'The Real Housewives of New York City' dropping four cast members

The Real Housewives of New York City will be experiencing a big cast shakeup for its upcoming season.


Bravo has announced four of the show's seven stars -- Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Kelly Bensimon, and Cindy Barshop -- will not return for The Real Housewives of New York City's fifth season.

"Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan and LuAnn DeLesseps will be returning for season 5 of The Real Housewives of New York City," a network representative said in a statement.

"We've had a fabulous run with all the ladies and appreciate them sharing their lives with our viewers. It is a friendly departure among the other ladies and we continue to have on-going discussions with them."

While reports claiming Zarin, McCord, Bensimon, and Barshop got axed from the show first surfaced last week, the women and their representatives denied the speculation and insisted a final decision had not been made.


McCord later shared the news that her run on the show was over via Twitter on Saturday.

"Nothing was decided until today, but as of tonight a decision has been reached. [My husband] Simon Van Kempen and I are leaving RHONY, sadly but amicably," McCord tweeted.

McCord also told People the agreement was reached civilly.

"Of course Simon and I are sad not to continue with RHONY but it's a friendly decision and discussions with Bravo are ongoing for other projects," she said. 

Kempen added that his wife's The Real Housewives of New York City departure will likely not mark the last time viewers will see the couple on TV. 


"Alex and I are sad that it's come to this," Kempen told The Hollywood Reporter. "We had a great four years. We don't intend for this to be the final time you'll see us on television. Everything happens for a reason. We are not happy, we're not sad. It is what it is. We thank our fans. We have tremendous, tremendous outpouring of support... We're not going away. We remain happy and long may that continue."

In addition, Zarin is seemingly ready to move on in her entertainment career as well. 

"Jill is humbled by the extraordinary amount of media interest in her response and looks forward to personally opening up about all of this very soon and announcing some exciting new projects," Zarin's representative said in a statement. 






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski