a little unedited. I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. I don’t do anything with malicious intent.

You and LuAnn rehashed your spat this season. Why do you think she was so upset about what you said? And do you regret it? (more…)

Anticipation for last night’s Real Housewives of N.Y.C. reunion special was especially high, given the seemingly never-ending cat fights between new Housewife Kelly and the rest of the gang. But the special started with host Andy Cohen asking about all the tepid off-camera news surrounding Jill, Bethenny, LuAnn, Alex, Ramona and Kelly.

We heard about Jill’s breast reduction, and were treated to the revelation that Ramona has seen them. We heard about Bethenny’s best-selling book, and LuAnn’s new book (as well as her breakup with the Count). And then Cohen asked a question from a viewer. Huh?

Finally, the ladies got together in a room and began reviewing the gossip and Page Six items rather than getting the dirt on the juicy moments we all saw on the show.
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She battled with Bethenny Frankel and got beat up in the blogs, but Kelly Bensimon, the season’s new girl on The Real Housewives of New York City, says she’d do it again — and hopes to come back for another season.

“It was a really, really fun process,” she told PEOPLE during a recent phone interview. “For next season, I want people to see the real Kelly.” So far, “another season of New York is not locked for anybody yet,” she explains, but “I would love to be a part of the brand.”

Bensimon says joining the already-established cast in the show’s second season was like diving into a “shark tank,” and blames her nerves for causing her to act like someone she’s not. “I was so guarded, I came across as not being me,” she said. “Everyone I know was like, ‘That’s not you! That’s the not the fun Kelly who’s always on Kelly time!’ I didn’t know these women. I was treading in murky waters and I didn’t know how to navigate.”

Bensimon insists her cat fight with Bethenny was out of character. “I’ve never had an exchange like that with anyone in my entire life,” she says. “I was really thrown off.”

Still, she believes that Bethenny knew exactly what she was doing. “She got a ton of airtime and got a ton of press,” Bensimon says. “Why would she fight with the new girl if she didn’t want air time and press?” (more…)

The show kicked off with the final meeting before Jill’s big fund-raiser, where an argument between Ramona and Jill erupted over whether it’s classy or tasteless to promote their various businesses at a charity event. (Funny, they both decided, in the end, to promote their businesses.) But Ramona was on a bug-eyed tear—especially about the fact that Alex hadn’t sold any tickets to the event yet. (She called her a “limp noodle!”)

Seeing the Countess LuAnn with her husband, the Count, show up in the next scene together was a little awkward, knowing that they’ve since separated in real life.

Back to Jill’s apartment, we watched as she tried to have “the talk” with her daughter Allyson, 15 — on camera. “Which talk should we have? Sex or drugs?” Jill asked her. “On the sex talk,” Jill then asked, “do you know what it is?” Her daughter pretty much laughed at her over that one. She’s 15! It actually ended well, as Jill reminded her daughter that she could always come to her, and she’d never judge her.
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The second season of The Real Housewives of New York City is coming to a close — but not before a major sparring match goes down between best pals Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin (watch the clip) when the show’s finale airs Tuesday night (10 p.m. ET). And that’s just the start of the Housewives drama: The ladies will come face to face in a reunion show (airing May 12, 10 p.m. ET) that is so jam-packed with confrontation that it’s a two-part special. Zarin stopped by the PEOPLE offices recently to talk about the show and her latest project, a partnership with Kodak making Picture Movie DVDs for Mother’s Day. She also revealed what really happened with Kelly Bensimon’s charity auction donation and fired back at her frenemy Ramona Singer’s husband Mario, who’s been dogging her in the blogs (still!) about that ill-fated tennis match. –Brian Orloff

On what to expect from the reunion special:
“I picked a fight with everybody. I called everyone out. There were definitely things that I challenged people on to be honest about. The only one who I didn’t really [challenge] is Bethenny because Bethenny and I sort of see things the same way. And Bethenny has a very sharp memory. I would never go up against Bethenny’s memory. And anytime anyone does, they’ve very sorry they did.”

On LuAnn being separated from her husband before publicly announcing it: (more…)

Are Bethenny and Kelly ever going to be friends? If the showdown that ended Tuesday’s Housewives was any indication, then all signs point to definitely not. But back to that in a bit.

The episode kicked off with a burst of energy. Yes, we’re talking about Alex and Simon’s sons Johan and François, who were unleashed on Zarin Fabrics as their parents sought Jill’s council on window treatments. While Alex was busy boasting about her “dramatic, eclectic taste,” and explaining that she and Simon “both like color,” her boys were showing their true colors, running through the store, tearing at displays and driving the unusually diplomatic Jill mad.

Back in Brooklyn, Alex and Simon were days away from finishing their renovations, even if their house still looked like a construction zone. Thinking ahead, the two planned a housewarming party. But should they invite Ramona? After some back and forth, the two reached a collective “yes.” (more…)

Last night’s Real Housewives of N.Y.C. started with LuAnn’s daughter, Victoria, coming home from school and marveling that she had made a trip to a Goodwill store for the first time ever. She was amazed that she could buy a handful of used scarves and sweaters for a grand total of $9.00.

“She’s more together and she seems a little bit more grown up,” LuAnn said of her daughter before carting her off to get her “paws fixed” with a manicure — and to do some real clothes shopping.

Meanwhile Jill was interviewed by the BBC about the state of the economy (!) at her remodeled condo. Looking around her “fabulous, fabulous apartment,” the interviewer noted that it was hard to see any economic crisis in Jill’s life. He then asked her if she has guilt. “If you spend more than you make, this is what happens,” Jill said of the recession. “I’ve always spent less than I have. I’ve always saved,” she added, explaining, “I’ve never been in debt.” And as the radio interviewer pressed her even further, she talked about her charity work, and how one organization she works with just opened a school in Africa last week.
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This week’s episode started out with a Housewives gathering for a cocktail party at Zarin Fabrics, where Ramona’s husband Mario started yet another psycho-tirade about tennis. “Mario’s ego is so big that there isn’t room for two opinions,” Jill commented, just before Mario laid into Simon about his outfit on the court last week, saying he looked like something out of “seventh-grade gym.”

Thankfully the miner-of-the-one-liners Bethenny stepped up to the plate to add some much-needed humor, sharing her new rules for dating: “Think of my vagina as a vase, and if you’ve had sex with me it’s time to send flowers,” she told Jill.

And then in walks Kelly. “I hear that familiar chirp of ‘Hey, hi, hi,’” Bethenny said, mocking her arch-rival’s voice. Kelly arrived with her Eurotrash boy toy Max, and the two started having a pillow fight in the back of the store.
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