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How the New RHONY Season 14 Cast Is Connected, Explained
From shared industries to mutual friends, the women of The Real Housewives of New York City share just how they know one another.
By now fans know it’s a whole new cast of ladies taking over the Big Apple on The Real Housewives of New York City, but just how are the women connected?
How do the New York City Housewives know each other?
While the details have been relatively scarce, the Season 14 premiere did provide a few juicy clues about how the new Housewives are linked.
A career in fashion brought publicist Jessel Taank and Jenna Lyons, the former President and Executive Creative Director of J.Crew, together — but it seems the two women’s friendship outside the workplace is just beginning to blossom.
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“The fashion industry is extremely small. Jenna and I have rubbed shoulders several times, but you never really get to know someone personally when you’re out and about socially, so I’m really excited to get to know her a little bit better,” Jessel said after inviting Jenna over to her Chelsea home.
Somali model Ubah Hassan is also closely tied to New York’s bustling fashion scene. When she isn’t on the runway, Ubah serves as the founder and CEO of her own hot sauce business UBAH HOT.
Jessel also shared she had a past connection to fellow castmates Sai de Silva and Brynn Whitfield.
“I met Sai and Brynn through a mutual friend,” she explained on RHONY.
And the associations don’t end there. Sai, a content creator, fashion blogger, and mother of two, has known real estate guru Erin Dana Lichy “for a few years” — although it doesn’t sound as though it’s always been smooth sailing.
“Erin and I have similar friends. We have run in the same circle for a few years now, but Erin is always arguing with someone or is mad at someone, so now it’s starting to seem like Erin is the common denominator,” Sai revealed.
The drama was already churning between the two women in the first episode of Season 14 as a result of the great “Cheesegate.”
Brynn was all too eager to tell Sai and Jessel that Erin told her she was “distancing herself” from Sai after the content creator allegedly scoffed at a cheese platter Erin had served the group at an earlier function.
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But Brynn’s version of events may not have meshed with the memories of the other two women.
Sai denied ever rebuffing the cheese platter (insisting she loved to eat cheese) and Erin denied ever saying she planned to pull away from Sai because she was hurt by the comment.
The dairy drama only fueled Erin’s mixed emotions about Brynn.
“Brynn and I definitely have an up and down relationship,” she confided. “We have the most fun together, but I just feel like Brynn is such a sh-t stirrer.”
Erin referred to Jenna as a “new friend” in the group and admitted most of the women were intimidated by the fashion designer’s impressive pedigree. After leaving J. Crew, Jenna founded the fake eyelash company LoveSeen and continues to be a commanding presence in the fashion world.
“Most girls in the group think that Jenna Lyons is a total enigma,” Erin said. “She does weird, like quirky things.”
She may be new to the group, but Jenna seemed determined to make fast friends and invited the ladies over to her house for a fun night in, passing out some raunchy conversation questions to get the women to open up.
“The reason I’m introducing the game to the group is that small talk is my kryptonite,” Jenna confessed. “Also, I don’t know everyone equally as well so this game is like ... this is my get out of jail free card.”
While some relationships between the new Housewives are just beginning, it’s clear these ladies know how to have a good time — as long as there’s no cheese involved.
