Credit: Ben Rosser/BFA.com
Brynn Whitfield shared more details about why she quit Real Housewives of New York, and recalled when she asked to be demoted to a “friend of.” The star also revealed when her “trust was broke[n]” with production.
In her freshman season, fans rallied around Brynn after she shared that she was neglected as a child. But in her sophomore season, other viewers weren’t as kind as she shared the heartbreaking story of her past sexual assault. She also explained how it affects her dating life. Later that season, Brynn was seemingly made out to look like the villain regarding a dispute with her costars.
On Casual Chaos with Gia Giudice, Brynn shared that she initially didn’t want to be full-time on RHONY.
“I even asked the first season … can I just be demoted to a friend of?” she said, via @vanderpodrecaps on Instagram. “I don’t want to have to have this filming and going to things, you know? So it was … really surprising when it aired [because] I thought I was on the side[lines]. And like, I’m in the mix of everything.”
Later on, Brynn shared more details on why she quit.
“I just think for me, it got so – when something’s no longer fun, I’m like out immediately, whether it be a relationship, a job, anything,” she explained. “[And] if it doesn’t suit you. … It felt itchy during filming. Four weeks into filming that season … in the Hamptons, I like ripped my mic pack off. I was like, this is f**king boring. This sucks. There’s no storylines.”
“And your guys’ storylines are showing up every week saying Brynn’s a b**ch and you have no proof,” she said, addressing her former costars. “Get over it, be funny, be cool. Stop drinking off-camera. Be real, you know? And I ripped my mic pack off. I went to London, and then I got a phone call. I won’t say from who, and they’re like, ‘Get f**king back and keep filming.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to.’ And they’re like, ‘You signed a contract.’ So I did it begrudgingly, but I was kicking and screaming the whole season.”
Gia then asked Brynn what it was like to share her past trauma in her sophomore season.
“It was f**king horrible. And it was a lot of trust was broke[n],” she said. “At the beginning of filming whatever my last season was, they again had said the previous season, ‘Okay, we want to see Brynn dating.’ … So I was just honest with them. I was like, ‘[I’ve] been struggling with dating and here’s why.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, would you want to share that?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know.’”
“It was agreed upon [that] I’m willing to film, but like, can I work with you guys with what I feel comfortable [sharing]?” she continued, referring to her past trauma. “And they were amazing about it for a season. Like, literally, the editors were like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’ And all this sort of stuff. So then I filmed one scene with my brother in Central Park, but then it was still on the table.”
Brynn said they eventually asked her, “Are you okay with us including this?”
“And I said, ‘Look, you guys’ – I literally have the text message with Bravo and NBC – I was like, ‘You guys did such an amazing job [my first season] and I trusted you … I’m gonna trust you with this.’ And I don’t feel like it was respected. So yeah, that’s all I’ll say about that.”
“[The producers] have a job to do. But I just think that there really wasn’t anything else [going on that season]. And I think, they might have thought I was tougher than I am, or maybe they thought that I wanted [to be on the show] more than I did,” she said. “So when I go through something like that, I retreat, and I will bow out and quit.”
Brynn said she was told that if she came back, she would get an “arc season” and it’d “be great.”
“They’re like, ‘It’s okay, we can’t wait for your next season, and then you’re gonna be back,’” Brynn recalled. “And I was like, ‘No, no, no. You do that once to me, I’m gone. You Julius Caesar me on the steps of 30 Rock. Thank you very much. I still love you all. No hard feelings, but fool me once. I’m not doing that again.’”