Alex McCord

Try to hold back the tears, reality TV fans:

Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen are reportedly out of The Real Housewives of New York City. Sources tell The New York Daily News "there are a ton of reasons they aren't being asked back" for a fourth season of the Bravo hit.

Such as...

"Viewers don't have a positive reaction to them, so they're easily replaceable at this point," an insider said, while Simon himself doesn't deny the rumor, saying:

"We have not had any discussions regarding a fourth season."

Moreover, the newspaper says the couple doesn't "really fit in with the other wives," while Simon threw a "hissy fit" when he discovered he was paid less than everyone else.

"Simon wants to be an equal on the show, but that doesn't really make any sense to Bravo," the source said. "After all, he's not a ‘Real Housewife,' now is he?"

No, he certainly is not. Then again, we're pretty sure neither Bethenny Frankel nor Kelly Bensimon is married... or real in any sense of the word.

The third season of The Real Housewives of New York City premieres on March 4. In it, "Alex picks a lot of fights, and it looks like it's an attempt to keep her story line relevant," said the insider. "But it ended up seeming inauthentic."

As compared to the rest of this totally believable, not remotely scripted show, of course.

If Alex McCord is a Real Housewife of New York City, imagine what a show based on The Real Strippers of New York City would show.

With naked pics of this reality TV star scattered around the Internet, McCord is being forced to explain how such shots ended up online. Not that she seems to care one bit about the attention. Shocking.

"I did the photos after the birth of our second son," McCord said.

"I was shocked at how quickly my body came back. I just sort of thought, ‘Wow!' At that time I had the opportunity to meet a lot of photographers. And there were a couple of people who asked me to work on… projects."

Ah yes, projects. Follow the jump now to get an idea of what kind of projects Alex is talking about (hint: Tila Tequila would be proud.).