Carole Radziwill Addresses Her Political Storyline On The New Season Of Real Housewives of New York; Note From Reality Tea Editor

We’ve managed to steer clear of political talk here on Reality Tea, wanting to keep the site as a refuge for those seeking an escape from the stress of all things politics – no matter what your views. We’re a fansite for reality television fans and even though a reality star was running for office, we wanted to keep this place as a space for dishing on the ridiculousness and fun of reality shows. That said, it seems the upcoming season of Real Housewives of New York is going to force us to acknowledge the election on some level since it is going to be a large part of Carole Radziwill‘s storyline this season.

We weighed our options on how to handle this as we prepare for the premiere of RHONY this week. We even considered NOT covering the show at all this season because if you’ve ventured off and read comments on any political articles, you know full well what a shitshow it is. And we do not want that here. If you thought the heyday of Teresa Giudice VS. Melissa Gorga was a stressful mess of hate when it came to the comments, that was a civilized tea party compared to what we’ve seen when it comes to political discussions online. We even considered recapping the shows but eliminating any of Carole’s political scenes or turning off the comments, but that would be a tricky task and not very authentic and not what we want to do.

So, we will be covering recaps and news this season and will allow political talk – ONLY relating to Carole’s story and what’s shown on the show. We will NOT be allowing bashing and trashing and nasty attacks over political views and opinions. We don’t want your list of 53 reasons this is the worst president ever nor do we want your list of 53 reasons why he’s the best prez ever. We want to stick to talk about the show and not the rest of the mess. We’re going to take baby steps and see how this goes. If it turns into a shitshow for our moderators, we’ll reassess and make changes as we deem necessary. We want Reality Tea to remain a FUN escape, not a hate-fest where politics divide and alienate. We hope that we’ll be able to focus on the other parts of RHONY – the friendships, the fun, the cheating men….

With that out of the way, Carole sat down with the Huffington Post this week to talk about her upcoming season. She touched on why the election was so powerful for her and discusses her friendship status with several of her co-stars and says that her obsession with the election nearly broke her and Adam up.

Carole explains that her career in journalism is part of the reason for her passion about politics, “Mostly, the women didn’t really talk about politics, but I did. I covered politics as a journalist and it’s something I knew about. It was the first time in 4 years that we hit an election cycle and the first time I felt disparity of knowledge on one particular subject. I didn’t want to make anyone feel less than…or that their choice wasn’t smart, but you’ll see I do end up having conversations about it. Dorinda and I have good conversations about it – She’s very political as well.”

She adds, “From early on, I followed the primary campaign. I was vocal about it on social media way before we started filming. It’s a part of my life. As a journalist, you have to seem quite neutral openly. Now I could voice my opinion. I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Obama campaign in 2008 and I did it this year for Hillary Clinton. One of the great things about Bravo is that what’s going on in our lives is what they film. I’m sure they would rather have me talk about Ramona’s dating life or Luann’s wedding, but they covered what I was doing. I was planning an election night victory party for Hillary Clinton. I also went to Pennsylvania to canvas for her with my mom. That’s who I am and I’m not going to pretend I care about the guest list for Luann’s wedding more than who is going to be the president of the United States.”

Carole says we’ll see her deal with things relating to the election, but it sounds like it might not be a prominent part of the show (fingers crossed!). And that she does move on, “I didn’t get into the silly dramas, but the election happens very early in the filming. Once the spectacular tragedy occurs, you’ll see there was a moment when I was paralyzed with sadness and fear. I eventually moved on but kept up the activism. I thought my boyfriend Adam would leave me if I mentioned Trump one more time – We’re on the same side, but he’s not as touched by politics.”

On this season’s newcomer Tinsley Mortimer, Carole says, “I think Tinsley (Mortimer) is great! There was so much in the press about her in the past. I prefer to get to know people independently of any of that, so I made an effort to find out who she was as a person.” Carole says that Tinsley is very open and honest about her life and her baggage. “The people who are the most real about all the heartbreak, tragedy, despair…joy and fun are the ones I connect to. Tinsley is very much like that – someone who was a young socialite in New York when that type of thing mattered. By her own admission, there was a spectacular fall from grace and for me, it is always about how you pick up the pieces of your life.”

On her friendships with Dorinda Medley and Bethenny Frankel, “Dorinda and I connect in a way that is great. I do adore her and when we first met, we connected not only because we were both young widows. Last season that friendship took a back seat. This season, you see us get closer. Bethenny and I have a real and honest friendship where we don’t always agree on everything, but we have a lot of fun together.”

Carole also admits she might be turning into the crazy cat lady. “Another thing you’ll see this season is how my apartment is mostly trashed due to kittens I adopted. It’s like living in a petting zoo.”

It’s no secret that Carole has led an interesting life, connected to journalism, politics, celebrities and the like (and of course the Kennedy family). We dug out some old photos from the Getty archives of Carole. She was rubbing elbows with everyone from Diane Sawyer to Jared Kushner (pre-Ivanka Trump) to Robert Kennedy. I have to admit that I haven’t read Carole’s books but after digging back through her photos, I’m going to order them. She’s got me intrigued.