The Real Housewives of New York City has made a fashionable casting decision.
And we mean this quite literally.
On Tuesday, multiple entertainment news sources confirmed that Rebecca Minkoff has been filming scenes for Season 15 of this beloved Bravo franchise.
The role remains “unspecified” at the moment, according to Deadline, meaning we can’t verify at the moment whether Minkoff will be a full-time cast member or merely a Friend.
Minkoff is a very well-known and respected designer.
She and her brother are the co-founders of the Rebecca Minkoff brand, which specializes in luxury handbags, accessories, and apparel.
In September 2018, she established the Female Founder Collective, a network of women-led businesses that invests in women’s financial power and empowers female-owned businesses.
Minkoff is no stranger to Bravo, either.
She previously served as a guest judge on Project Runway, while other reality TV appearances include E!’s So Cosmo and as one of the investors in Lifetime’s Project Runway: Fashion Startup.
Bravo rebooted The Real Housewives of New York City last season, bringing on all new cast member.
The cable network recently announced that Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank, and Brynn Whitfield will all return for the new season.
This isn’t surprising, considering the uptick in ratings for Season 14.
The July 2023 premiere, for example, marked the most-watched episode of the series in three years.
Minkoff, meanwhile, is a long-time Scientologist and has many prominent friends in the controversial church.
She has even credited Jenna Elfman — an outspoken follower of L. Ron Hubbard — with kick-starting her career by wearing one of her shirts during a 2001 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
“I’m totally open,” she told the New York Times in 2021 about her Scientologist membership and beliefs. “But it’s not my job to proselytize.”
Still, Bravo should expect a lot of backlash.
We’ve heard that a photograph of Minkoff posing at her Los Angeles store opening in 2015 with fellow Scientologist Danny Masterson — who is now serving time for rape — is already being texted among show insiders.
Rebecca Minkoff: Bound for The Real Housewives of New York City Season 15! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.