Luann de Lesseps had no idea that Kristen Taekman would join her and four of their former Real Housewives of New York City co-stars for the new season of The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip. In fact, Luann exclusively told Hollywood Life ahead of the show’s December 14 premiere that Tinsley Mortimer was in the mix to appear on the cast originally.
“I was not surprised that it’s myself, Dorinda [Medley], Ramona [Singer], and Sonja [Morgan],” Luann said. “I was surprised it was Kristen Taekman, because I hadn’t thought about Kristen in a while. She lives in L.A. now. But Tinsley Mortimer was not able to make it.”
“And then Kelly [Bensimon] — I’ve been planning on having her back for years,” Luann added. “I’ve been having her on the show, putting her name out there and hoping she would come back — and she did!”
Luann, Dorinda, Ramona, Sonja, Kelly, and Kristen filmed RHUGT: RHONY Legacy over the summer in St. Barts. Several RHONY alums missed out on the trip — including Tinsley, who has been living a life out of the spotlight since exiting the Bravo series in 2020. She recently got married to her fiancé, Robert Bovard, in Palm Beach, Florida.
This is the first season of RHUGT to feature cast members from the same show — which Luann said was a huge bonus when the ladies were filming together.
“It looks natural because we’re naturally friends,” she explained. “It’s hard to fake friendships and you see that on other shows. I would say that our cast is really organically friends and we have a history. So I think that really shows and makes it that much more interesting and intense.”
While Luann and the other RHONY OGs have been replaced by a new cast, the “Money Can’t Buy You Class” singer is still proud of all the epic moments they provided across 13 seasons.
“We had a great run on the show. The Legacy part of it didn’t work out. I was thrilled to go on a one-week trip and spend that time with the girls,” Luann said. “I’ve moved on to Crappie Lake and doing my Cabaret shows. I’m busy with other projects. I just did The Masked Singer. I’ve been moving into other projects and having a great time.
“But I do think that RHONY OG’s need to go everywhere in the world,” Luann added, noting that the it would be fun for the women to travel to all different destinations, like they do on Below Deck. “I think there’s a yearly OG Housewife trip in us.”
The first three episodes of RHUGT: RHONY Legacy premiere Thursday, December 14th on Peacock. The remaining episodes will premiere weekly on Thursdays.