The Real Housewives of New York City are returning for a new season…
… at some point.
But while Bravo has not yet announced a premiere date for Season 13 — heck, amid the ongoing pandemic, Bravo has not even announced a complete cast yet — we do have enough information to tease what’s on tap.
In some way, shape or form at least.
“We’re working on next season,” Andy Cohen told Us Weekly last month. “I’m excited for what we have planned.”
This is rather vague, of course.
A year after losing Bethenny Frankel, though, we can report with certainty that the franchise is losing some other mainstays as well.
Tinsley Mortimer, for example, quit the show after she got engaged to Scott Kluth and moved to Chicago.
“I, of course, am going to miss my new friendship with Leah and Sonja’s crazy antics with me,” Tinsley said during her final episode, referring to Leah McSweeney and Sonja Morgan.
“I have changed so much since coming back to New York and moving into Sonja’s townhouse. … It’s taken me a little bit of time, but I finally feel like myself again. I feel confident again.”
As for Dorinda Medley?
She’s also a goner.
“She was in a bad place, her house had been flooded, her dad was sick. We lost Bethenny right as filming began and we lost Tinsley halfway through the season. So maybe Dorinda didn’t feel like she could take the year off,” Cohen said this summer.
“Sometimes taking a pause is a good thing and I am really hopeful that this is indeed a pause and that she would rejoin the show at some point…
"I think a pause is a good thing and she will come back renewed and refreshed.”
Might Dorinda come back? Sure. But…
“What a journey this has been. I have laughed and cried and tried to Make it Nice,” she wrote via Instagram in August, confirming she will NOT appear on Season 13.
“But all things must come to an end. This was a great outlet for me to heal when my late husband Richard passed away.
"I have met so many interesting people and learned so much about myself, about life and about women along the way.”
Then there’s the future of Elyse Slaine.
“In response to many of your inquires, the answer is no, I will not be returning to #RHONY,” Slaine, who was featured as a “friend” on season 12, Tweeted in September.
“Thank you for the support, laughs, and friendship.
"I adore so many of you. I value you, and I am always available to chat.”
Is Leah McSweeney also leaving, as has been long rumored?
"I’m coming back. My work here isn’t done yet!" she just wrote on Instagram this week.
So there you have it, straight from Leah’s mouth.
Bravo, it should perhaps be noted, has not yet said anything about McSweeney’s status.
Cohen, meanwhile, had previously assured fans that "a lot of protocols" were in place for the Season 12 in-person reunion to ensure safety from the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Then same, we assume, will apply for Season 13 episodes.
"Everybody has to get tested, there’s very few crew, there’s very few people allowed, we are all six feet apart," Andy said in July on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live.
Finally, viewers can expect a lot more diversity in 2021.
Yes, Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps are likely to return.
But “Bravo is planning to shake things up with The Real Housewives of New York next year,” one insider told Us Weekly in August.
Another source added at the time:
“There’s going to be some changes. … A handful of white women doesn’t necessarily represent what New York City is all about."