Carole Radziwill, who appeared on The Real Housewives of New York City from Seasons 5 to 10, will rejoin the cast in the Bravo series’ 16th season in the role of “Friend.” Filming begins this week in New York City.
Radziwill, an author and journalist, rose to prominence with his dry wit during his time on RHONY, and has recently appeared in public and on social media alongside Erin Richie, who stars in the reality series’ Season 14 reboot. Lissy, Cy de Silva and Jesse Turnk are the only three cast members from the reboot of RHONY to return to the show. Bryn Whitfield and Ouba Hassan, who were central to the controversial season 15 finale, have left the show, and Raquel Chevremont will not be returning. Designer Jenna Lyons also announced in November that she would not be returning, as was Rebecca Minkoff, who was a “friend” in season 15 but had no real interaction with the cast.
On Monday, DeuxMoi posted about the return of Lissy, de Silva, and Turnk and that filming will begin this week. The gossip site also announced that Daisy Toy (co-starring Martha Stewart) has been added to the cast. Hailey Glassman (you may have heard her name in the tabloids when she dated Jon Gosselin shortly after the Gosselins broke up). and celebrity trainer Erica Hammond. DeuxMoi sources also leaked that former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” showrunner Lori Gordon will be taking over the reins of “RHONY.” (That makes sense, since both shows are produced by Shed Media for Bravo.)
A Bravo representative declined to comment on DeuxMoi’s report, but later confirmed the cast on social media.
Radziwill left “RHONY” after a difficult season in which he had a bitter feud with then-Bravo star Bethenny Frankel, now an anti-Bravo activist. When he announced his departure in July 2018, Radziwill said in a statement, “My original curiosity about reality TV has waned over the past few years, and I have focused on television and writing projects that are more stable and fit my temperament.”
Her breakup with Bravo certainly seemed like it would last forever until recently. During the season 10 reunion episode, Radziwill produced a great moment while arguing with Frankel, accusing Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen of being afraid of Frankel. “Andy, you’re full of shit,” Radziwill told Cohen. “Are you kidding me? Are you scared of her too?” Cohen replied sarcastically, “Yeah, I’m scared of her.”
In the years that followed, Cohen and Radziwill traded jabs on social media and in interviews. Cohen went so far as to accuse Radziwill of being a key anonymous source quoted in the New York magazine profile, saying the show’s cast members “vetted on opponents, concocted false storylines, leaked stories about each other, and tried to get each other fired.” Cohen said on his SiriusXM show, “Radio Andy,” that there was “no question” that Radziwill was the source, and responded to the “true observation” by saying, “There’s always that one short guy waiting to offend.”
You can see the image. Bravo, Cohen, and Radziwill seemed to be over forever. But miraculously, Cohen said he stayed in touch with Radziwill in the fall of 2024, and then in August 2025, Cohen brought her on his nightly talk show, Watch What Happens Live, to the surprise of guests Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. Her appearance was so popular that from there Radziwill was welcomed back into the Bravo sphere and appeared at BravoCon in Las Vegas in November 2025. Radziwill, who had a casual conversation with the reporter in the press room, seemed stunned to be there, but said the fans always welcomed him warmly and that he had a good time.
Notably, Radziwill will not appear on E! The series “The Golden Life” will reunite traditional “RHONY” castmates in Palm Beach, Florida, and begin filming this spring. (Excluding Jill Zarin)
“The Real Housewives of New York City” went into production in the face of dire reports that the show was canceled last May. Even though Cohen and the network shot down the reports in threads and on Radio Andy, fans worried that RHONY was gone forever. On the final day of BravoCon in November, Cohen said during the Ask Andy panel that filming would begin soon and that the cast had been finalized. Given that they had been invited to Bravocon, it was obvious that Lissy, de Silva, and Turnk would be included in that cast.
In an interview with Variety at the convention, Bravo boss Frances Berwick talked about the difficulty of finding the right cast. “In terms of what we learned in the New York reboot, when you watch Olympic skating and someone falls, you suddenly realize that what they’re doing is incredibly difficult,” she said. “We don’t always nail the cast. Sometimes you get a cast like ‘Salt Lake City’ that has this magical alchemy. But it’s not always right. I thought the first season of the ‘Real Housewives of New York’ reboot was actually great.”
“No need to rehash it, but I didn’t like the result of the second run,” Berwick continued. “That’s why we’re really thinking about how to bring it back. But this is an important city.”
