‘The Golden Life’ Cast on How the Show Came About, Who Didn’t Want to Do It, and More

The cast of E!’s The Golden Life are trading in their apples for palm trees and a new TV experience.

Ramona Singer, Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan, Luann de Lesseps, and Kelly Bensimon spoke to Page Six Radio’s Danny Murphy and Evan Real during an exclusive The Golden Life Cast Event on Stars (Ch. 138) — premiering Monday, October 19 at 9am ET on car radios and the SiriusXM app. The cast revealed what went into their decision to leave the Bravo universe and The Real Housewives behind for a new franchise.

“Luann and I for years we were meeting,” Sonja told Danny and Evan. “We were doing all these zooms, pitching concepts, making up storyboards and all that and then someone who is not with us today, she actually said, ‘Okay, I have an in, let’s meet with these people.’”

After their meeting, however, Luann admitted that she would need a little more convincing before she could join E!’s new series.

“When they called me, I was like ‘No,’” the countess shared. “I did Ultimate Girls Trip right?  I’m working for Bravo and so I was like, ‘No. Bravo’s my family.’ And then I got permission from Bravo to actually do the E! show which I didn’t know at the time.”

The Golden Life follows the former women of the Real Housewives of New York as they embark on a new journey in Palm Beach, Florida. For Sonja, the timing was perfect as she closed the chapter in NYC.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to do it because I’m an empty nester,” she explained. “My daughter lives in L.A. I don’t need my house in New York anymore and they said, ‘No no, we want to do this in Palm Beach. Because everyone in New York goes to Palm Beach.'”

As Kelly put it, the platform is less reality TV-coded and offers viewers a look at the women from a different lens.

“I also love the documentary style,” she said. “So, how Bravo is reality, but this is like a docu-reality, Bravo’s a docu-soap and I really appreciate that. We took over the soap operas. I was really excited to celebrate that part.”

And after seeing a piece of their time together on camera, Ramona was sold.

“I didn’t want to do it either,” she explained. “I just said kinda I’ll be a friend. And then when we did the sizzle reel, I said, ‘Oh my God. It’s so uplifting and positive and funny. I’m in, I’m all in.’”

For Dorinda, the realization that their time at Bravo officially ended sealed the deal for her.

“I think also too we were at the last BravoCon and Luann and I realized we weren’t gonna be asked back to Bravo,” she shared. “As loyal as we are, we love Bravo we had this beautiful run, we were like you know what? Let’s take a chance and do this. So, when E! gave us the opportunity, we thought why not.”

One person who didn’t take the opportunity was former OG RHONY castmate Bethenny Frankel, who left The Golden Life women with mixed reviews about a potential cameo from her.

“No, no, no no, she’s not invited,” Kelly said when asked about her absence. “She’s too performative. She’s just very sensationalistic and I don’t want to be on a show where someone is like sensationalist.”

Ramona suggested the Skinny Girl founder is simply “too busy” to join the women in Florida, and that if she did, she would be more than a friend of the cast.

“I invited her to come on as a guest,” she said. “And that’s when she goes, ‘Why would I come on as a guest? When I come on, I’d want to be paid.’”

E!’s The Golden Life premieres October 20 at 10pm ET.

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Tune in every weekday from 8 am to 10 am ET on Stars (Ch. 138). For more information on “Page Six Radio” and all the stories the hosts are talking about, check out PageSix.com.