Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.usmagazine.com
Carole Radziwill‘s return to The Real Housewives of New York City took the reality TV world by surprise — but it was never part of her master plan.
“I’m not sure I’d say [this was] ‘the right time,’ or even simply ‘the time,’” Carole, 63, exclusively reveals in Us‘ Reality Stars of the Year issue, on stands now. “I had no inclination to return. I really hadn’t been paying attention to the show since I left. Then I went on [Watch What Happens Live] as the mystery guest, and I assumed fans would be disappointed. They weren’t.”
Carole first appeared on seasons 5 through 10 of RHONY, leaving the series behind in 2018. Her cameo on Andy Cohen‘s late night show in summer 2025 marked the first time she appeared on Bravo in seven years.
“Then BravoCon happened [last fall], and the fans of the show sent so much love and good energy into the universe that, honestly, they manifested this,” Carole tells Us.
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According to Carole, the only person she spoke to about returning to the franchise for season 16 was her agent. “I didn’t want anyone whispering in my ear,” she explains, joking that she doesn’t “take advice well.”
One person who did provide a little perspective was Andy, 58, who encouraged Carole to “just have fun” and “be yourself.” (The pair’s relationship was rocky following Carole’s RHONY exit, but they reconciled in recent years.)
Plenty has changed in the nearly 15 years since Carole made her Bravo debut. Fellow vets (and Us cover stars!) Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Dorinda Medley and Kelly Bensimon have migrated to Florida for their new show, The Golden Life, leaving Carole to find her footing with a crop of new Housewives, including Erin Lichy, Jessel Taank, Sai de Silva and more.
“I knew Erin and Erika [Hammond], so I liked both of them very much,” she says of her new costars. “Then I got to know Daisy [Toye], who is very honest and genuine. I found it so funny and refreshing. And I think that will come across.”
For Carole, however, the faces on screen aren’t the biggest difference from her first tenure. She points out how much the “culture” has changed overall since 2012.
“A lot of what we did 15 years ago would not land the same way today,” she admits. “And social media has made a big impact. There is a little too much focus on one’s social media persona. Back then we were still only writing blogs.”
While fans previously got a glimpse into Carole’s personal life — she famously flew to London with Dorinda, 61, to retrieve her late husband Anthony Radziwill‘s ashes during season 7 — the spotlight is shining even brighter on her extended family following the release of FX’s Love Story earlier this year. The show starred Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr., chronicling their whirlwind romance and untimely deaths.
Since RHONY‘s 16th season debuted last month, viewers have watched Carole field nonstop questions about her connection to the Kennedys, to whom she was related by marriage.
“I was caught off guard by the attention [Love Story] received. And I started filming at the height of the craze,” she tells Us. “My late husband and my family aren’t things I casually talk about. I’ve written about those relationships, and I think people sometimes conflate writing about something with talking about it. They’re not the same thing.”
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Uber Erin Lichy is breaking down what fans can expect on the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of New York City. “It’s gonna be good,” Erin, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly at The One Party by Uber at Pier 36 in NYC on Friday, June 12. “We have some new […]
She continued, “My family is not something I like discussing with people I’ve just met, so being asked those questions did make me uneasy. I think you can see that on the show.”
Elsewhere in the season, Carole’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell also become a story line. (The What Remains author’s name and prior communications with Ghislaine, 64, recently surfaced in unsealed documents.)
Carole tells Us she wasn’t “nervous” to broach the topic on camera. “I’ve talked about this for years — in the press, on podcasts and on social media,” she explains. “I knew Ghislaine 20 years ago. She had a serious boyfriend the entire time I knew her. I never met Epstein, never knew him, and she never spoke to me about him. What’s harder to understand is releasing FBI files with the men’s names blacked out while leaving the names of innocent women exposed. I think most people understand how wrong that is by now — except, maybe, the conspiracy theorists and Reddit trolls.”
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Despite her past being put under a microscope, Carole is proud to be part of a franchise that brings together so many “diehard” fans.
“The thing I love about reality TV is how much pleasure and entertainment it brings to so many people,” she says. “Whether it makes them laugh, or cringe, or simply takes their mind off the craziness of life, for me that is what I love most about it. We’re just over here spreading joy!”
The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
