Aviva Drescher Says Bravo Keeps The Booze Flowing

PageSix.com:

Aviva Drescher, who starred on Seasons 5 and 6 of “Real Housewives of New York,” said the show’s production team could sometimes go too far with their eagerness to liquor up the cast.

She recalled the time a producer phoned ahead of filming and asked her to take a shot of alcohol with castmate Ramona Singer during a reconciliation scene at a restaurant.

“I told the head producer, ‘I don’t want to do a shot. Can you just fill it with water?’ ” said Drescher, 47, who grew up with an alcoholic mother and says she had never taken a shot before. “And they said no.

“I was so weak and so intimidated by the production team, and I had just gone through all the negotiations of my contract for the second season and those were demoralizing,” she said. “I took the shot. I felt tremendous pressure to do it.”

She’s hardly the only “Housewives” star who’s had a problem with the alcohol served while filming.

On a May 9 episode of Bravo’s “RHONY,” Dorinda Medley showed up to dinner seemingly wasted, slurring her words and picking a fight with the Puerto Rico hurricane-relief team she was dining with in Miami.

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Aviva Drescher Would Be Open To Returning To The ‘Real Housewives’

PageSix.com:

Aviva Drescher wouldn’t say “no” if she was ever asked back to “The Real Housewives of New York.”

“If they needed somebody and I worked in the mix, I would go back,” she recently told Page Six. “I really think the ‘Housewives’ are some of the strongest women around because they are portraying their real life and they’re getting hammered for it and to have that thick skin. I think its really admirable.”

However, the mom of four, who appeared on the franchise’s fifth and sixth seasons, says her lifestyle is a bit different from the ladies who are currently on the Bravo show entering its tenth season in April.

“Our lives are so different because none of them are really married and none of them have kids. All their kids are grown,” said Drescher, with her husband Reid chiming in that, “All of them don’t go out until 11 p.m.”

“I go to bed at 8 p.m., so I’m really boring,” Drescher, 47, laughed.

She says she’s been in touch with her former cast mates, most recently fellow alum Jill Zarin, who is dealing with the loss of her husband, Bobby.

“Jill is one of my favorite human beings in the world,” she said. “Jill and Bobby as a team were so generous and so kind and so welcoming and so open. My heart is broken for them.”

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Jill Zarin Pays Tribute to Late Husband Bobby Zarin: "I Will Never Forget You"

BravoTV.com:

Jill Zarin paid tribute to her late husband Bobby Zarin in a touching post on Instagram following the news of his passing on Saturday, January 13. 

The Real Housewives of New York City alum said goodbye to her husband, with whom she celebrated her 18th wedding anniversary on January 4, in the post, which also included several sweet photos of the couple through the years. "Rest In Peace my love. Words cannot express the hole in my heart. Bobby taught me what true and deep love is," Jill wrote. "Thank you my love for sharing your life with me.. for raising [Jill's daughter] Allyson as if she was your own, being an amazing father and grandfather and teaching me how to be a better person. You inspire those around you to be the best they can be. I will never forget you... your legacy lives on through your beautiful children and grandchildren."

Bobby passed away at age 71 after a battle with cancer. He was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2009. Jill confirmed in November 2016 that Bobby's cancer had returned. He was hospitalized in July 2017 due to complications from his illness. "I will continue to raise money and awareness for ITOG (International Thyroid Oncology Group) so maybe this won’t happen to the next guy who draws the proverbial short straw," Jill also shared in her message. "I will continue to honor you and make you proud. You taught me so many lessons. I will turn the lights off when I leave a room and try not to lose my keys! Lists! Yes, I will make lists now that you can’t remind me." 

Jill ended her note by thanking all those who have given her and Bobby their love and support during this difficult time. "Thank you to all our friends, family and fans for the most incredible love you have shown our family. The messages bring tears to my eyes and will continue reading them all in the coming weeks," she wrote. "I will continue my tribute in the coming days and weeks and if you want to share anything please leave messages. Tomorrow is the funeral so I will sleep now. Love Jill." 

RELATED: ‘Real Housewives’ stars attend funeral for Jill Zarin's husband Bobby

Jill Zarin's Former 'Real Housewives of New York' Co-Stars Pay Tribute to Bobby Zarin After His Death

JustJared.com:

Jill Zarin‘s Real Housewives of New York co-stars are showing their support after she announced Bobby, her husband, passed away at the age of 71.

“With the heaviest of hearts, we are devastated to share the news that our beloved Bobby Zarin passed away peacefully today surrounded by family after a courageous battle with cancer. There are no words to describe how heartbroken we are. Thank you, everyone, for all your love and support during this difficult time,” his family posted on Twitter.

Jill‘s co-stars, Bethenny Frankel, Ramona Singer, Alex McCord, Aviva Drescher, and more posted tributes.

Our condolences go out to Bobby’s loved ones during this time.

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Aviva Drescher, Kelly Bensimon, Alex McCord and Cindy Barshop Talk About Being a 'Real Housewife'

NYPost.com:

During Aviva Drescher’s two seasons on “Real Housewives of New York City,” she was manipulated by producers, vilified by castmates, publicly shamed by her octogenarian father and berated as an “idiot” and “witch” by the Twittersphere.

And she’d do it all again.

“It helped me raise awareness for amputees, and opened up a lot of business opportunities for me that continue to come,” says Drescher, 45, who lost one leg as a child in a farm accident. Though dismissed from the franchise back in October 2014, she is vying to get back on the show.

“I have four children,” she says. “There’s never enough money in New York City.”

Since Bravo launched the “Real Housewives” franchise in 2006 with the Orange County, Calif., edition, it has produced eight spinoffs — including the NYC version, which has cycled through 14 stars since 2008. Over the past decade, the collective brand has tallied nearly 20 post-filming divorces, four arrests, one suicide and enough chatter about rehab stints, cheating and bankruptcy to occupy a year’s worth of Lifetime movies. The eighth season of “RHONY” premieres April 6 with a new sacrificial lamb: pin-thin Flatiron mom Julianne Wainstein.

 -----------------------------------
Once you make the cut, you better deliver.

“It’s not a show that celebrates women,” says Kelly Bensimon (“RHONY” seasons 2-4).

“But that’s just the nature of the beast: He who barks the loudest gets the bone."

---------------------------------
Alex McCord, a star of the first four seasons of “RHONY,” says the show quickly turns “ ‘Hunger Games’-ish,” with women going more and more overboard to increase their airtime and secure spots for the following season.

“It’s about who can throw the biggest, best party,” she says.

During the debut season, her husband, Simon van Kempen, shelled out $5,000 to charter a yacht for her birthday.

“I’m sure he thought, . . . ‘Wouldn’t it look great on camera?’ ” admits McCord, who says that, during “RHONY’s” early years, Bravo didn’t put “a dime” toward events the “Housewives” threw.

-----------------------------------
Meanwhile, Cindy Barshop (“RHONY” Season 4) directly reached out to producers about joining the show to get some press for her laser hair-removal business (she now owns VSpot, a vaginal rejuvenation spa on the Upper East Side).

After an interview at her West Village apartment, Barshop was sent to hobnob with series Queen Bee Ramona Singer.

“They wanted to see how we interacted. I could talk to a wall, but there just wasn’t chemistry,” says Barshop, who adds that Singer “had her own agenda” for acting mute.

On her way out, Barshop and a producer got stuck in the elevator, and the beauty maven turned on the charm.

“They taped me in the elevator and sent the reel to Los Angeles, and a week later they called and said, ‘You got it.’ ”

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Aviva Drescher Says ‘Real Housewives’ Is All Acting

PageSix.com:

Former “Real Housewives of New York” star Aviva Drescher sat front row at the Carmen Marc Volvo fashion show Tuesday, and she told The Post that she’s nothing like the person people saw on TV.

“For me the whole thing was sort of an acting job. It was never a reality for me,” she said. “There were like 10 cameras around and I was there to entertain people and take them out of their hard day. So when I threw my leg, I was looking at it as entertainment.”

“I just hope that in real life, nobody thinks that I really do that, I have three kids,” she said.

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Carole Radziwill Says Real Housewives of New York City Season 7 Is Crazy Emotional: "Even I Cried!"

EOnline.com:

Carole Radziwill is back for another go on The Real Housewives of New York City, but things are a little different this year.

"Last year was toxic for a lot of us. It was just more obvious with me, but it wasn't a great environment. It got very nasty and dark. Clearly the audience was not into that," Carole tells E! News. "This year it's more Shakespearean. It's highs and lows with a thread of comedy going through the whole thing. There are a lot of women, first of all, and there's a lot of emotion. A lot of crying—even I cried! [Laughs.]…Emotions ran really deep and it was real. But then there were really fun times, too."

Some of the toxic elements include Bookgate, a fight Carole had with Aviva Drescher that ran throughout the season. Now that that's in the rearview mirror, Aviva has left the show. "I think the audience is relieved," Carole told us. "I think it's probably best for her not to be on television. She doesn't do herself any favors. I'm sure in her real life, off camera, she's doing well."

This year, Bethenny Frankel returns to the fold with newcomer Dorinda Medley, putting the cast of Real Housewives of New York City at eight women with Sonja Morgan, Heather Thomson, Kristen Taekman, LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer all returning alongside Carole.

Expect this year to be more "real" and "authentic," Carole said. But after such a toxic season, she did have second thoughts about coming back for a third year.

"Well, I was aware when I signed on again that certain people would not be part of the cast, so that was something. I felt like last year, last season was really unpleasant and honestly, I thought about it. Like, ‘I can't do this again. These women are just not like me and we don't have anything in common. I can't go through this again.' I went through all of that in my head, but I didn't want that feeling to be the final feeling, you know what I mean? …I didn't want to end on this very dark note, so that was one piece of it," she explained.

Another piece? Carole has made close friends on the show, citing Heather, Kristen and LuAnn and Bethenny has history with Ramona, Sonja and LuAnn and newcomer Dorinda was friends with many of the women before joining the show. "It felt natural that we'd all be friends. I just thought I'm going to do it again and see what happens," Carole said. "I'm glad I did, I had a really good time this season. It was fun, even though there was drama and silliness and tears."

Those tears Carole keeps referring to came unexpectedly for the The New York Times best-selling author of What Remains and The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating. In the trailer for season seven, viewers see a weepy Carole in London dealing with a matter in relation to her late husband Anthony Radizwill. "I can picture my late husband like it was yesterday. He was a really decent man," she says in the trailer. Cameras were there to capture it all.

"I wouldn't say the cameras were cathartic, but I'm on the show. I made a deal with myself, if I'm on the show I'm going to show what's going on in my life. I do that pretty honestly," Carole told us. Dorinda came along for the trip to London and Carole said it actually turned out to be a "nice trip" and a bonding experience for the two women.

"There's a moment at the end that was a little overwhelming and it did get more emotional than I did anticipate, but I'm OK with that. I think it was true and authentic and I think producers are respectful…and I appreciated that. I think it's an interesting story to tell, certainly came out of the blue for me and was a little unusual, but I thought, ‘OK, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it.'"

In the end, Carole said she thinks season seven is a "really good season."

"I laughed, I cried, I met a handsome man, So, it couldn't be better than that," she said with a laugh.

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The 9 Most Hated ‘Real Housewives’ Ever

NYPost.com:

Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise is the gift that keeps on giving.

From the extravagant lifestyles to the constant catfights, viewers can’t get enough of the reality TV juggernaut. And while some Housewives are beloved by fans, others have more Internet trolls than actual Twitter followers.

Case in point: “Beverly Hills” alum Brandi Glanville.

During Tuesday night’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” the tension between Glanville and Kyle Richards came to a head. While jabs below the belt aren’t anything new — especially when it comes to the leggy blond — coming between two sisters is quite another matter. With Richards’ relationship with older (and troubled) sister Kim now in jeopardy, it seems Glanville is better at stirring up drama than keeping her friendships intact.

But 90210’s resident pot-stirrer isn’t the only Housewife whom viewers have come to detest.

There’s no question that the Housewives live a life of luxury, but some are bit more pretentious about it than others. “Orange County” alum Bellino didn’t win over her fellow wives by trying to one-up them in almost every conversation.\

Though she eventually got the ax after four seasons, it wasn’t without plenty of tension-fueled dinners.

Oh, Aviva — where to even begin? From her scuffles with former co-star Carole Radziwill to the infamous leg toss, Drescher knew how to get people talking — and not in a good way.

Not only did Drescher make frenemies with “Housewives of New York City,” but fan pages dubbed her “Me-Viva” for her self-centered attitude.

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LuAnn de Lesseps Thinks She’ll Be Back In ‘RHONY’ Fold As Full-Timer

RadarOnline.com:

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps brushed off last season’s demotion on The Real Housewives of New York City, as the socialite defended her contributions to the reality show.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, de Lesseps’ status on the reality show was reduced last year after a long-and-drawn-out contract negotiation with Bravo, at the end of which, the network scaled back her status to part-time.

But the socialite tells OKMagazine.com that the so-called demotion didn’t particularly impact her airtime or presence on the show, which she’s been apart of since its 2008 beginning.

“As you saw last season, I was part-time but I was really on every episode,” de Lesseps, 49, said. “I really pulled my weight in terms of the show.”

The Real Housewives of New York City royal predicted she’ll be figured in as a full-timer for the show’s seventh season — “I think I will be,” she said — as she thinks Bravo big wigs have realized “how important [she is to] the franchise.”

Whether she is or she isn’t, de Lesseps said it’s “not important to” her, as she loves “doing the show” regardless.

“I’m here because I want to be here,” she said. “Whether I have an apple in my hand it doesn’t matter to me.”

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Aviva Drescher: I Threw My Leg on RHONY to "Earn My Keep"

USmagazine.com:

The gift that keeps on giving - flying legs! Aviva Drescher certainly takes the cake for most outlandish catfight in the history of the Bravo Real Housewives franchise. The former Real Housewives of New York City star sent the Internet into a frenzy when she infamously tossed her prosthetic leg across the room at ultra-posh N.Y. restaurant Le Cirque during the show’s July 2014 season six finale. Drescher insists the ridiculous move was a strategic play for the cameras, however, telling HuffPost Live on Jan. 6 that the incident was an attempt to “earn [her] keep.”

Drescher, 44, who was unceremoniously fired after a two-season run on RHONY, famously slammed her leg on the restaurant table, exclaiming, as her costars called her a phony, “The only thing fake about me is this!”

“I look at being a Housewife as a job to entertain people, and, you know, it was a piece of the entertainment,” Drescher told HuffPost Live. “The highest ratings of the entire season was that episode.”

The mother of four said that while she didn’t get any sort of “bonus” for the dramatic moment, the move was part of her strategy to earn a spot on the show’s seventh season.

“You start the season, you get one salary, and that’s that, and you know, I just feel an obligation to earn my keep,” she revealed. “You know, I got a certain salary, and I was there, and I was asked to be dramatic. We know they love that, and I tried my best.”

Drescher, who will be gracing reality television again alongside her husband Reid Drescher on WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars starting Jan. 9, insisted the behavior wasn’t indicative of her actions off-camera.

“In my real life, have I ever thrown anything? Never,” the leggy blonde author insisted. “Would I ever do that in real life? No. But there were several cameras around me, and was I thinking about making a show and be entertaining? Yes, absolutely.”

Drescher said she was “surprised” that her contract wasn’t renewed for RHONY, but felt the decision was “very political.” The amputee said receiving the news of her firing wasn’t “dramatic” - in fact, it was just a phone call. Drescher said she knew when she first joined the show she wasn’t guaranteed beyond that season.

“I don’t feel like I got let go by the Obama cabinet or anything,” she laughed. “I can live with not being a good reality star, I’m okay with that.”

RELATED: ‘RHONY’ Star Aviva Drescher Married Husband Reid For His Money

Aviva Drescher’s Dad Blames ‘Phony’ Reality Show, Andy Cohen and Carole Radziwill For Daughter’s TV Demise

RadarOnline.com:

Even after being handed her walking papers from The Real Housewives of New York City, Aviva Drescher is still bringing the drama.

And her dad is fanning the flames.

George Teichner, the horny 76-year-old Housewives star who was infamously always looking for love, is crediting his diva daughter for the higher ratings and calls her firing a “big mistake” for show’s future.

“They should have never let Aviva go,” Teichner told RadarOnline.com exclusively.

“The ratings were at 2 million, then down to 1.3 million. And the only reason the ratings went up recently is because Aviva threw her leg.”

And he’s got some fighting words for executive producer Andy Cohen and Drescher’s ‘Bookgate’ nemesis, Carole Radziwill.

“The reason Aviva is gone is because of Carole Radziwill’s love affair with Andy Cohen,” he said.

“I mean, not really. He would throw up if he saw p***y,” quipped the raunchy reality star of Cohen, who’s openly gay.

“He’s doing nothing but making big mistakes,” Teichner continued to rant. “Obviously, Andy Cohen doesn’t know what he’s doing or he’s just played out.

“He just doesn’t have any balls.”

But Teichner insists despite his bitter-sounding diatribe, he has no beef with the Watch What Happens: Live host.

“The tension was between Aviva and Carole, who’s best friends with Andy,” he clarified.

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Aviva Drescher Is Headed To ‘Marriage Boot Camp’

Inquisitr.com:

Aviva Drescher wasn’t a big part of this past season of The Real Housewives of New York, but she tried to make a statement in the season finale by detaching her prosthetic leg and tossing it onto the dinner table in front of her co-stars. Aviva had just been accused of being fake, so she wanted to prove a point by saying that the only thing fake about her was her leg.

Many of her co-stars, including Heather Thomson and Carole Radziwill, started distancing themselves from her because they feel she was becoming too much with her stories and lies. These women didn’t want to film with Drescher, which could have influenced the producers’ decisions about letting her go.

According to a new Radar Online report, Aviva Drescher won’t be returning to The Real Housewives of New York next season, but she may have another plan. The report reveals that she will head to Marriage Boot Camp. Drescher is scheduled to film the show for six weeks in Los Angeles and she will make $150,000 for opening up about her love life.

This is “a good paycheck for easy work” and a smart move, as Aviva “knows how to create good reality TV,” reveals a source about this new work for Drescher.

Aviva Drescher hasn’t displayed any marital problems on the show. Her husband, Reid, doesn’t seem interested in getting involved with the drama on the show, so this Marriage Boot Camp stint could be about her anger with the other ladies. Maybe her frustration is creating issues in the home.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a housewives couple has headed to another show after leaving Bravo behind. Alex McCord and Simon Van Kempen filmed Couples Therapy after leaving The Real Housewives of New York. They claimed that they were on the brink of divorce.

According to The Inquisitr, various sources have confirmed Aviva Drescher’s exit from The Real Housewives of New York. Very few ladies want to film with Drescher, which makes it hard for producers to involve her in the show’s story lines.

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Aviva Drescher Sued for $620,500 Over Unreturned Paintings

NYDailyNews.com:

There's a reason she's a reality TV star and not an art curator.

An artist is suing one of “The Real Housewives of New York City” for failing to return five loaned paintings, scuttling the sale of one artwork and holding the rest up for ransom.

Aviva Drescher, 45, who starred in the show's previous two seasons — but has been fired this month, according to a report — is painted as greedy and grabby by Matthew Satz.

The Hamptons-based artist claims he installed the works at Drescher's Upper West Side home in June 2013 free of charge in the hope of some exposure.

A collector who saw them agreed a couple of months ago to pay $50,000 for a Pink Smoke Painting, according to papers filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

But the art remains hanging in the Dreschers residence as the TV blonde and her husband Reid Drescher, CEO of an investment banking firm, spent weeks haggling for a commission, the papers say.

“It's shocking that the Dreschers stooped to the level that they had and tried to extract a payment from Mr. Satz,” said the artist's lawyer, Andrew Weinstein.

Aviva Drescher contended that Satz was allowed to pick up the works by last Friday but did not — and she went on to pooh-pooh the painter.

“The guy is a crazy artist. He works out of his basement,” she told the Daily News. “He's not operating on a full deck.”

Weinstein retorted in the legal filing that no commission was ever agreed upon and that the Dreshcers first asked for $10,000 to return the art, then went down to $5,000, finally agreeing to let Satz collect the pieces if he pays them $2,500 and leaves two small works.

The lawsuit is asking for over $620,500 in compensation and punitive damages.

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Sonja Morgan Spotted Outside Drunk Again, Makes Out With Random Dude

'Real Housewife' Sonja Morgan -- Totally Hammered ... The Straw That Slurred Her Drink - Watch More Celebrity Videos or Subscribe

TMZ.com:

Sonja Morgan was a drunken, slurry, kissy mess in NYC last night ... and best of all -- she did it all on camera.

The "Real Housewives of New York" star was leaving the VIP Room in NYC Wednesday night -- WASTED -- and desperately wanted to tell us how she was the life of the party. Problem is ... she was too wasted to get the words out cleanly.

Actually, that's not a problem -- it's awesome. Just watch.

We'd say Sonja was in rare form ... if it weren't for the fact she does this a lot.

RELATED: Sonja Morgan still sticking up for fired 'RHONY' star Aviva Drescher

Aviva Drescher Allegedly Fired From "Real Housewives of New York"

USmagazine.com:

Not even the leg toss could save her! Aviva Drescher has been fired from The Real Housewives of New York City after two seasons on the show, a source confirms to Us Weekly.

Drescher, 45, an author, amputee and married mother of four, will be best remembered for her leg-throwing incident at Manhattan restaurant Le Cirque in the season six finale of RHONY, which aired in July. The surprising confrontation occurred when Drescher's six castmates accused her of lying and faking her illnesses to beg out of several cast trips to Montana, Saratoga Springs, NY, and elsewhere.

"The only thing fake about me," Drescher hissed as she yanked off her prosthetic leg, "is this!" After slamming the prosthesis on the table, Drescher then threw it across the room as partygoers gasped and laughed in shock.

In an interview with Us the day after the episode aired, Drescher said: "I think me getting angry and throwing my leg on the table was really funny and crazy. I get a hoot out of it. But of course, I was definitely brought to the end of my rope, or the end of my leg so to speak."

Earlier in the season, Drescher came to near-blows with costar Carole Radziwill in an ongoing feud — known as "bookgate" about the authorship of their respective books; The Vassar grad's randy father, 76-year-old George Teichner, also made waves when he married girlfriend Dana, who is over 50 years his junior.

The seasons 5 and 6 Housewife is the first confirmed cast member of Bravo's Manhattan franchise to be booted off the show. Still remaining are Ramona Singer (RHONY's longest-standing cast member), Sonja Morgan, Kristen Taekman, Heather Thomson, and Carole Radziwill.

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps was a main cast member from seasons 1 through 5, but returned only as a recurring storyline in the sixth season.

Page Six mentioned Drescher's departure in a longer item about supermodel Helena Christensen, who was invited but declined to join the season 7 cast of RHONY. Us can also confirm that Christensen had been in the running.

RELATED: RHONY's Aviva Drescher: "I'm So Happy" My Dad George Teichner, 76, Married Cody, 25

Carole Radziwill Talks "RHONY" Season 6 and Aviva Drescher Drama

Buzzfeed.com:

Being the voice of reason on a reality show such as Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City is destined to be a doomed position, as Carole Radziwill found out the hard way in this past season. When she first joined the show in Season 5, Radziwill — a writer and Emmy-winning former ABC News producer — served the necessary function of commenting, if not sometimes gawking, at the often crazy behavior of the rest of the cast. She was a stand-in for viewers. 

It was not to last. Season 6, Radziwill’s second — which began airing in March — drew her immediately straight into its mad heart. What sucked her in were accusations from Aviva Drescher, a cast member who had also joined the show in Season 5, that she had heard “on the street” that Radziwill used a ghostwriter for What Remains, her 2005 memoir. Radziwill, who confronted (and strenuously denied) the question on camera in a heated fight with Drescher, was flabbergasted, and the scandal — #bookgate — hovered over and partly informed the trajectory of the season. What Remains is Radziwill’s recounting of her life with her late husband, Anthony Radziwill, his prolonged struggle with terminal cancer, and their close friendships with Anthony’s cousin, John F. Kennedy Jr., and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Three out of those four people died in the summer of 1999, which is also what What Remains is about. To call its authorship into question was new and ugly emotional territory, even for Real Housewives. 

The second of three reunion episodes aired Tuesday night, and #bookgate was addressed. The cast fell into its usual formation, with Radziwill, Heather Thomson, Kristen Taekman, and Luann de Lessepps on one side (literally), and Drescher, Sonja Morgan, and Ramona Singer on the other. Drescher still maintains she did not have a ghostwriter on her own memoir, Leggy Blonde, and in an effort to advance her theory that no writer writes a book alone, somehow also managed to smear Harper Lee. In other words, it was a mess, and nothing was resolved. Part 3 of the reunion will air next Tuesday. 

I recently met Radziwill at a diner in West Hollywood, where we talked about the disaster with Drescher, how infuriating #bookgate was for her, her frustrations with some of the other cast members (Sonja Morgan!), and her work outside of the show, including her recent novel, The Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating. Oh, and we talked about Drescher throwing her leg on the floor.

In your first season, you were able to rise above and not get drawn into drama. I felt like your experience this season, however, proved that it’s impossible on one of these shows to rise above in perpetuity.
Carole Radziwill: Last season, because I was new and because all the women, I think, genuinely liked me, as I them, there wasn’t anyone gunning for me. I did, if you recall, cry — they made me cry. 

That’s true.
CR: It was an intense time in St. Barts. And there was a lot going on. Some of it not fun for me. But yeah, this season I scream. I cop to that. It wasn’t my finest moment. But I think I proved that I’m pretty easygoing about things, whether it’s gossip about my ex-boyfriend or silliness about who’s bossy and who’s not. Or who’s not invited to some party, or who is. But I think what really matters to me is my work. And when you not only question my integrity and my credibility — but also, it went deeper than that. I could have understood Aviva repeating gossip about my work, and saying people said I had a ghostwriter, although it seems implausible. But listen, there’s no industry that’s immune to gossip and professional jealously.

But when the attack was not only about my career, but impugns my late husband’s family, belittles my accomplishments, and kind of trashes my novel in a way that I knew to be untrue — and then she ridicules my age — it’s, like, Whoa! I feel like the audience wants you to defend yourself. You don’t mess with someone’s career, or work, or family.

When something like that happens, how aware of the cameras are you?
CR: Had I been more aware, I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did, I think. If someone said to me at a cocktail party, “Well, I hear gossip that Bill Whitworth, the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, ghostwrites all your books,” I would have been, like, “OK, you’re crazy.” And walked away. But as she’s saying it, I’m like, What is she saying? And then I’m like, She’s saying this on national television? And the minute you start to defend yourself, which I did, you kind of look defensive. 

She asked me at lunch if I used I ghostwriter. I said no. I asked her, she said no. It should have ended there. It didn’t. She went to everybody and repeated the gossip. And then confronted me in her home. I said no then, and then yeah, I got spitfire angry when she then continued to belittle my accomplishments and ridicule my age and talk about my late husband’s family — I couldn’t say I was so aware of the cameras at that moment. I was and I wasn’t. I was aware that she was saying this stuff on national television, but I wasn’t able to take that awareness and say, Let me at least behave in a way — I think I behaved in a way that anyone would have.

It happened so early in the season. It must have been jarring.

CR: You’re just coming back, you’re getting your sea legs, like, OK, I’ve got to gear up for this again! Had I known she wasn’t going to bring up her process of hiring a writer to work with, had I known she wasn’t going to bring that on camera, I never would have asked if she had hired the writer. At that moment when I said, “Have you hired the writer?” I fully thought she was going to do scenes with her. So when she said, “No, I did it alone,” in my stomach, I said, Oh, shit. I never thought she would go as far as she did.

Throughout the season, Aviva either said she wrote her book herself or “it takes a village.” But her book was ghostwritten by a woman named Valerie Frankel. Why is that a bad thing?
CR: It’s industry standard. She signed a deal, she had to turn that book around quickly. They peg it to the show. It’s what every other Housewife does. And it’s great. It’s great for publishing, it’s good for writers. It just never occurred to me that she wasn’t going to be honest about that. 

I imagine that one of the frightening things about being on a reality show is that people can just say anything.
CR: I know, Kate. I know! And I don’t have skeletons in my closet, I don’t have things I can’t talk about. But I realized after that, Oh, you can just make it up. I remember after that scene going to the producers and saying, “Well, that was drama, but it’s not true.

The publisher didn’t pass, and Bill Whitworth is an editor.” He was my copy editor, which is a phenomenal insult to him to even say that, because he’s one of the most respected editors. It’s just that he didn’t come on until the very end of What Remains. I remember saying to the producers, “That’s not true.” And they looked at me, like, We don’t care about the truth. It was this stupid “Aha!” moment. 

When something like that does happen, which is upsetting and potentially damaging, what do you do? Do you call Andy Cohen?
CR: The ironic thing is that the next morning at 10 a.m., I was at a wedding with Andy; a mutual friend was getting married. I was in a rage! I’m really good with Andy, because we do travel in the same social circles, and I’ve never — it’s like a Chinese Wall. Because I can be very passionate about things, especially about work, and I do regard the show as work. I don’t like to get into conversations with him about it, because he is the executive in charge of Bravo, and there’s a professionalism that has to exist. Neither of us wants to talk about the show when we’re at weddings. But I broke my rule.

Tell me more. CR: I think he had heard about it. And he knew I was upset about it. He was very smart, though. He said, “Rely on the intelligence of the audience, Carole.” I was, like, “I can’t do that! That’s slander! And this is insane!” And you know what? He was right.

Right.
CR: But there were calls to lawyers. 

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