RHONY is set to begin filming Season 13 without Leah McSweeney after she felt dissed by Bravo’s offer to return, new reports suggest.
According to OK! Magazine, Leah is holding out on her return to The Real Housewives of New York City because she feels “disrespected” by Bravo’s earlier offer. (TMZ had reported earlier that Leah was offered a “minuscule” raise to return for RHONY Season 13).
“Leah is trying to strong arm them into paying her double, putting her on the same money level as old timers LuAnn [de Lesseps] and Sonja [Morgan],” a source told the gossip outlet. “However, Bravo is not budging. They are starting to film without Leah and think she will back down after a few weeks of them not needing her.”
“Bravo is super tight when it comes to money,” the insider continued. “None of the ladies earn millions on the show. The reason the franchise is so successful and won’t be cancelled like the Kardashians is because Bravo watches the bottom line like a hawk.”
They added, “The only person making a ton of money off this franchise is Bravo.”
As previously reported, RHONY is set to look quite a bit different for Season 13 as Dorinda Medley has already confirmed her exit from the series after 6 seasons. With Leah McSweeney now considering not returning to RHONY, that means the show will almost certainly have a different vibe when it returns next year.
Leah McSweeney is reportedly holding out on returning to RHONY for Season 13 after feeling “disrespected” by Bravo’s offer.
What is interesting about the OK! report is that we seem to be on the money when we mused that NBCUniversal was simply trying to cut costs by cancelling the Kardashians and limiting the budget of the Housewives franchise. (NBCUniversal is being impacted by the pandemic more than some of the other media companies due to their huge investments in theme parks, which have been absolutely descminzted.)
If we were Leah, we’d sign on pretty quickly because one thing these women seem to forget pretty quickly that it is really, really difficult to land yourself a full-time role on a weekly TV series.
And there is nothing like a weekly TV series for business.
The Real Housewives of New York City will return to Bravo in 2021.
