Andy Cohen Shares How RHUGT Influenced This New Era for RHONY

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that after 13 seasons, The Real Housewives of New York City is being rebooted and recast. It was also confirmed that a throwback iteration of the franchise is also in the works.

And for fans wondering where the idea for the throwback version of the series came from, Andy Cohen, who serves as an executive producer on The Real Housewives, explained that it was actually all thanks to the excitement around the release of the Peacock original series The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. "We’ve also seen the success of 'Ultimate Girls Trip.' That informed the idea of doing this throwback," the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen host told Variety. "That’s allowed us to say, 'Well, wait a minute, there is a big desire for an element of nostalgia.'"

Season 1 of RHUGT dropped on Peacock in late 2021 and later encored on Bravo (the season finale aired earlier this week). The cast included 'Wives from across the franchise, including Luann de Lesseps and Ramona Singer, bonding during a trip to Turks and Caicos.

And Andy said in his interview with Variety, published earlier this week, that "'Ultimate Girls Trip' was really a smash hit. And it allowed us to see, 'Oh, we can have this other universe going. And it’s not going to cannibalize the original.' It made the pitch of doing this throwback version — like you could see it. In another year, it might have seemed gluttonous or odd about whether there was an appetite for 'The Real Housewives of New York' and 'Real Housewives of New York: Throwback,'" he said. "But I think this just gives us more options and more places to put it, the throwback version."

In the same interview, Andy not only chatted about the throwback version of RHONY but also highlighted how the rebooted version of the show will put a spotlight on the diversity of the Big Apple. "There are thousands of stories to tell here. This is the most multicultural, diverse, and energetic and exciting city in America: We are searching for a multicultural group of friends who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country," he said. "We’re looking for a group of women who are real friends, and who are of diverse backgrounds, races and religions.”

He also shared that the idea for a rebooted RHONY “takes into account everything that our passionate audience has really been telling us over the last year.”

Andy added about this new chapter, "You know that we’re at a crossroads for 'RHONY.' We’ve spent a lot of time figuring out where to go. And the plan that we’ve come up with, I think, is a real gift to the fans.”