Kelly Bensimon was one of the many watching The Real Housewives of New York City reboot — and she has some thoughts.
In an exclusive interview with Star, the real estate broker, 57, dished on the Bravo series, which has garnered mixed reactions since it was revamped with a new cast — Jenna Lyons, Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Racquel Chevremont, Erin Lichy, Jessel Taank and Brynn Whitfield — in its 14th season. (In May, Page Six reported that the show is going off the air.)
“They’re all great women, they just didn’t have anyone like a seasoned pro to push them along,” Bensimon explains. “The thing is about Housewives [is], it’s a soap opera. You’re on Guiding Light, you’re not on Sesame Street — you have to know your audience.”
“Nobody cares about someone’s influencing career,” she continues. “I don’t want to watch someone tell me how they promote a glass — I want them to tell me what their problem is with their child or what’s happening with their best friend, or their relationship.”
“You’re supposed to be soap opera-ting,” the mom of two says, “not influencing.”
Bensimon joined the cast of RHONY in season 2 and starred alongside Bethenny Frankel, Luann de Lesseps, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer and Jill Zarin before leaving after season 4. She made a highly anticipated return in season 4 of The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip.
According to the I Do, Part 2 podcast mentor, she gave fellow model Hassan, 41, advice when she found out she had been cast. “I told Uba, ‘Be you. Be your gorgeous, beautiful self, tell people who you are and where you’re from, and what makes Uba, Uba,” Bensimon tells Star. “Like, that’s what we want to see.”
Bensimon thinks the secret to being successful on reality television is keeping things authentic. “When I first got [on Housewives], I was like, ‘I have no idea who these people are. No one gave me a bio. I have no idea what’s going on. Can someone please give me the script?’ Where is my, ‘Your hair looks great?’” she recalled.
However, things took a dark turn during Bensimon’s tenure, which included the infamous ‘Scary Island’ trip: “We didn’t see that funnyness of what it was.”
The Bikini Book author may have been considered a polarizing figure during her time on RHONY, but according to her, that’s not always a bad thing.
“Sometimes it’s better not to be liked than it is to be liked,” she explains. “The curiosity of me not being liked — people are like, ‘well, I don’t like you,’ and then they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, I love you.’ I’m like, ‘Which one is it?’
“People have this very visceral reaction to me,” Bensimon adds, “which is amazing.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source starmagazine.com ’
