Credit: Instagram/Sonja Morgan, Jennifer Graylock/INSTARimages
Sonja Morgan admitted to being shocked by Carole Radziwill‘s return to The Real Housewives of New York City during a podcast appearance last month.
As she also revealed that Bravo helped her support her daughter, Quincy Adams Morgan, 26, opened up about leaving her townhouse for Palm Beach, Florida, and dished on her dating life, Sonja, 62, spoke of reuniting with her former RHONY co-stars for The Golden Life and looked back on her relationship with Harry Dubin, 61.
“When Carole filmed with us, she always acted like, you know, she wasn’t in 100 percent,” Sonja explained on the September 30 episode of Call Her Daddy, via OK! Magazine, after being asked about Carole’s role on season 16. “She was always like, ‘Well, this is a bit beneath me.’ You know, she always gave that air. And then when she decided to do that after so much time off, I was shocked.”
“But I did hear through the grapevine that she’s been a good addition,” she added.
During a separate interview, Sonja spoke of how Bravo helped support Quincy, whom she shared with late ex-husband John Adams Morgan.
“I learned how to navigate my private life from my on-camera life. And a lot of people know I don’t have my daughter on. I don’t have family members. It just was not going to happen. I figured it out that well, it allows me to support my daughter,” Sonja told Us Weekly. “She graduated summa cum laude from [The University of Pennsylvania], and that’s because of the viewers embracing us and supporting us. Thank you to Bravo — and thank you now to E! — [for giving] us this shot, to continue to be the best family members we can and to support those who need us. That’s what I finally learned is that’s what it’s for.”
As fans may know, Sonja is “finally an empty nester” now that Quincy has gone to college, and she has finally unloaded her townhouse.
“I finally sold the house in New York because I don’t need it. It was just me living there at some point,” she explained. “I created a very peaceful life for myself in Palm Beach.”
As for her dating life, Sonja said that she is now “more able to be in a serious, lifelong relationship.”
“But dating is a challenge today, so what I’m going to do now is just slow things down,” she clarified.
For now, Sonja is focused on The Golden Life, which follows her, Ramona Singer, 69, Luann de Lesseps, 61, Kelly Bensimon, 58, and Dorinda Medley, 61, in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We don’t get to see each other when we’re not filming,” she said of their busy schedules. “I was so excited, mostly about doing E! because we’ll be back together and I know that’s what the viewers wanted. And after we had such a long run, I mean, we’re on TV now over 20 years, it’s unbelievable. We’re still here.”
“But when we’re not filming — because we would spend five months every year together to do the other shows that we’ve done — what happens that the viewers don’t see is [that] the hustle is real,” she continued. “Luann will be doing her [cabaret] tour. I’m doing my [comedy] tour. Ramona is busy dating seriously. I would see Kelly all the time, but it would be work. We would be invited to these events, we’d show up, do our appearance and then leave, go home right away. So, yeah, this is the time we get to be together for reals.”
Speaking of her “golden” era, Sonja said that when it comes to getting older, the grass isn’t greener on the other side.
“You start to be happy with where you’re at, and you start to have self-esteem,” she said. “I’ve become very proud of my accomplishments, what I’ve been through [and] how I’ve come out the other side. The only regret when you get to your 60s is, ‘Boy, I wish I’d started this sooner.’ But like me, so many moms out there, we’re so busy raising our kids and taking care of people that we need to take care of [and] by the time you get here, you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m going to really enjoy myself now. This is The Golden Life.’”
Also during the interview, Sonja said that when it came to her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Harry, she ultimately realized he was “more interested” in the Bravo universe and the “spotlight” than her.
“That’s not what I loved about Harry,” she admitted. “So I just stopped talking to him for about seven years until his father was on his deathbed. And then we slowly started talking again. I don’t love Harry being in our friend group all the time. I don’t love it, because I like to keep my friendships one-on-one and separate from the show. But it happens.”
The Golden Life season one premieres on Tuesday, October 20, at 10/9c on E!, and The Real Housewives of New York City season 16 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.