Leah McSweeney had big shoes to fill during her first season on Real Housewives of New York. On the heels of Bethenney Frankel’s departure, Leah was brought in as a brand new lady on the scene. She’s younger, has her own business, and like the other Housewives on the show, does not identify as married. Basically the antithesis of Tinsley Mortimer, Leah doesn’t care what you think or how she looks.
Viewers would probably deem Leah’s newbie year a success, I mean, we’ve had worse. She became a fan favorite with her quick wit and refusal to take any of Ramona Singer’s shit (pun intended). Leah makes no apologies for who she is and people were able to relate to her personality. While Sonja Morgan drunkenly moaned about the ancient Morgan Papers or Dorinda Medley waxed poetic about “making it nice”, Leah has held her own and kept it somewhat real. Well, you know what they say, don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Looks like Leah made it through the initial cut, but wants a bigger piece of the pie.
Now that contract negotiations are going down, it’s that lovely time where some of the Housewives get a little extra. How could they get more extra than they appear on camera? Apparently a lot more extra when they are asking for a salary increase. And while Leah didn’t get the boot after her first season on board, she apparently wants more money to stay on board.
According to TMZ, Leah is holding out for those coins. Sources close to the show reveal Leah is only being offered a “minuscule” pay raise for the upcoming 13th season of RHONY and she feels disrespected. Apparently, the “breakout Housewife” wants more dough-re-mi because she feels she brought her A-game in her debut season. The source also shared that Leah will not film until she gets what she wants. She might want to check her voicemails, because the new season is supposed to start shooting in about two weeks.
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Leah pulled in roughly $3,000 per episode, which gave her about $60k for her run thus far. On an interesting note, Leah has updated her Instagram bio to show powerhouse talent agency, WME, is now repping her. Guess we now know who is handling these negotiations… Sure, $3k per episode doesn’t sound like a lot when Bethenney’s last reported salary was reported to be $1 million per season. That’s a lot of cash to cry and make everything about you.
Ramona makes a paltry $500,000 compared to Beth’s massive fortune, but these ladies did their time and proved their worth. Leah has done 13 episodes and I suppose feels like she has a ledge to stand on due to fan support. Don’t lean too far over that ledge, honey. Big Daddy Bravo doesn’t like it when too many demands are made.
RELATED: Leah McSweeney Discusses Possibility Of Her Sister Sarah Joining Real Housewives Of New York; Doesn’t Want To Fight Like Kim And Kyle Richards
So far both Bravo and Leah’s reps have made no comment. But Jill Zarin is hiding behind a tree waiting for this decision. On the bright side, the wallet might be bigger now that Dorinda is “taking a pause” and Tinsley has hightailed it to Chicago. I’m not sure how much getting naked wasted and throwing tiki torches is worth to Bravo, but more of Leah advising Ramona to keep her vagina out of her mouth might be worth a salary increase to fans.
TELL US- WILL LEAH GET MORE MONEY TO STAY ON? DO YOU THINK BRAVO SHOULD CUT LEAH? IS LEAH ALREADY GETTING OUT OF HAND WITH DEMANDS?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
