The ‘Real Housewives of New York City’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City premiered in 2008 to a dedicated fan base. Viewers were quickly enamored by the Manhattanites’ opulent homes, vacation properties, highbrow social circles and designer closets.

Season 1 was led by Bethenny Frankel, Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer and Luann de Lesseps, though the show has undergone several casting shake-ups since. From scandalous love triangles to unforgettable cast trips, the RHONY stars have made memories and experienced trials of embarrassment worthy of a literal cabaret show. During its later seasons, the show saw a decline in viewership, and several castmates’ relationships became contentious, making filming difficult.

Following a tumultuous 13th season (which didn’t end with a reunion, a first in RHONY history), executive producer Andy Cohen announced that the series would be ushering in a new cast. Cohen also mentioned the network's plans to launch a spinoff series, RHONY Legacy, though talks for the series fell apart during contract negotiations in early 2023. Instead, former New York housewives de Lesseps, Morgan, Singer, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Dorinda Medley and Kristen Taekman will reunite for the fifth season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.

So what are the women of RHONY up to these days? Here are all the updates on the Big Apple’s Bravolebrities.

Ramona Singer

Ramona Singer is an original RHONY cast member. The Ageless by Ramona founder weathered multiple storms, including her divorce, during her 13-year tenure on the show. She and ex-husband Mario Singer were married for 22 years until their divorce in 2016 after the RHONY star reportedly caught Mario cheating.

The exes made headlines in March 2020 when their daughter, Avery Singer, revealed on Instagram that the three of them isolated as a family during the COVID-19 pandemic. “He’s a really great father,” Singer previously told PEOPLE.

In November 2022, Singer announced she was retiring from the Housewives franchise — just one month after Bravo announced plans to recast RHONY in its entirety and shuffle the show’s original stars to a new Legacy series. Singer told the Daily Mail that she was “happier” and “calmer” after leaving the show.

"I don't miss it at all. It was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything,” Singer told the outlet. "It's time for me just to enjoy myself. And doing the show is not easy.”

Singer currently splits her time between her three properties in N.Y.C., Southampton, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to running her jewelry company and Pinot Grigio line, Singer is now a real estate agent.

Singer was also among the seven housewives to star in the first season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.

Luann de Lesseps

Luann de Lesseps is an original RHONY cast member. Fans were particularly drawn to her lavish lifestyle with then-husband Count Alexandre de Lesseps, who stayed out of the spotlight. The pair, who share two children, split in 2009 — a point in de Lesseps’ life that she chose to navigate off-camera.

“I never brought my private family life onto the show because, you know, the show lives on — a moment is gone forever, but film lives forever,” she explained to PEOPLE.

In 2016, de Lesseps and Tom D‘Agostino, who was rumored to have dated some of her RHONY castmates, went public with their romance. After a few months of dating, D’Agostino proposed with an 8-carat canary yellow diamond ring. They married on New Year's Eve in 2016 and divorced in 2017, and their tumultuous relationship was a major storyline in season 9.

Following her divorce, the “Money Can’t Buy You Class” singer dated her agent Richard Super and had a “COVID sizzle” with Hampton's trainer Garth Wakeford. Most recently, de Lesseps was linked to former pro footballer Radamez Rubio.

In 2017, de Lesseps was arrested in Palm Beach and charged with disorderly intoxication, battery on an officer/firefighter/EMT, resisting arrest with violence and threatening a public servant. Days later, she voluntarily entered an alcohol treatment center.

She went back to rehab in 2018 and completed her probation in 2019. De Lesseps was open with fans about maintaining her sobriety during the COVID-19 pandemic. She quit drinking once more and, in November 2021, launched a nonalcoholic wine called Fosé Rosé. In March 2022, she “made a mistake and fell off the wagon” while celebrating at an N.Y.C. bar, a source told PEOPLE.

De Lesseps says cabaret is a big motivator for her sobriety. Her career kicked off with her 2017 debut show Countess and Friends. Many of her songs, such as “Money Can’t Buy Class,” “Chic C’est La Vie” and “Feelin’ Jovani,” have been inspired by moments on RHONY.

She currently stars in her own Bravo show with costar Sonja Morgan titled Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake, which premiered in July 2023.

Bethenny Frankel

Bethenny Frankel was part of the RHONY cast for the first three seasons and took a hiatus before returning for seasons 7 through 11. While on the show, Frankel launched her Skinnygirl empire (part of which she sold in 2019), started a disaster relief organization called BStrong and fell in and out of love more than once.

She tied the knot with Jason Hoppy in 2010, and the couple separated in 2012 and reached a financial settlement in 2016. The pair’s contentious divorce played out for another five years over the custody of their daughter, Bryn Hoppy. In January 2021, the pair officially divorced.

During her divorce proceedings, Frankel found solace in longtime friend turned on-and-off boyfriend Dennis Shields. In 2018, during Frankel’s last Housewives season, Shields died of a suspected overdose.

Frankel left RHONY in 2019. She went on to find love with real estate developer Paul Bernon. The pair met on a dating app in 2018 and dated for three years — with a brief split in between — before getting engaged in March 2021.

Frankel is reportedly still on good terms with Andy Cohen, despite his claims that she had trash-talked the series. Fans later accused Frankel of leaving RHONY “because of money,” which the entrepreneur denied. "If I stayed, it would have been because of the money. I left because I wanted to leave. I was ready to leave, and I used a technicality deal point as my excuse,” she said in a TikTok video in July 2022.

Despite her complicated feelings for the Real Housewives franchise, Frankel launched a rewatch podcast called ReWives with iHeartMedia in 2022. On ReWives, Frankel watches each city’s most iconic episodes (such as RHONY’s “Scary Island” episode) and dives into the “underlying” dynamics that fueled some of the franchise’s most memorable moments. She also hosts a business podcast called Just B.

She’s also starred in her fair share of Bravo spinoffs, including Bethenny Ever After (2010–2012) and Bethenny & Fredrik (2018). She also hosted her own competition series with HBO called The Big Shot with Bethenny in 2021.

Jill Zarin

Fans got to know original RHONY star Jill Zarin, her high-energy personality, and her lavish Upper East Side apartment through season 4, after which she was let go amid a massive cast shake-up. Zarin’s social circle was nothing short of iconic, but what viewers loved most was her endearing friendship with Frankel — although theirs eventually frayed.

Zarin brought a lot to RHONY, but she had a difficult time compartmentalizing her two worlds. The reality TV star opened up to PEOPLE about how her temporary exit from the franchise allowed her to better manage her anxiety and depression.

"It would cause this circular thinking that I couldn't break out of it,” she said. “When I was on RHONY, I would constantly talk about the show. If something was bothering me — say I was getting hate from the fans and I was upset about it — I would talk to Luann, I would talk to Ramona, I would talk to my mother, my friend, my agent, my late husband, my daughter; it was 24 hours a day.”

Zarin has said that the timing of her departure was a blessing in disguise because she had more time to spend with her husband, Bobby Zarin, who was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer in 2009. Bobby died in 2018.

Zarin poured herself into building her home goods brand Jill Zarin Home. She and her daughter Ally Shapiro also created their own luxury home brand, Jill & Ally, in 2020.

In July 2018, the Bravolebrity confirmed to PEOPLE that she was dating menswear executive Gary Brody. The following year, she shared that “Gary’s just the best thing that ever happened to me” and that wedding bells were definitely in their future.

Much to fans’ excitement, Zarin made her grand Housewives return for RHUGT season 2. She and Medley got into a few heated squabbles, including one in which Medley accused Zarin of being “thirsty” for fame. Zarin was quick to note she was “hungry for success,” not “thirsty.”

Sonja Morgan

Sonja Morgan first stepped onto the scene in season 3. She quickly struck up friendships with several main cast members, including Singer, de Lesseps and Frankel — with whom she also quarreled the most.

Morgan’s final seasons as a RHONY housewife were rife with obstacles. After launching her label Sonja by Sonja Morgan in 2014, she signed a deal with department store Century 21 in 2019 — but the company filed for bankruptcy just one year later.

The fashion mogul now stars in her own Bravo spinoff show alongside de Lesseps in Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake. Morgan was also rumored to be part of the RHONY: Legacy series.

In July 2022, Morgan re-listed her five-story Upper East Side townhouse, which has been featured on the show, for $8.75 million. The townhouse first went on the market in 2013 amid her divorce from J.P. Morgan's heir John Adams Morgan. They share a daughter, Quincy Morgan.

Alex McCord

Alex McCord was one of the original cast members of RHONY. The Brooklyn townhouse she shared with husband Simon van Kempen was just as much of a main character as McCord — complete with its six bedrooms, five bathrooms and multiple staircases. McCord’s mean girl feud with Zarin and her infamous “Herman Munster shoes” earned her a special place in Bravo history.

After four seasons, the Brooklynite announced her departure from the show, and her family moved to Australia in 2014. "After 18 years in New York for Alex, and 28 years outside Australia for Simon, we've made the decision to move to Australia to be with family," McCord told the Daily Dish.

"Our children have never had the opportunity to live within walking distance of grandparents and cousins," she continued. "It's the perfect time for the extended family to enjoy each other. We both love New York City, and Brooklyn specifically, almost as much as each other; however, we've been there, done that and written the book — literally — on raising Little Kids in the Big City. It's now time for a new adventure."

In 2022, McCord shared on Instagram that she was working on completing her Ph.D. program after receiving her master’s degree in psychology in 2020. She and van Kempen also celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2020. They share sons Francois and Johan.

Recently, McCord shocked fans upon announcing her return to the Housewives universe. In January 2023, PEOPLE revealed that the OG New York housewife will star in season 4 of RHUGT in Morocco — the same location as McCord’s last RHONY cast trip.

Dorinda Medley

Dorinda Medley appeared on RHONY for six seasons before exiting the show in 2020. The choice was made for her by the network, which repeatedly referred to her leave as a “pause,” implying that Medley may return to RHONY in the near future. "I was ready to go back, I was excited to go back, I was planning to go back, and I thought I would have a great year. I wasn't given that option," Medley told Frankel on Just B.

Her exit came after multiple intoxicated outbursts led to fighting between Medley and her castmates. During season 12’s three-part reunion, Medley said that she was “struggling” following her split from longtime boyfriend John Mahdessian, a broken rib injury and a flood that left her Berkshires home uninhabitable.

“I had an emotional year,” Medley told PEOPLE. “And everybody assumes from watching that clip that it’s because I was fighting with this one or drinking too much of this, but I was going through a lot of changes that were really taking a toll in my personal life.”

Post-RHONY, Medley has reconnected with Frankel, but she and Zarin are still on the fritz. For the second season of RHUGT, Medley hosted eight “ex-wives” at Blue Stone Manor. On the show, she and Orange County alum Vicki Gunvalson got into a war of words, though to Medley’s recollection, it was Gunvalson who started it.

In 2021, Medley published her memoir Make It Nice. Her portfolio expanded in 2022 when she announced the return of her radio show Make It Nice with Dorinda Medley on SiriusXM's Radio Andy.

In February 2022, Medley bid adieu to her Upper East Side apartment of 21 years. She now alternates between her new N.Y.C. pad and her Berkshires estate, where she likes to do all her entertaining.

Kelly Bensimon

Kelly Bensimon was on RHONY for seasons 2 through 4. She had many memorable moments, but her season 3 clash with Frankel on "Scary Island" continues to be one of the most quoted feuds in RHONY history.

Though the two had many memorable quarrels on camera, Bensimon has since told PEOPLE that Frankel’s philanthropic work has made her have a change of heart. “Her philanthropic efforts with BStrong made such an impact on me,” she said in 2017. “That is the kind of girl that I like. I like someone that’s philanthropic, a girl’s girl. The future is female, and I have spent the lexicon of my life raising girls and supporting and celebrating women. ... Whatever she wants with philanthropy, I am behind her.”

Bensimon shares daughters Sea Louise and Thaddeus Ann with ex-husband Gilles Bensimon, from whom she split prior to RHONY. Now, Bensimon is an agent at the luxury real estate company Douglas Elliman in N.Y.C., a model and an author. She is currently engaged to financier  Scott Litner.

“She is over the moon and excited for this new chapter,” her rep told PEOPLE following the engagement in July 2023. “They were dating for over a year when he surprised her with a custom-designed emerald-cut diamond engagement ring at her favorite childhood vacay destination Lake Geneva in Wisconsin."

Carole Radziwill

Carole Radziwill was featured on seasons 5 through 10 of RHONY. Her tenure on the show came to a halt after she and Frankel had a falling out, which had Bravo fans divided into Team Bethenny and Team Carole. Radziwill announced her departure while season 10 was airing.

The season’s reunion mainly revolved around Cohen trying to salvage the ladies’ broken friendship while Radziwill and Frankel volleyed hurtful comments back and forth, but the pair were unable to resolve their feud.

The journalist later said the show “went against [her] own value system.” After the reunion, Radziwill admitted that her biggest regret was not repairing her friendship with Frankel.

“My regret was that Bethenny and I could never get to a place where ... I thought maybe by the end of the season we would be speaking and then reconnect,” Radziwill said. “Because that friendship was important to me. And that never happened.”

While Radziwill brought plenty of drama to RHONY, fans were enraptured by her famous in-laws. She was previously married to the late Anthony Radziwill, whose aunt was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Anthony died of cancer in 1999, just three weeks after his cousin John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash.

During season 10, Radziwill ran the N.Y.C. Marathon in her late husband’s honor. “I finally feel like I’m going to honor him in the way that I should have when he used to talk incessantly about running,” she said of Anthony, an enthusiastic runner.

With RHONY behind her, Radziwill has contributed to The Moth and Town & Country magazine. According to her Instagram, she’s also begun working in the house-flipping business.

From 2014 to 2017, she dated chef Adam Kenworthy.

Heather Thomson

An entrepreneur and mom of two, Heather Thomson appeared in seasons 5 through 7 of RHONY. Though no longer a series regular, she’s a frequent guest on Watch What Happens Live and has made multiple cameos on RHONY since her exit. Thomson officially came back as a “friend of” in season 13, but a trip to Singer’s Hamptons mansion reaffirmed her decision to permanently leave the franchise.

"My intention was to lean into the project, that was really my intention. But I get 24 hours in the day, just like you do and just like everybody else does," Thomson told Entertainment Tonight. "When it came to deciding how I wanted to spend that 24 hours after that weekend, it was pretty easy for me to decide it wasn't with the girls."

Outside of the show, Thomson is known for her shapewear brand Yummie. According to her website, she’s also a certified integrative health coach and has launched her own organic superfood brand called Beyond Fresh. Thomson is also the host of the podcast In My Heart.

Tinsley Mortimer

Tinsley Mortimer joined the RHONY cast in season 9 before abruptly leaving the show in the middle of season 12 to chase her “fairy tale ending” with then-fiancé Scott Kluth. The couple’s tumultuous relationship was heavily documented during Mortimer’s stint on the Bravo franchise — and her costars had no problem unleashing their concerns about the CouponCabin founder.

Originally from Virginia, Mortimer and her adorable pair of poodles, Strawberry and Shortcake, had a soft spot in fans’ hearts. In 2019, de Lesseps confirmed Mortimer’s exit, chalking it up to her surprise engagement to Kluth.

Mortimer and Kluth split in March 2021. "This was not mutual, she was blindsided. She's on the floor heartbroken and devastated,” a source told PEOPLE. “She left everything for him because she didn't think he'd ever call off the engagement. She trusted him that this time was going to be different."

Mortimer left Chicago, Kluth’s hometown, and briefly moved to Palm Beach before settling down in Augusta, Georgia. In 2022, PEOPLE confirmed that Mortimer would be joining the season 3 cast of RHUGT, but she later stepped away from the show for "personal reasons."