Jenna Lyons and her story about her sexuality will captivate viewers of The Real Housewives of New York City. The former J.Crew executive opens up on the new season about how she was outed by the New York Post back in 2011, when she was quietly seeing a woman. HollywoodLife spoke to Jenna at the RHONY season 14 red carpet premiere on July 12 and got her thoughts about how the fandom might react to her story.
“I think it’s gonna be mixed. I’ve said this all along. There’s gonna be 50% of the people who are supportive and love me and there’s gonna be 50% of the people who are haters,” Jenna EXCLUSIVELY said. “It’s just the way the cookie crumbles. I’m not gonna read into any of it.”
Jenna is famous for working her way up at J.Crew to executive creative director and president. She held those positions from 2010 to 2017, during which she was referred to as the “Woman Who Dresses America.” Ahead of the RHONY premiere, Jenna told HL how her friends in the fashion business reacted to her joining the Bravo universe.
“Ironically, I got a lot of support and they were very surprised,” the LoveSeen founder said. “I’m not in the fashion industry the way I used to be. So, people were excited,” she added. “They were surprised but also kind of intrigued.”
Jenna stars in the new season of RHONY alongside Sai De Silva, Brynn Whitfield, Ubah Hassan, Erin Dana Lichy, and Jessel Taank. The cast was announced at BravoCon in October 2022, after Bravo decided to reboot the Big Apple-based franchise after 13 seasons. In a March 2022 interview with Variety, Andy Cohen explained that the show was looking for a diverse new group of ladies “who really best reflect the most exciting city in the country.”
The Real Housewives of New York City premieres Sunday, July 16 at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo and streaming next day on Peacock.