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Everybody was surprised when Jenna Lyons was announced as one of the six cast members joining The Real Housewives of New York City for season 14. Jenna, 55, is famous for being the former executive creative director and president of J.Crew, so nobody expected her to ever join the Bravo universe. But was Jenna’s new boss, Andy Cohen, shocked by her decision, as well?
“Yes and no,” the dad-of-two told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY at the RHONY season 14 red carpet premiere on July 12.
Andy revealed to HL that he knew Jenna from before she said yes to joining the RHONY reboot. “I met her years ago. She used to come to my Christmas parties. I’ve always been a fan,” the Watch What Happens Live host said.
RHONY is returning with six diverse women — Jenna, Sai De Silva, Brynn Whitfield, Ubah Hassan, Erin Dana Lichy, and Jessel Taank — who are new to the franchise and have a lot to offer. And nobody is more excited for this new era of RHONY than Andy himself!
“It feels familiar but it’s a whole new group of friends,” Andy said to HL to tease the new season, which premieres Sunday, July 16.
Andy and Jenna discussed how the former fashion executive ended up on RHONY, during their interview with TODAY‘s Hoda Kotb the day after the red carpet premiere. “We had a few long conversations. Come to Jesus conversations as they were. And Jenna went in for the trust fall and I’m so glad she did because she is a brilliant Real Housewife,” Andy said. Jenna explained that she agreed to do the show because it was entering different territory with a new cast.
“This was not about doing what they’ve done before. It felt like it was a total change up,” Jenna said. “The cast is very diverse in age, ethnicity, look, feel, style, and personality. And that to me was a big game-changer in terms of the show.”
The Real Housewives of New York City premieres Sunday, July 16 at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo and streaming next day on Peacock.
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