Bravo Is Pushing For Normal Reunions For ‘RHONY’ & ‘RHOBH’, ‘RHONJ’ & ‘RHOC’ To Resume Filming In July

Bravo is preparing for a return of 'The Real Housewives' across the franchise. Some of the series will begin to film again in July, while others are making arrangements for in-person reunions. Here are the details.

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June 18, 2020 9:12AM EDT
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TTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY -- Season:12 -- Pictured: (l-r) Tinsley Mortimer, Dorinda Medley, Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Leah McSweeney -- (Photo by: Sophy Holland/Bravo)
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY -- Pictured: (l-r) -- (Photo by: Heidi Gutman/Bravo)
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY -- Pictured: (l-r) -- (Photo by: Heidi Gutman/Bravo)

Fans are eagerly awaiting the return of The Real Housewives franchise with new episodes of their favorite shows, and Bravo seems prepared to deliver. The network appears to be laying out plans to return to some semblance of normalcy, according to a source who shared EXCLUSIVE details with HollywoodLife. While other productions, like CBS’ long running soap opera The Bold & The Beautiful , are in the midst of production for new episodes, Bravo is making a concerted effort to get audiences’ favorite housewives back on the small screen.

“A lot of reality TV is resuming earlier than sitcoms because they’re easier to film and can be done in smaller settings and in homes,” our industry source shares. “The Real Housewives of Orange County will resume in July as will New Jersey. The goal is to have a reunion in person for New York City at the end of the summer,” the source went on. It’s a bold move for the network to take, but as cities across America slowly reopen and productions for film and TV get underway, it seemed like the right time to at least lay out plans for a return.

real housewives of new york city
A previous reunion from ‘RHONY’ [Bravo].
The source also assured HL that “a lot of reality TV shows started back up this week and crews are as small as possible. A lot of casts are still filming on their phones and you probably won’t be seeing any big trips happening anytime soon. Since it doesn’t require a set, these shows are easier to film and you’ll start seeing this film much quicker than a show requiring a set.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a number of the Housewives series and adjacent Bravo franchises were put on hiatus. Some of the shows did their best to work around the stay-at-home and social distancing orders, like when the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta did their recent season reunion virtually. Other casts, like the women from RHOC, decided to have their own reunions as production was halted, despite backlash from fans and former cast members for not observing social distancing.

Cast members were already taking steps to streamline filming while staying safely at home. RHOC stars were filming virtual confessionals to be added to existing footage captured during their season, and they were even doing their own glam to prep. But news of Bravo’s tentative plans to get back to production comes on the heels of California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s announcement that “filming in the state could resume this week, subject to a number of restrictions,” according to a June 10 article from the Los Angeles Times.