Whispers With Gina Giordan
Bravo’s Season 5 RHONYC Is Bittersweet!
Bravo’s “Real Housewives of NYC” fans are gearing up for the highly anticipated Season 5 premiere this Monday but, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps admitted the premiere of the new season without her old cast mates, Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Simon van Kempen and Kelly Bensimon will be bittersweet, “It’s really sad because it was like a family and we had many seasons together so it’s sad not to be working with the girls.” Jill, Alex, Simon and Kelly weren’t asked back to star in Season 5. LuAnn, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan are the surviving original cast mates. During a recent IN THE MIXX interview with the Countess she credits Zarin for being chosen as a cast member on Bravo’s hit series, “I ran into Jill Zarin at a party out here in the Hamptons, it was the screening of Michael Moore’s movie Sicko.
Jill invited me to a party and we kept seeing each other. I’d never seen her before in my life. This redhead calls me and says ‘Hi, I’m Jill Zarin’ and I was like who is this woman? I was impressed by her, um, energy and her accent and you know we became friends and then she told me about the show that she was thinking about doing which was called ‘Manhattan Moms’ at the time. At that moment there was only the ‘Housewives of Orange County’ so eventually it would turn into the ‘Housewives of NYC.’ So, that’s how it happened.” Lu-Ann admitted, “Jill was really the den mother and so it was really sad to see her go and I absolutely I miss her a lot.”
It’s not like Zarin and the rest of the post massacre crew are desperate housewives. Zarin has a woman’s shapewear collection, Skweez Couture. Alex and Simon created an Egyptian-cotton towels and bedding collection, called Aluxe and Kelly recently wrote a book, I Can Make You Hot: The Supermodel Diet. Lu–Ann also added she recently had Jill and Bobby over to her Hamptons estate, “I still see them so that’s the nice thing. Yet, the Countess is known for keeping a polite stance and shared, “It is exciting that we have three new housewives!” Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill and Heather Thomson replaced the original crew and are starring in the upcoming season. Lu–Ann said Season 5 is the most dramatic yet, “Fasten your seatbelts for Season 5 because it will feel different!” Why? “There’s different personalities and alliances being made. It is an exciting season! We travel a lot and we go to some pretty cool locations.” Season 5 showcases the new reality ensemble in London and St Bart’s. For more of Lu–Ann’s exclusive interview DVR the premiere episode of IN THE MIXX studio series at East Hampton Studio on WVVH–TV at 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 2.