Goodbye Bethenny, and hello Leah! Fashion designer Leah McSweeney will be featured on season 12 of The Real Housewives of New York City, Us Weekly can confirm.
According to a source, Leah is friends with Tinsley Mortimer, who joined the cast during season 9.
“Leah and Tinsley are friends and have filmed together,” the source tells Us. “Leah is a great addition to the show. She’s glamorous, fun and wild in all the right ways.”
The Married to the MOB CEO made her Bravo debut in 2010 on an episode of The Millionaire Matchmaker. She also made a cameo on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York.
Leah will seemingly fit in with her new costars Ramona Singer, Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps, who are all single mothers. The entrepreneur, for her part, shares 12-year-old daughter, Kier, with an ex.
Luann confirmed Bravo found someone for the upcoming season of RHONY earlier this month.
“I think they already cast somebody else. Can’t tell you who, but I think they did!” the former countess told Michelle Collins on SiriusXM on Monday, August 19. “[I don’t know] much about this person.”
News of Leah’s casting comes two days after Bethenny Frankel shocked fans — and her costars — by leaving the series.
“It’s time to move on and focus on my daughter, my philanthropy and my production partnership with Mark Burnett, producing and starring in shows which represent a shift in the conversation for women,” she said in a statement to Us on Wednesday, August 21. “With the changes in modern culture, I want to highlight the strength, confidence and unstoppable power that women have.”
An insider told Us that many of Bethenny’s castmates were “very surprised” to learn that she was leaving the series for the second time.
“As the highest paid housewife in franchise history, she doesn’t need the money,” the insider noted. “It was time to leave to focus on her brand, her relief efforts and her production deal.”
The Real Housewives of New York City is expected to return to Bravo in 2020.
