The all-new cast of The Real Housewives of New York is coming together, and (gay gasp!) it will include openly queer Jenna Lyons.
Her casting was officially announced during a taping of Watch What Happens Live at the BravoCon 2022 event, along with Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Erin Dana Lichy, Lizzy Savetsky, Jessel Taank, and Brynn Whitfield.
Lyons is the former president and creative director of J Crew, and it’s not the fashion designer’s first foray into reality TV. Before her new role on RHONY, Lyons had her own reality show on HBO Max called Stylish, which followed her as she attempted to start her own design company.
She’s also no stranger to making headlines, including when she was outed at 43, in 2011, by the New York Post, following her divorce from artist Vincent Mazeau.
Lyons recounted that story to The Cut in 2021. “I was the head of a huge company and a very American, classic brand. We had an intercom at the office, and I was running a pretty large meeting,” she recalled. “I was standing in front of the room, and I get a call over the intercom… they said ‘we have a call from the New York Post. There’s a report that you’re seeing a woman – should we confirm or deny?’ I heard the word ‘confirm’ come out of my mouth… and then it just kind of snowballed.”
“I would have wanted to have a more elegant, certainly more private approach.”
Following the announcement that Lyons would be joining RHONY, she took to her Instagram stories thanking everyone for their support, including some people she said she hadn’t heard from in a very long time.
@Jennalyonsnyc/Instagram
This new season is a reboot of the long-running show following a volatile and controversial season 13. The dynamic between the cast — which included Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, Leah McSweeney, and Eboni K. Williams — was so contentious that the reunion was canceled and the show was put on pause. It has since been retooled, recast, and updated to reflect New York as it is today. A second “legacy” series will feature former cast members and is set to air on Peacock.
Lyons is the first ever queer woman to be cast on the hit series, and only the second out housewife in the franchise’s history. The first was Julia Lemigova, former model and wife of tennis icon Martina Navratilova, on the most recent season of The Real Housewives of Miami. The Real Housewives of Orange County star Braunwyn Windham-Burke also came out as a lesbian during her time on the show.
The Real Housewives of New York is set to return in 2023.
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