Is Jenna Lyons leaving RHONY?
In an interview with Evan Ross Katz on the ‘Shut Up Evan’ podcast, the reality newbie opened up about her time as a Real Housewife and seemed to hint at a possible exit from The Real Housewives of New York City reboot after just one season.
“I don’t want it to become my defining moment, and it’s tricky, because I had a career prior to this — a relatively large one — and I don’t want this to become my calling card,” she said, according to a write up from Heavy. “At the same time, I’ve become well aware that this is a very large, very visible and very passionate show. I actually can’t believe how obsessed people are.”
Bethenny calls out Bravo and Jenna Lyons
In the same interview, the former head of J.Crew discussed Bethenny Frankel’s recent comments that Bravo had been overhyping Jenna’s casting.
“So it felt to me like Jenna Lyons – first of all, she’s an accomplished woman, I had sort of heard of her. I didn’t really hear of her until the person I sort of know said to me ‘Do you want to talk to her, she’s going to be on the show,'” Bethenny said on the premiere of her RHONY recap podcast. “I’ve heard of J.Crew obviously, and it sounds like it was a really big job – but the show is setting it up like Lady Gaga has joined the cast of Alex [McCord], Simon [van Kempen], and Ramona [Singer]. She’s on this weird, different pedestal and I feel that that’s interesting. Not her fault.”
Jenna, for her part, doesn’t agree with Bethenny’s assessment.
“I can imagine if the shoe was on the other foot. I think that she has been through this process for years and I think it’s had its ups and downs and clearly as we can see now with what’s going on she has a tricky relationship with the show,” she said, again according to Heavy.
She continued, “And so she may not have wanted to play favorites, she may not have wanted to discuss it for reasons that are her own. I’m fine that she had no idea who I was. Like, great, there’s so many people who don’t, that happens all the time.”
Possible RHONY exit
While Jenna has not clarified whether or not she will return for another season of RHONY, some fans have pointed out how disengaged she appears on the reboot to begin with and have pointed out it was her decision to return to reality TV following the cancellation of her HBO Max reality show Style with Jenna Lyons.
“Does Jenna Lyons forget she chose to do the show?” asked one Bravo fan. “No one forced her. Anyways…she’s not going to last long, I think that’s pretty clear.”
“Sounds like she’s leaving which is what I said from the start. I like Jenna but she doesn’t want to share anything really and when pressed, she clams up,” posted another viewer. “Jenna might have had an amazing career prior to #RHONY and that’s great but what is she doing NOW?”
“I like Jenna on the show but she can leave cause it seems she hates the show,” another viewer shared, including an already-iconic clip from a recent episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
With that said, some RHONY viewers are sticking by Jenna Lyons and pointing out that she didn’t exactly say anything horrible in the interview.
“She’s right,” one viewer shared. “:eople are too used to women seeing RH as the pinnacle of their lives getting more accomplished cast members means accepting that this is not their shining achievement lol. it doesn’t mean they hate the show it means they were somebody before it.”
While it is not yet clear if Jenna Lyons will return to RHONY after Season 14, viewers will get more of an indication of where she is at when Part 1 of the reunion airs later this month.
