Heavy/Getty/Bravo Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons
Erin Lichy set the record straight on a comment that one of her “Real Housewives of New York City” co-stars made about Jenna Lyons.
The revamped 14th season of the Bravo reality show featured Lichy, Lyons, Jessel Taank, Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, and Brynn Whitfield. But during the group’s first-ever reunion, Hassan commented on the other ladies not wanting Lyons to be on the show.
During an interview on the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast released on April 8, 2024, Lichy said Hassan’s comment “literally made no sense.”
Lichy explained that the incident Hassan referred to came after a night of Facetiming with a RHONY producer. “We were really close with one of our producers, and we were Facetiming with them, popping champagne. We were just being silly,” she explained. “And they told us about [Jenna joining the cast]. And we were like ‘Huh?’… Because she was such a departure from everybody else. And she’s Jenna, and she’s got this big career. So we were just like, ‘That’s interesting. Like I don’t see how that is gonna gel. Are we all gonna connect?’ We didn’t know.”
“There wasn’t shade. …It’s just like, I’m confused,” Lichy said. “That’s it. It was literally not meant to be like, ‘No, if she does the show, we’re not doing it.’”
In March 2024, Bravo confirmed that the full cast will return for RHONY season 15—including Lyons.
Erin Lichy Was Surprised By Her Friendship With Jenna Lyons
BravoPictured: (l-r) Ubah Hassan, Brynn Whitfield, J.essel Taank, Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons, Sai de Silva.
Lyons is the oldest cast member on the RHONY reboot at age 55. She’s nearly 20 years older than Lichy, who is 36. In addition, Lyons joined the reality show following a long career as president and creative director at J Crew.
Speaking with Yontef, Lichy admitted she “really did not know Jenna” and “did not expect to feel as close with her” as she did throughout the season.”
“I really didn’t,” Lichy admitted, “And I would never care to be close to someone, because I didn’t even know she was. Not to be a [expletive], but I didn’t know. I didn’t know who she was.”
Lichy attributed Hassan’s off-the-cuff comment as her just trying to “blow off steam” during the reunion.
During the RHONY season 14 reunion, Hassan suggested that the RHONY cast members weren’t thrilled when they learned that Lyons would be on the cast. “I think we should focus on why you guys didn’t want Jenna on the show,” she said during the reunion, prompting host Andy Cohen to quip, “OK, well, that’s a side bomb!”
Lyons later questioned the comment with, “I was just confused, you said that nobody wanted me on the show.”
Sai De Silva admitted that several of the cast members met up at Lichy’s house before filming began and wondered if Lyons would “fit into the group.”
“I didn’t think you were going to fit into the group,” De Silva told Lyons. “I thought you were a wild card — you are a wild card — everybody said it.”
Lichy chimed in to describe Lyons as “a professional, normal person.”
Hassan later admitted she misunderstood what her co-stars meant during the conversation about Lyons.
“It goes back to people making assumptions about you before they know you,” Lyons said. “And that is so hard, because it’s so hard to combat them, because you’re starting from behind, as opposed to walking into a situation like on an even playing field. And so, yeah, I felt it.”
Erin Lichy Thinks Jenna Lyons Did a Good Job of Stepping Out of Her Comfort Zone on RHONY
BravoPictured: (l-r) Jessel Taank, Brynn Whitfield, Jenna Lyons, and Sai De Silva,
Lyons played by her own rules on RHONY. During a girls’ trip to Lichy’s house in the Hamptons, she ended up going to her own place to sleep. She also flew business class to a cast trip in Anguilla instead of sitting in coach with her co-stars. Lyons skipped BravoCon 2023 in Las Vegas altogether.
Lichy told Yontef she was “bummed” Lyons wasn’t at BravoCon. But she did credit her for bonding with the cast in her own way. “She’ll show up and she goes out of her comfort zone,” Lichy said. “We saw her go back to her comfort zone a couple times. I don’t think she’s on that level. I think she’s opening up. She’s told us she never had a group of girlfriends. She never had that. So this must be very new for her.”
Lyons admitted she had some concerns about joining RHONY. “There was some concern about my ability, just time-wise, to commit to it, and that was a big deal,” she told The New York Times in March 2024. “I also have a new relationship and wanted to maintain privacy. “
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