Just like us, Leah McSweeney is trying to keep up with the Real Housewives of New York drama that’s unfolding off-screen. “I don’t have Google alerts on,” she tells Jezebel. “Of course, I keep up with what people are saying and everything, but I do feel kind of removed from it and I have to do that for my sanity.”
The series is in the middle of a press war between insiders, outsiders—and God knows who else—over next season’s cast and this season’s ratings. Then there’s this incredibly detailed deuxmoi tip that, to my mind, sounds a lot like it could have been written by Eboni K. Williams, Miss Carey, or her long, lost sister—it’s the “prestigious outlet” that helped Bravo “bask in her star power,” but I digress.
With the reunion allegedly filming soon, the streetwear and sleepwear designer says the spillover drama has got to be addressed. “Basically, the reunion needs to address not what happened during the season when we were filming— we had a great finish. We need to address everything that’s happened since then,” she says.
Viewers are also split over their opinions on McSweeney’s 2nd season. For what it’s worth, McSweeney does acknowledge there were things that aired she wished had not. “Maybe me having like multiple meltdowns in the Hamptons,” says McSweeney, who received news of her grandmother’s passing while filming the show. “I think there were certain moments in that first trip in the Hamptons that better explain how much grief I was going through,” she adds.
But McSweeney’s not pressed about viewer opinion too much because Rihanna’s got her back—at least when it comes to her on-screen feud with Ramona Singer. “I’m like, you know what turn on me all you want, I have Rihanna. I don’t need anyone else,” she jokes.
Fans are pretty vocal about the show’s foray into race and politics as well—most notably tied to the addition of Eboni K. Williams, a former Fox News host and New York’s first black housewife. “I don’t think people have a right to censor what Eboni wants to talk about,” says McSweeney. “Also, I’m not really sure how we would have a show that’s in New York City during this time and not have it be brought up,” she says.
McSweeney has no idea whether or not she’s returning for season 14, but she does have a few ideas who she’d like to film with. “Some people want OG’s, some people want new people,” she says. “What I want is Tinsley back.”
Glue down your wigs because this off-again, on-again reunion could be a disaster, but at the very least it will only give McSweeney more content for her new book on finding meaning amidst chaos—while we’re on the subject lets pre-order one for our girl, Sonja. Bless her heart.
In the video above, McSweeney talks more on cast divisions and shares which housewife blocked her on Instagram.