When Bravo announced that The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy was actually happening, I was one of those fans who was excited to see OG Real Housewives of New York cast members back in front of a camera. I even went so far as to imagine my ideal cast groups for RHONY Legacy, and every time two OG housewives were a must — Sonja Morgan and Bethenny Frankel. Sonja for her life-of-the-party spirit, and Bethenny for her dry humor and brash opinions.
However, in the months after the announcement, the relationship between Bethenny and Bravo deteriorated after she made a series of allegations, leaving her out as a potential castmate on the new Ultimate Girls Trip season. So imagine my complete surprise to watch the first three episodes of RHONY Legacy and still feel Bethenny's presence looming rather heavily.
It all starts with Dorinda and other housewives making reference to the infamous Scary Island. For those that need a reminder, during The Real Housewives of New York season 3, Bethenny, Sonja, Ramona, Alex and Kelly were all vacationing and things went left when Kelly and Bethenny got into it. The two ladies were never friends on the show, but things came to a head on the island. Here's a small clip of the eventful girls' trip:
Now if it's not been made clear, you can't talk Scary Island and ignore Bethenny's part in it. It's nearly impossible.
Moving on from that, in RHONY Legacy episode 2, titled "The Pirate Part Deux," the cast talks to Sonja about her tendency to remove herself from the group. They discuss Sonja's poor phone communication and her unwillingness to hang out as much. That's when Sonja drops the bombshell that she actually communicates with Bethenny more frequently than even Luann. The very Luann she filmed with for Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake.
Sonja's confession catches the other women off-guard and even offends them. Now would be a great time to point out that when Luann expresses her discontent with Sonja's remarks, she refuses to say Bethenny's name directly.
Back to Scary Island. By episode 3 of RHONY Legacy, titled "Take Me Out to the Hockey Game," Dorinda decides to watch The Real Housewives of New York episode where the big Scary Island blowup occurred, attempting to dissect the Bethenny/Kelly rivalry. However, it appears she's more keen to understand Bethenny's side in this fight, as Dorinda later gets into with Kelly.
When you add all of these Bethenny references to the fact that RHONY Legacy even showcases a flashback clip of Bethenny herself, it's hard not to think about the what ifs. What if Bethenny and Bravo could have hashed out their differences and she was back among the RHONY OG’s? What if Bethenny and Kelly were trapped on an island together again? That could have made for some epic TV moments.
New episodes of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy premiere on Peacock on Thursdays.
