RHONY is Put on Indefinite Pause With No Plans for It to Return for Season 16 as Bravo Speaks Out

The Real Housewives of New York City is going off the air — at least for the time being — following years of dwindling ratings.

Credit: Mei Tao/Bravo

Following Bravo’s renewals of a number of its shows, as well as the addition of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island to the long-running Real Housewives franchise, a new report claims the network has no immediate plans to air a 16th season of RHONY.

“We’re trying to figure that show out,” an insider told Page Six on May 8.

RHONY premiered in 2008 as the second Housewives installment, following The Real Housewives of Orange County, with a cast that included Ramona Singer, 68, Jill Zarin, 61, Luann de Lesseps, 59, Alex McCord, 51, and Bethenny Frankel, 54. It was then recast in 2022 with the additions of Jenna Lyons, 56, Ubah Hassan, 41, Jessel Taank, 45, Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy, 37,  and Brynn Whitfield, 39, for season 14.

Around the time of the cast overhaul, a number of the series’ former cast members, including Ramona and Luann, as well as Sonja Morgan, 61, Dorinda Medley, 60, Kelly Bensimon, 57, and Kristen Taekman, 48, were expected to appear in their own show, RHONY: Legacy. However, after negotiations fell through, they were instead brought to Peacock for a special installment of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip.

While there are no plans to bring RHONY back to Bravo at the moment, the source said that after deciding to take the series off the air, the network hopes to reconfigure it at some point.

“We want to figure it out. We think there’s still life in it,” the insider shared. 

Although a casting announcement was shared by Shed Media earlier this year, looking for potential new additions to the series, the source went on to say that convincing women to join the reality show has been difficult. 

“At this point they seen peoples marriages ruined, their kids lives ruined, their businesses ruined,” said the insider. “It’s just not a very desirable thing to sign up for.”

So, while executives reportedly hope the show will eventually return to Bravo, it’s unclear what the cast would look like — and if any of the season 15 women would continue.

In response to the report, a spokesperson for Bravo said, “Nothing is official. The show hasn’t been cancelled.”

RHONY‘s pause comes as The Real Housewives of New Jersey is also on pause ahead of its potential 15th season.