Bravo shortlist for ‘RHONY Legacy’ includes Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon
Warning: If you see any of the following women in the Hamptons next summer, check for cameras.
Page Six hears that Bravo’s short list for cast members for the brand-new “Legacy” spinoff of “The Real Housewives of New York City” includes Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon, Dorinda Medley, Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan, plus one or two more names we’ve yet to pin down.
Meanwhile, we’re told the longest-serving “RHONY” star, Ramona Singer, has not made the cut.
Sources say that contracts haven’t been signed but talks are underway with all the potential stars.
Earlier this year, the network announced that it was putting the 14-year-old series through a major overhaul.
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Execs split the series into two shows: “RHONY,” which has an all-new cast of untried stars, and the “Legacy” version, which would feature a cast of fan favorites from earlier seasons.
For some of the returning cast, they’ve reached way back into the archives.
Zarin only appeared in the first four of the 13 seasons that have aired, but her memorable battle with former cast member Bethenny Frankel has given her an outsize presence in the minds of many “Housewives” addicts, in spite of her brief stint.
Bensimon, meanwhile, also left after the show’s fourth season and has since reinvented herself as a wildly successful real estate broker.
Only four of the new stars have appeared on-screen together. Zarin, Bensimon, de Lesseps and Morgan overlapped fleetingly for Season 4. That was Morgan’s first season, but Medley didn’t join until Season 7.
Exec producer Andy Cohen “put a pause” on her participation in 2020 after a series of ugly fights involving the star.
We reported at the time that the network hoped to bring her back.
Reps for Bravo declined to comment.