Are Jill Zarin and Cindy Barshop leaving The Real Housewives of New York City? Rumors are circulating that they will not be back for Season 5 of The Real Housewives of New York City. Season 5 was set to begin filming during Labor Day weekend but has since been pushed back at least 3 weeks. Initial reports was that this delay was due to the recent suicide of Russell Armstrong (husband of Beverly Hills Housewife Taylor Armstrong) but now rumors are circling that the delay is due to recasting. Around the time of the reunion rumors were circling that all of the New York housewives would be dumped in favor of new, richer housewives. Bravo saw the success of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where the women were truly wealthy and was hoping to match this success with a rebooted Real Housewives of New York. Now rumors merely are that Cindy and Jill are out and new housewives will be in.
Personally, when it comes to Cindy my response is "sayonara!" and I think many fans will feel the same. Cindy just never quite meshed and did not endear herself to the fans. While she got along great with "Team Brunette" she seriously clashed with the blondes. Furthermore, it often seemed as though Cindy was trying to get screentime by creating nonsense drama. "Hangergate" anyone? And who could forget the ridiculous fight with Sonja in the van over Sonja not being able to save LuAnn's seat. Cindy seemed to fight for the sake of fighting which at times made her seem crazier than Kelly. While Cindy's portrayal and action during Season 4 were not all bad, she never quite fit and as the new girl is anyone going to miss her? No. Just like there was no fan outpouring when Jennifer Gilbert didn't return for Season 4. Adding Cindy to the RHONYC was an experiment they tried and failed. Let her go. If only Bravo could have done the same with Kelly Bennsimon after Season 2. Although let's get real, Kelly may be crazy and infuriating but she does make for good tv.
The big bombshell/question regarding Season 5 is whether Queen Bee Jill Zarin will be returning. Jill is under contract with Bravo and does not have a choice regarding whether she can leave unless Bravo let's her out. Will Bravo let Jill walk away from the series? Doubtful. Jill has always been a main focus of the RHONYC and the show's defacto leader. However, her "power" and role as the leader has become somewhat mitigated and split since the fallout with Bethenny and Jill's sudden personality change. Jill had been the one who used to get along with everyone (with the exception of her occasional spats with Ramona) and tried to help "make nice" amongst the other wives. That all changed after an off-camera fallout with Bethenny that bled into the entire season. Since then, fans perception of Jill has changed and her personality on camera has changed as well. What were once minor spats and passive aggressive digs between Jill and Ramona are now all out wars. However, let's be real the ladies could simply be upping the anty for the cameras.
I think the thing that has changed about Jill is that she has become more calculating and more focused on getting screen time and building her brand through the show. By this I don't mean calculating in a bad way. I don't think that Jill necessarily has bad intentions, I just think that starting with Season 3 she had a game plan for how she wanted the season to go and storylines to inject into the show. Perhaps it was like that in Seasons 1 and 2, but if that were the case it was certainly not as prevalent as it was in Season 3 and Season 4.
I believe that Jill never sought out to be the villain of Season 3 and that she never intended her friendship with Bethenny to disappear. I think she saw the opportunity to take an off-camera fight (which all in all sounds like some miscommunication combined with Jill's jealousy over Bethenny's career taking off and Bethenny not having as much time for her) and bring it on camera for screentime. I believe Jill thought that by playing the "Bobby had cancer and Bethenny did nothing" card, she would come out as the victim and she would look good to viewers. I also think she thought it was an issue that they would fight/talk out on the show and then resolve in one big happy ending. Provided she had her script (remember Jill was not willing to talk to Bethenny at Ramona's without her "notes"). Clearly Jill played her hand wrong and lost.
She returned in Season 4 with hopes of redemption and restoring her image in the eyes of the viewers. Unfortunately, Jill came back with more of the same. She help create a great divide between the cast and the eventual blondes v. brunettes storyline ruled the season. Jill would unconditionally support anything a brunette did and vehementally attack all of the blondes. There was no self awareness, no humbleness, just the constant belief that she was always 100% right and could do no wrong.
Nevertheless, as infuriating as Jill has been these last two seasons, she has been an integral part of the show since its inception. She is the "queen bee" and is The Real Housewives of NYC. I hope she returns for Season 5.
Personally, when it comes to Cindy my response is "sayonara!" and I think many fans will feel the same. Cindy just never quite meshed and did not endear herself to the fans. While she got along great with "Team Brunette" she seriously clashed with the blondes. Furthermore, it often seemed as though Cindy was trying to get screentime by creating nonsense drama. "Hangergate" anyone? And who could forget the ridiculous fight with Sonja in the van over Sonja not being able to save LuAnn's seat. Cindy seemed to fight for the sake of fighting which at times made her seem crazier than Kelly. While Cindy's portrayal and action during Season 4 were not all bad, she never quite fit and as the new girl is anyone going to miss her? No. Just like there was no fan outpouring when Jennifer Gilbert didn't return for Season 4. Adding Cindy to the RHONYC was an experiment they tried and failed. Let her go. If only Bravo could have done the same with Kelly Bennsimon after Season 2. Although let's get real, Kelly may be crazy and infuriating but she does make for good tv.
The big bombshell/question regarding Season 5 is whether Queen Bee Jill Zarin will be returning. Jill is under contract with Bravo and does not have a choice regarding whether she can leave unless Bravo let's her out. Will Bravo let Jill walk away from the series? Doubtful. Jill has always been a main focus of the RHONYC and the show's defacto leader. However, her "power" and role as the leader has become somewhat mitigated and split since the fallout with Bethenny and Jill's sudden personality change. Jill had been the one who used to get along with everyone (with the exception of her occasional spats with Ramona) and tried to help "make nice" amongst the other wives. That all changed after an off-camera fallout with Bethenny that bled into the entire season. Since then, fans perception of Jill has changed and her personality on camera has changed as well. What were once minor spats and passive aggressive digs between Jill and Ramona are now all out wars. However, let's be real the ladies could simply be upping the anty for the cameras.
I think the thing that has changed about Jill is that she has become more calculating and more focused on getting screen time and building her brand through the show. By this I don't mean calculating in a bad way. I don't think that Jill necessarily has bad intentions, I just think that starting with Season 3 she had a game plan for how she wanted the season to go and storylines to inject into the show. Perhaps it was like that in Seasons 1 and 2, but if that were the case it was certainly not as prevalent as it was in Season 3 and Season 4.
I believe that Jill never sought out to be the villain of Season 3 and that she never intended her friendship with Bethenny to disappear. I think she saw the opportunity to take an off-camera fight (which all in all sounds like some miscommunication combined with Jill's jealousy over Bethenny's career taking off and Bethenny not having as much time for her) and bring it on camera for screentime. I believe Jill thought that by playing the "Bobby had cancer and Bethenny did nothing" card, she would come out as the victim and she would look good to viewers. I also think she thought it was an issue that they would fight/talk out on the show and then resolve in one big happy ending. Provided she had her script (remember Jill was not willing to talk to Bethenny at Ramona's without her "notes"). Clearly Jill played her hand wrong and lost.
She returned in Season 4 with hopes of redemption and restoring her image in the eyes of the viewers. Unfortunately, Jill came back with more of the same. She help create a great divide between the cast and the eventual blondes v. brunettes storyline ruled the season. Jill would unconditionally support anything a brunette did and vehementally attack all of the blondes. There was no self awareness, no humbleness, just the constant belief that she was always 100% right and could do no wrong.
Nevertheless, as infuriating as Jill has been these last two seasons, she has been an integral part of the show since its inception. She is the "queen bee" and is The Real Housewives of NYC. I hope she returns for Season 5.
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