The Real Housewives of New York City are reportedly traumatized after they suffered a near death experience during a recent South American vacation.
According to Page Six, the RHONY ladies were on a boat in Colombia when the you know what hit the fan. Their boat reportedly caught fire and then nearly sank.
“Once they were ushered on board, the boat couldn’t even move,” a source reveals. “The anchor got stuck, so the crew had to saw the anchor off before they could sail anywhere.”
Things however only got worse. “When they got out to sea, the engine caught fire,” the source continues. “It was a huge blaze and the crew was fighting to put it out. They didn’t have a fire extinguisher nor did they speak English.”
So you might be thinking this would have made a great time for the RHONY housewives to grab their life jackets… expect there wasn’t enough life jackets for everyone as “there were only two or three life jackets for everyone on board.” Yikes.
And being housewives and all, the ladies had a very appropriate response to the scary ordeal.
“They all thought they were going to die and they were hysterical,” adds the insider. Bethenny Frankel, Ramona Singer and Dorinda Medley “were soaked and screaming hysterically.” Carole Radziwill and Tinsley Mortimer “were literally throwing up from seasickness. They were far out to sea and they thought they were going down like the Titanic.”
PEOPLE magazine is also reporting the story with a source calling it a “boat ride from hell.”
“They were soaked to the bone, scared s——-, and sick by the end,” the insider reveals. “They were crying out for their lives. When the ship caught on fire, they thought it was over.”
Another source adds, “they were all scared out of their minds. They thought they were going to die out there.”
Fortunately this story has a happy ending as they were all rescued by a passing boat. But the poor women were so traumatized by the experience that even Bravo has offered them counseling.
The other good news is this near death experience brought the cast closer together. “If anything the experience brought them together,” the source adds. “Any feuds that have been carrying through the season were thrown aside. They’re furious with production for putting them in that situation to begin with.”
And in a rarity, Bravo released a statement acknowledging the event. “‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ cast was recently on a boat in South America and encountered turbulent water. Thankfully, everyone is fine and was able to continue their vacation as planned. The safety of our cast and crew is paramount and, to that end, we are doing a full investigation,” said the network.
Since this occurred during a cast trip for the upcoming season, it’s likely it was filmed and will be featured on the show.
Below is a photo of Ramona in Colombia before the boat incident –
Photo Credit: Bravo