Andy Cohen Breaks His Silence On the 'RHONY' Season 16 Cast & Shares New Details

Bravo announced the cast of "The Real Housewives of New York City" on March 3 and confirmed that filming would begin immediately. Notably, in addition to returners Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy, and Jessel Taank, former "RHONY" star Carole Radziwill will also appear on the series as a friend of the show. Now, following the announcement, "Housewives" executive producer Andy Cohen is sharing his thoughts and discussing what fans can expect from the show.

Cohen discussed season 16 of "The Real Housewives of New York City" on the March 4 episode of SiriusXM's "Radio Andy." He began discussing the wait for news about the series, which ended its 15th season in February 2025. In most cases, production on the show would have resumed mere months after the reunion for a new season.

He continued, "We have been working on this for a while. … Everyone wants everything now, and that’s why everybody was asking about Miami, like, 'When is it coming back? And why aren’t you shooting it and da da da da da,' and it's like, and even Jersey. You know, it’s like, we want to get it right."

In typical Cohen fashion, he began teasing "RHONY" season 16. According to the "Watch What Happens Live" host, "We almost did something with 'New York' last year, and then we had a group convo, and we were like, 'You know what? We are not all there yet,' and there were some people that are in the cast now that are still in the cast, new people, but then we found new new people."

Cohen continued his line of conversation, now centering on the "RHONY" cast. He said of the new ladies, "Erika, Daisy, and Hailey … are great for all different reasons. There were a lot of people doing discourse about Radzi coming back. She’s coming back as a friend."

From there. He revealed that Radziwill's return wasn't always planned for the show's upcoming season. According to him, "I remember we were at BravoCon, and Jeff Lewis is like, 'Radzi's definitely coming back. You wouldn’t be doing this.' It was not the plan at that point. It really wasn't."

After that, Cohen shared how he invited the writer and journalist back to the show, saying, "I think I took her out for coffee … in December or January, and proposed that she be a friend. She was very Radzi about it. She was very analytical. You know, she’s gotten to be pals with Erin and Abe, so they actually are legitimate friends."

Bravo announced that Lichy, De Silva, and Taank would be joined by new housewives Hailey Glassman, Erika Hammond, and Daisy Toye after announcing Radziwill as a friend of the show. Since then, fans have expressed their opinions, with some looking forward to "RHONY" season 16 and others feeling Bravo neglected to listen to criticism.

One person wrote on Instagram, "And the crowd goes mild." Someone else said, "Y'all really hate listening to the fans." Another "RHONY" fan stated, "Sai and Erin are the reason everyone tuned out the first time." In support of the cast, a different social media user said, "Jessel, queen of New York!!!"

The first season of the "RHONY" reboot began on Bravo in July 2023. According to Deadline, season two premiered the following year, featuring Ubah Hassan, Jenna Lyons, Brynn Whitfield, De Silva, Lichy, and Taank. Racquel Chevremont and Rebecca Minkoff were friends of the show.

Regarding exits ahead of season 16, Whitfield was the first to announce her exit in June 2025. Lyons announced that she would not be returning in November 2025. Hassan was the last of the main cast to be confirmed as not returning, as the news emerged alongside the new cast announcements.

Bravo fans are accustomed to getting new seasons of their core shows each year. However, in more recent years, this hasn't always been the case. Other shows that have had lengthy hiatuses in recent years but have since returned are "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "The Real Housewives of Miami," which concluded its seventh season in October 2025.

Another show that hasn't aired in quite some time is "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." There has been no news about the cast or when production may begin. US Weekly asked Cohen when fans can expect an update on "RHONJ" in November 2025. He responded, "When it’s right."