This pains me to say, because I like good television as much as the rest of you. But Ramona Singer should leave Real Housewives of New York City. It's been a great ride, but it's time for her to hang up that little golden apple and make her exit. As reliable as the 60 year old has been about causing drama on the show, there comes a point where it's no longer fun to watch. And, if I'm being honest, I think we've reached that point.
Ramona's personality may have started out as a bit of harmless snarking, but things have escalated significantly since 2008 when RHONY first went on the air. These days, she's slid firmly into the toxic category, alienating her fellow Housewives and losing the support of many of the women she used to call friends. And, after this long with the franchise, Ramona has had an opportunity to do a lot of damage.
In this past year alone, let's look at what's happened: She was uninvited from Carole Radziwill's viewing party on election night. Bethenny Frankel is still angry at her frenemy Ramona for using her daughter Brynn to concern-troll her. Jill Zarin isn't even on the show, and she still has strong opinions about what kind of a person her old friend is.
Ramona doesn't have many friends left, and, on a franchise like RHONY, that doesn't leave producers with many options. Phaedra Parks was recently let go from Real Housewives of Atlanta after Season 9 for very similar reasons; after six seasons on the popular program, the rest of the cast was on the outs with Parks. As Andy Cohen told E! Online, that left his hands pretty tied:
The question that we look at now with Phaedra is, when the reunion ended, none of the other women wanted to have anything to do with her. So, that's what you have to look at. How do you shoot a show about a group of friends when no one is speaking to one of the friends?
With so many of the RHONY women giving Ramona the cold shoulder, she should move on sooner rather than later. But, on the bright side, it seems like the timing couldn't be better. Her daughter Avery just graduated from college, so she'll be entering a new phase in her life — one in which I'm sure she could use more of her mom's attention.
Another thing that could profit from more focus from Ramona is her personal life. Her divorce from Mario Singer just went through in September, ending her 22-year marriage. Now feels like the perfect opportunity for some me-time and introspection. And anyone she does date going forward can only benefit from not having to build intimacy on national TV.
The only real reason for Ramona to stay on the show at this point would be for money, and the RHONY star seems to be doing just fine there. After all, she was rumored to be worth about $18 million in 2015.
Ultimately, it feels to me like the stars are aligning to convince Ramona Singer to leave the show. It doesn't seem to bring her joy, it doesn't seem to bring joy to the people around her, and life is too short to put up with either of those things. Especially after you've already put up with them for nine seasons.
