Why RHONY Star Jenna Lyons Refuses to Film With Her Girlfriend

Getty Jenna Lyons

Two episodes into the new season of “The Real Housewives of New York City”, cast member Jenna Lyons has already been described by one castmate as occasionally “cold”, and has admitted to being uncomfortable during episode two’s girls’ weekend in the Hamptons. In the same episode, “Oh Christmas Tree!”, the 55-year-old fashion designer and businesswoman revealed that while she isn’t afraid to let some of her walls down and open up to her castmates about her personal life, one area of her life that she does not plan to discuss on camera is her relationship.

While out at Topping Rose House for dinner with all of her co-stars (minus Brynn Whitfield, who missed the beginning of the Hamptons trip due to sickness), Lyons went quiet when Erin Lichy asked “Who’s the lucky lady [that you’re dating]?”

“Because I’ve had so much press, I am very quiet about that. So I am not sharing that,” Lyons responded, before adding in confessional, “My life has put me in the public eye for my job and other things I’ve done. And that is my choice. And someone does not want to be in that with me, then I have to respect that.”

Jenna Lyons Opens Up About Her Relationship Later This Season

While her castmates respected Lyons’ wish for privacy, Sai De Silva shared in a confessional that she doesn’t quite understand Lyons’ reservations, saying, “I want to know what’s going on with her relationship. She knows my husband, why can’t I know her girlfriend? We’re friends, that’s what friends do, we know each other’s spouses. I’m hoping she’ll let her guard down a little bit.”

De Silva’s wish may come true later this season, as a June 2023 New York Times profile on Lyons may suggest. Lyons admitted to the interviewer that although the relationship she kept under wraps in the Hamptons had ended, she did open up to the other RHONY ladies about it during an event celebrating one of her castmate’s marriages. “The words come out of your mouth, and you’re like, I can’t take those back,” Lyons said of her choice to share with the other ladies, “It has not been the part of my life that I have been very successful in.”

The Times also reported that Lyons invited podcast host Carolyn Bergier to a RHONY taping at the lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson in New York. Bergier said after the taping, “I hope she isn’t too closed off the whole season. I don’t want people to think that Jenna is not entertaining enough.”

Who is Jenna Lyons Dating?

Lyons was married to artist Vincent Mazeau from 2002 to 2011, and during that time the pair had a son, Beckett Lyons Mazeau, who is now 16. During her divorce from Mazeau, Lyons came to the realization that she was a lesbian, and began dating jewelry designer Courtney Crangi, however as Lyons shared on camera, the two’s relationship was outed by the New York Post. The pair split in 2017.

It is unclear exactly who Lyons was dating during the Topping Rose dinner with her RHONY castmates, however according to the Times profile, she has since parted ways with this partner, and admitted in April 2023, “I currently have a massive crush on someone else.” This crush was reciprocated, as Lyons is currently dating photographer Cass Bird.

READ NEXT: Bethenny Frankel Weighs In on Fellow Housewife’s ‘Fatal Error’