Jenna Lyons announced she is leaving “The Real Housewives of New York City.” The former J. Crew president announced on Nov. 21 that she is exiting the Bravo reality show after two seasons.
“The rumors …..Are true,” Lyons posted on Instagram. “So here’s the backstory. I was grateful to be asked to join season 16 of RHONY ‘as a friend of ‘- knowing my personal life was not really available to be filmed, we agreed that made sense. And after thinking it through, I have made the difficult decision to not return to the show.”
Jenna Lyons Explained Why She Is Leaving RHONY
BravoThe 15th season of RHONY starred Lyons, Brynn Whitfield, Ubah Hassan, Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy, Jessel Taank, and Racquel Chevremont, as well as Rebecca Minkoff, who appeared as a “friend” of the cast.
In her post, Lyons, 57, explained that she would be “the oldest and only openly gay woman on the show” if she stayed on. She added, “I feel like this is an opportunity for a new dynamic to emerge.”
After sending love to Lichy, Taank, De Silva, Hassan, and Chevremont, she thanked Bravo and the production company for the opportunity.
“I have so much respect and gratitude to the Entire BRAVO team who produced the show with grace and care,” Lyons wrote. “I am so grateful to @bravoandy for the opportunity and support, I am grateful to Sezin for always treating us with so much respect and kindness, I am grateful to the entire team at SHED who handled all of our nonsense and egos with patience. And most importantly to all the fans who have said hi on the street, asked for a photo, supported me here on Instagram THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!- it’s so incredibly meaningful.”
“I will be watching and b—-ing from the sidelines with love and outfit judgement,” the fashion icon added.
The wording in Lyons’ post calls into question the casting status of Chevremont, who is openly lesbian and engaged to Melissa Corpus.
Two Other RHONY Stars Have Announced Their Exits Ahead of Season 16
BravoThe 15th season of RHONY ended with a dark finale that left the cast clearly divided.
Weeks later, Minkoff announced in an Instagram post that she was stepping away from the show to focus on her family and other projects.
In June, Whitfield posted to her Instagram stories to announce that she would also exit the show. “After a lot of thought, I’ve made the decision to walk away from reality TV. For now,” she wrote in a statement to fans, per BravoTV.com. “’The Real Housewives of New York City’ will always be one of the most fun, chaotic, and magical chapters of my life. It was the honor of a lifetime to help reboot such an iconic franchise.”
Lyon’s announcement comes days after Bravo’s Andy Cohen gave an update on RHONY Season 16 at the BravoCon fan fest in Las Vegas.
“I have to say, I’m so excited. I can tell you that we have a cast for the Real Housewives of New York City, and we are going to be filming in the next few months,” he told the crowd, per Us Weekly. “So, very excited about that. More to come about that.”
