'RHONY' Stars Countess LuAnn & Ramona Singer Get HUGE Salary Bump!

As Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon and Alex McCord are cut from ‘The Real Housewives of New York City,’ LuAnn & Ramona get double their salary! What a dis! Kelly and Cindy Barshop share exclusive responses with HollywoodLife.com.

In September, Bravo fired four cast members — Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon, Alex McCord and Cindy Barshop — from The Real Housewives of New York City. But now, the remaining women are facing a major pay hike. Countess LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer, both members of the original cast from season one, will be receiving salaries almost double that they were making for season four!

LuAnn and Ramona’s salaries increased from $275,000 to $500,000 for the upcoming season five, insiders tell the New York Post’s Page Six. When the women first started on season one, they were only made $7,500 per season.

Sonja Morgan, who is also a returning cast mate from last season, also got a salary bump — but not to the same level as LuAnn and Ramona.

“Would a girl talk about how much she gets paid?” Sonja told Page Six. “Would the Countess, with her manners, or Ramona, with her business sense, tell you that?”

Cindy tells HollywoodLife.com: “Good for them, its not an easy job.”

“”It’s a testament to Bravo and how they empower women,” Kelly also says to us.

Unfortunately the new gals — rumored to be Carole Radziwill, Heather Thomson and Aviva Drescher — won’t be earning as much. These three will only make $5,000 per episode, according to sources.

– Lauren Nicole

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2. Mudslinging Continues Between Jill & Alex!
3. A Jackie O Relative Joins RHONY!