My Real Housewives journey began in fall 2024, when I was recovering from Nissen fundoplication surgery. With nothing to do but watch rich women throw wine and sling barbs at each other, I loaded up Peacock and put on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH). I was a goner from the very first moment. After RHOBH, I moved on to New Jersey (RHONJ), followed by New York City (RHONY), Atlanta (RHOA), Potomac (RHOP), Salt Lake City (RHOSLC), Miami (RHOM) and Rhode Island (RHORI). I’m currently watching RHONY season 16, RHOP season 11 and RHOSLC season 7.
Obviously, each franchise brings something different to the table. But I particularly love the energy RHOA, RHONY and RHONJ bring. RHOA is my favorite since it’s unfiltered and shady, and I’m a sucker for RHONY‘s theatrical, unhinged antics. Plus, as an Italian American from the East Coast, I relate to the loudness and loyalty in RHONJ. All three franchises have more or less consistently delivered.
The franchise has been under fire since OGs Luann de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan left after season 13. Seasons 14 and 15 were largely met with negative reception, with viewers saying the rebooted cast felt inauthentic and contrived. Of course, I understood some of the backlash over bringing an all-new cast to an iconic show. I, too, was sad to see the original ladies go. I missed seeing Ramona put her foot in her mouth and Luann’s raspy, seductive rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Yet I wasn’t a hater of the revamped RHONY, and I couldn’t understand why so many others were.
Yes, I enjoyed cheesegate in season 14.
The new ensemble sold me the minute a fight over cheese broke out in the season 14 premiere. Now known as “cheesegate,” the fight began after Brynn Whitfield informed Sai De Silva that Sai had rubbed Erin Lichy the wrong way. Brynn revealed Erin was “distancing herself” from Sai because Sai had insulted Erin’s charcuterie board and said it was “weird” that Erin ate cheese. Naturally, all hell broke loose, and suddenly an entire friend group was debating who was lying over a cheese plate. (Erin, for her part, insisted she’d never told Brynn any such story.) The debacle was quintessential Housewives: petty, over-the-top and completely unnecessary. It was actually hilarious.
Season 15 was darker, but it did have some genuine, lighthearted moments. Case in point: Jenna Lyons showing up to Jessel Taank’s Clueless-themed birthday party as Cher’s dad, Mel, and handing out fake lawsuits to her castmates for crimes related to the show. (Mel is a lawyer in the movie, for those who don’t know.) The move was unserious in the best way — the kind of playful fourth-wall breaking that lets viewers know the cast is in on the joke and can roll with the punches. Still, moments like this weren’t enough to convince fans the new RHONY was worth watching.
RHONY season 16 gets the cast mix right.
The lineup for season 16 includes Carole Radziwill, who originally starred in seasons 5 through 10; returning cast members Erin Lichy, Jessel Taank and Sai De Silva from seasons 14 and 15; and newcomers Daisy Toye, Erika Hammond and Hailey Glassman. The beauty of this cast is that it blends the old with the new. As a legacy cast member, Carole bridges the gap between the original and the revamped RHONY. And her presence, along with the return of Erin, Jessel and Sai, make the shake-up feel less drastic. It grounds the show because we don’t have to get to know four of the seven women from scratch. As a viewer, this makes it easier to dive in and get to know the new faces.
What’s more, the newcomers are on par with the franchise’s veterans. A good ’Wive has a life that, at least to some extent, feels unattainable. In the show’s early days, Luann fit this mold; watchers couldn’t relate to the expectations and responsibilities she had as a countess. In season 16, Erika fills that void because she’s married to a billionaire who happens to own Moskito Island in the British Virgin Islands. This gives us the luxury the show has been missing. Obviously, the women of seasons 14 and 15 were wildly successful, but Erika lets us glimpse the lives of the ultra-wealthy and look at how they move through the world, private island and all.
Then there’s Hailey, who claims Gucci is inexpensive and brazenly discusses her self-proclaimed “lavender marriage” and sexual encounters, including how a woman’s breast broke her nose during sex. She delivers the blasé disposition of a seasoned ’Wive who’s used to living with the finer things. She’s also unintentionally chaotic and unbothered in a way we haven’t seen since OG RHONY. Back then, the women were unapologetically themselves on camera, and we loved them for it. Hailey is basically the chiller version of Ramona, and I mean that as a sincere compliment.
Daisy, meanwhile, humanizes the women. Yes, she’s Martha Stewart’s makeup artist-slash-friend and was a chronic complainer on the Moskito cast trip, but she lives in an apartment with popcorn ceilings because it’s the smarter money move. (The apartment is rent-controlled.) As someone who’s unashamedly living with popcorn ceilings, I find Daisy’s reason for staying put refreshingly relatable; it reminds me of the down-to-earth presence Bethenny Frankel brought during her time on the show.
Together, the RHONY women go back to the original reality TV formula.
In the early days of The Real Housewives, nothing was off limits. Now? The landscape is different. RHOBH’s Kyle Richards hasn’t let viewers into what really led to her separation from Mauricio Umansky. (For the record, she did say there were things that made her lose her trust in Mauricio at the season 13 reunion, though it’s still unclear what they were.) Likewise, RHOA’s Porsha Williams has gotten more tight-lipped about what she’ll discuss with castmates. As a human, I sympathize with reality stars’ desire for some privacy. As a viewer, I find this lack of transparency frustrating. After all, why sign on for a reality show if you’re not willing to show every part of your life?
RHONY season 16 goes back to the formula Housewives was built on. Instead of putting tight parameters around what they’ll discuss, the women are pulling back the curtain completely. Sai is vulnerable about the dissolution of her marriage, and she grills Carole about why her name appears in the Epstein files, a result of Carole’s past friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell. Meanwhile, Hailey’s honest about how being labeled a homewrecker after pictures of her and Jon Gosselin surfaced in 2009 nearly destroyed her. Plus, Erika’s open about her fertility struggles, explaining it isn’t safe for her to carry because she has growths on her liver that expand with estrogen.
Beyond that, season 16’s drama doesn’t feel manufactured. The confrontation between Erin and Jessel in the premiere episode has real stakes because the women bonded over the loss of their fathers. That shared history makes the betrayal from Erin, who trashed Jessel on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, feel more personal. Plus, the women are airing their grievances in front of each other. After Jessel makes insensitive remarks about Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr., Carole calls Jessel a “dingbat” at Daisy’s Seder. (Carole’s late husband, Anthony Radziwill, was JFK Jr.’s first cousin, so Carole was close with him and Carolyn.)
Ultimately, RHONY season 16 delivers that classic Bravo feel. It features women with actual history, natural camaraderie and concrete ties to the city. Alongside RHORI and RHOP, season 16 of The Real Housewives of New York City is one of Bravo’s strongest Housewives showings of 2026.
Still, RHONY season 16 ratings are low.
Despite RHONY’s stellar showing, ratings are disappointing. The season 16 premiere drew a historic low of 371,000 live cable viewers, with a total of 1.8 million viewers across all platforms. This is a stark contrast to RHORI, which drew 2.7 million viewers across all platforms in the first seven days after its premiere. RHOP, meanwhile, raked in 537,000 live cable viewers for the season 11 premiere alone.
What’s even more mind-boggling is that RHOA season 17 averaged 2.6 million viewers across all platforms through 13 episodes when I thought the season was a disappointment. It felt overly produced because the cast lacked chemistry. Plus, the drama felt manufactured because the storylines were focused on each cast member rather than the group as a whole.
RHONY’s ratings don’t mean the show isn’t working. They suggest the new cast has been fighting an uphill battle long before a single episode aired. In viewers’ eyes, the reboot can’t compare to the original. And honestly, I get it. The OGs gave us iconic material, from Bethenny’s “Mention it all!” to Luann’s “Be cool. Don’t be all, like … uncool.” As powerful as nostalgia is, though, it’s an unfair yardstick. Comparing the new cast to the original is like comparing apples to oranges — and RHONY knows its apples.
The new RHONY doesn’t need to be the old RHONY.
Truthfully, nothing good lasts forever, and even the best casts run out of material eventually — including RHONY. After all, there are only so many times you can watch the same group of women pull the same shenanigans and have it be just as entertaining as it was the first time. Disbanding the original RHONY after season 13 — a stale season, if I’m being honest — was a blessing in disguise. It preserved the magic of the show’s early days and made room for a new chapter to unfold.
This season, the cast is simply doing what the best ’Wives have always done: showing up, spilling everything and giving us a glimpse into their world, popcorn ceilings included. It’s messy and unfiltered and the most fun this franchise has been in years. Right now, this version of RHONY is worth watching.