Luann de Lesseps didn’t know that Kristen Taekman was joining her and four of their former co-stars for the upcoming new season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy featuring the stars of Real Housewives of New York.
As far as she knew, the trip would be her, Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, Dorina Medley, and, initially, Tinsley Mortimer. Or so Luann thought.
Bringing the OG girls back together
“I was not surprised that it’s myself, Dorina, Ramona, and Sonja,” Luann said to Hollywood Life. “But I was surprised it was Kristen Taekman. I hadn’t thought about Kristen in a while. She lives in L.A. now. But Tinsley was not able to make it.”
And then, the final trip member, Kelly Bensimon, a housewife Luann had wanted back for years. “I’ve been having her on the show, putting her name out there and hoping she would come back. And she did!”
That’s how Luann, Dorina, Ramona, Sonja, Kelly, and Kristen got together to film RHUGT: RHONY Legacy together over the summer in St. Barts. Tinsley, who has been living out of the spotlight since leaving the show in 2020, wasn’t the only RHONY alum missing out on the trip.
But despite some OGs not joining the fun, this season of RHUGT is the first time the series features members of the same show, which Luann said was a big bonus for the ladies as they filmed together.
“It looks natural because it is,” she shared. “We’re naturally friends. It’s hard to fake friendships, and you see that on other shows. I would say that our cast is organically friends, and we have a history.”
“So I think that really shows and makes it that much more interesting and intense.”
An annual trip tradition?
While Luanna and the other OGs of RHONY have been replaced by the new cast of RHONY, the singer is still incredibly proud of all the fantastic moments they shared in the past 13 seasons.
“We had a great run on the show,” Luanna said. “The Legacy part of it didn’t work out, but I was thrilled to go on a one-week trip with the girls.” And when not vacationing, Luann has kept herself busy with cabaret shows and other projects. She also just did The Masked Singer.
“I’ve been moving into other projects and having a great time,” she said. “But I do think that the RHONY OGs need to go everywhere in the world. I think there’s a yearly OG housewife trip in us.”
RHUGT: RHONY Legacy shows on Thursdays on Peacock.
TELL US – ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO LUANN AND THE GIRLS? WHERE DO YOU THINK THEY SHOULD GO NEXT?