Credit: Astrid Stawiarz/Bravo
Was Ramona Singer actually fired from The Real Housewives of New York City?
Weeks after the series OG announced she would not be featured on the upcoming RHONY: Legacy series, Ramona is setting the record straight about her departure while also sharing her favorite memory of the show and teasing her future return to the franchise.
“I don’t think anybody’s been signed yet. I don’t really know. I just know I think Bravo does a great job with everything,” Ramona said on the December 7 episode of Access Hollywood‘s Housewives Nightcap after being asked about the firing rumors. “But at this point, for me, I want to do other things.”
According to Ramona, her life doesn’t revolve around RHONY, and she had grown bored with the concept.
“Sometimes when I film, I get bored, and I gotta do something to stir things up, and then I get in trouble for stirring it up, but it’s good for ratings, and fans get like a bad opinion of me, and I just want to do other things that are more genuine to me,” she explained.” Since I stopped filming, I’m a calmer person. I’m a better person. I’m more relaxed, and that’s important. I was a little too hyper.”
“My life without the cameras is still extremely full,” Ramona continued, proceeding to shade ex-Real Housewives who aren’t so happy they’re no longer featured.
“Some women I know from, whether it be our show or other shows, if they don’t do the show, they feel very empty and lost, and my life is so full,” she said. “I’m going nonstop, and I’m living my best life.”
As for her favorite memory, Ramona shared, “The turtle time! That was actually an Emmy moment, and I’m known for that.”
Regarding her decision to walk away from the franchise after 13 seasons, Ramona said that while she has enough energy to keep up, she felt a break was needed before addressing a future return.
“I’m 66-years-old. I feel like I’m 25, and I think I only look 40, and I have more energy than my daughter, and she’s 27. [But] you’ve gotta keep it moving, and I’ve done the show for so long. I need to take a break. Not to say I won’t go back at some point,” she teased.
Ramona then spoke of her dating life, saying she made a list of the 20 characteristic she wants in a man.
“I’ve always been very focused,” she stated. “I wanted a house in The Hamptons where I wanted it. I wanted a New York City apartment where I wanted it and I got it. I manifest it. I’ve done things in business … I’ve manifested everything in my life. I’ve never manifested what I want in a man, and that’s what I‘m doing now, and it seems to be working.”
While Bethenny Frankel has gotten a lot of backlash over the launch of her ReWives podcast, from the likes of Andy Cohen and Luann de Lesseps, the latter of whom slammed the move as “pathetic,” Ramona had only good things to say.
“I think Bethenny’s brilliant,” she proclaimed. “She always has a pulse of what’s going on right now. When she started the show she was just kind of struggling, and she actually took the show and that platform and took it to a whole [other] level. So I support all her endeavors.”
As Andy and his team prepare for the 2023 premiere of RHONY season 14 with an all-new cast, Ramona is admitting that while she understands they are aiming for a younger crew, two of whom she’s met, the full revamp is upsetting.
“The one thing that upsets me is when I spent 16 years building something to have it kind of knocked down and start completely fresh, that does make me upset because I put my heart and soul in it,” she explained. “So did Luann. So did Bethenny. We really built something, and I think some of the fans are disappointed too but change is good at times, and time will tell.”
After her November departure from the show, Ramona said a number of her former castmates told her, “We’re gonna miss you.”
“We grew up together. These women are my friends,” she noted of her ex-co-stars. “I actually was supposed to have lunch with [Dorinda Medley] today, but she has a really bad cold. Luann may be [at an event I’m attending tomorrow]. [Jill Zarin] lives in my building. We talk all the time. And [Sonja Morgan], well, Sonja’s always busy trotting all over, so I don’t really get a chance to see Sonja but Sonja’s great. We keep in touch.”
As for what she’ll be doing now that she won’t be filming, Ramona said she’s determined to enjoy life.
“I’m healthy. I have the money. I have the means, and I have the friends, and I get invited everywhere. I mean I really do have 50 plus friends,” she insisted. “I have this one girlfriend and husband. They invited me to go up to Ibiza. I went up in their yacht for 10 days. Another girlfriend had me stay in her place in Aspen. I get invited to go all over. And I’m just living my best life.”
She’s also starting a new podcast with her daughter Avery Singer. But, as she confirmed, it’s “not a Housewives podcast.”
“It’s about different generational viewpoints, where it’s dating, marriage, divorce, entrepreneurship, business, finance, lifestyle, [and] cooking,” Ramona described. “I have a lot of things in the fire, but this is something very special because Avery and I do have a special bond. Viewers are going to get a taste of me, and they’re gonna learn things they’ve always wanted to know.”
“It’s going to be really entertaining and fun and knowledgable,” she added.