The cast for “The Real Housewives of New York City” Season 16 is finally coming together, according to one star from the Bravo franchise.
In an October 2025 interview with E! News, RHONY alum Jessel Taank said Season 16 is “definitely in the works” after the show paused following the controversial Season 15 finale that aired in January.
“There will be several announcements coming soon,” Taank teased.
In September, Bravo producer Andy Cohen told fans on Sirius XM’s “Andy Cohen Live” that a few RHONY cast members “have been determined,” but that the higher-ups at Bravo hadn’t “rounded it out yet.”
Cohen refused to confirm or deny how many RHONY seats would be filled for Season 16.
Jessel Taank Admitted That It Was Hard to Fill the Shoes of RHONY OGs
GettyFans had mixed feelings when Bravo completely recast RHONY after 13 seasons in October 2022. Season 14 newcomers Taank, Brynn Whitfield, Ubah Hassan, Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy, and Jenna Lyons were introduced at BravoCon that year. For Season 15, Racquel Chevremont and Rebecca Minkoff were added as ”friends.”
In the new interview, Taank admitted that the casting was “trial and error.”
“We had really big shoes to fill,” she said. “They really procured a very strong fan base. So, all of a sudden, just erase that from memory, and then like, say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna try something new.'”
“They’ve never done anything like this before,” she said of fully recasting a “Real Housewives” show. “Sometimes they’re going to get it right on the first try. Sometimes they won’t,” she added, hinting that major changes could be on the way.”
RHONY Issued a Casting Call for Season 16
BravoRHONY Season 16 cast/Bravo
In January, the dark RHONY season 15 finale left the Season 15 cast divided.
Weeks later, Minkoff announced in an Instagram post that she was stepping away from RHONY to focus on family and other projects.
In June, Whitfield posted to her Instagram stories to share 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.
Meanwhile, rumors swirled that producers were casting new women for RHONY. A source for Us Weekly claimed Bravo was looking for “potential new ladies” to join the show before deciding which cast members would be asked back for Season 16. “It’s unclear on how many cast members they are looking for — and who may stay or who may go,” the insider said.
Taank’s latest update comes months after Cohen confirmed that a normal casting process was taking place. “We are between seasons,” he said on “Andy Cohen Live” in May. “Last week, when I was here, the Bravo execs met with 10 potential new ‘Real Housewives of New York.’ This is called the casting process between seasons, and it’s heavily underway.”
