Ghosts of Housewives Past: Jill Zarin, Alex, and the Rest

[Umbelina]

Alex and Simon moved to Australia, the instagrams are beautiful.  The boys are suntanned, hair turning blonder from the sun, and the photos I saw were all outside, playing, swimming, running down hills.  It's been a while since I looked at any though.

 

I will always miss both Simon's and Alex's blogs though.

[Ellee]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/05/05/kelly-bensimon-contemplates-real-housewives-new-york-city-return.html

 

Lol @ genuine and authentic.  I expect Jill's article in a few days, don't you?

[ButterQueen]

I imagine Jill still cries herself to sleep that she refused to make up with Beth.  I hope she's miserable every day that the show is "DONE" with her.

[ButterQueen]

I just finished watching the season 3 reunion, and for the life of me, I cannot see why Andy asked cuckoo Kelly back for season 4.  She has zero intelligence and I find her ugly inside and out.

[quaintirene]

Having finished the Season 4 rewatch I find myself quite liking Kelly (I know!  I was surprised too!).  She's a flake.  But her instincts aren't completely wrong.  I can see why the Van Kempens were axed.  Simon was just too needy for attention and this is the Real Housewives after all.  Not the real unemployed house-husbands.  

 

Finally I believe that fortune-teller in Morocco letting Ramona know there was another woman?  I think that was staged as hell.  I would absolutely not put it past LuAnn to magic that one up...

[zoeysmom]

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 4:15 PM, ButterQueen said:

I imagine Jill still cries herself to sleep that she refused to make up with Beth.  I hope she's miserable every day that the show is "DONE" with her.

What made that whole situation interesting is Jill had an opportunity to fix it when Ramona invited Bethenny over to her apartment when the COuntess and Jill were both there.  It would have been easy breezy make up but Jill could not let go of her not orchestrating the make up.  Jill also foolishly decided to boycott Ramona' St. John trip, again she wanted things on her terms and just didn't get no one was vested in her play fight.

[ButterQueen]

1 hour ago, zoeysmom said:

What made that whole situation interesting is Jill had an opportunity to fix it when Ramona invited Bethenny over to her apartment when the COuntess and Jill were both there.  It would have been easy breezy make up but Jill could not let go of her not orchestrating the make up.  Jill also foolishly decided to boycott Ramona' St. John trip, again she wanted things on her terms and just didn't get no one was vested in her play fight.

I agree.  I felt so sorry for Bethenny at Ramona's....especially now knowing it was a scheme.  Bethenny was so visibly upset and Jill was such a cold bitch.  I used to think I wanted her to return, but after watching the whole season again, I don't ever want to see her on my TV.  She got what she deserved.

[zulualpha]

On 10/1/2015 at 5:58 AM, ryebread said:

 

She took out her extensions, for one.  That's the biggie.  This is totally what you're left with after wearing them forever, in addition to continuous processing to keep your real hair the same color of the extensions.  Unfortunately she doesn't have Yolanda's bone structure to just cut it all off and start again.  I applaud her if she's going to stop torturing her poor hair because it does, indeed, look tortured.  If you listen carefully you can hear it crying out for help.

Second, I can't tell from the pictures - they might be false eyelashes - but imo, no woman over 40 should wear 'cat eye' eyeliner.  If you've got lines there, it's not a good look.  One exception MIGHT be Sophia Loren.  Maybe.

Third, it looks like these photos were taken by a first year photography student on the roof of a tall building at high noon.  That light is flattering to no one.

Good for Jill is she's decided to stop fighting the process so damn hard.  It'll just take some getting used to.  For her and us.

I got sucked in to the latest epi (Tipsy) last night while trying to find a rerun of  BH Secrets Revealed on Bravo.  I haven't watched a whole season of NY since Jill was kicked off but have seen an epi here and there.  IMO last night's show was terrible!  Ramona, Luanne and Sonya all look like they have been rode hard and put away wet.  To be specific they all look like they've been hitting the bottle hard and Luanne sounds like a man.  The fights were fake.  Bethenny has apparently checked out.  She didn't want to participate and was openly disdainful of the psychic, was rude to Luanne when she got the purse from her, doesn't like Jules, and just generally had the air of someone on the show to promote her brand and that's it.

I say bring Jill back.  She looks good in the picture, in natural light no less! and she has a realness about her that she always brought to the show and that is sadly lacking now imo.  She has a life, a husband, children and a career that we haven't heard about in a while.  I didn't put quotes around career, wasn't that nice of me?  Jill and Bethenny had a real relationship at one point, maybe they could rekindle that.  Jules looks like she could use some support from a know-it-all-with-good-intentions like Jill.   Sonya, Ramona and Luanne need a break from the show.  I would put them on "friends" status for at least one season so they could go to rehab or just rest. 

[ButterQueen]

Jill MAY look better than the other HW's, but she is ugly to the core.

[ghoulina]

Yea, Jill does NOT have good intentions, IMO. Everything is calculated. She and B will never be able to rekindle anything. That's scorched earth territory right there. 

[HunterHunted]

On 4/12/2016 at 9:18 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

What's sad was that after all the torture Alex endured in season 4, she was rewarded with a pink slip in the shakeup. I know a few people stopped watching when she was let go....and I could have seen her fitting in with the women in season 5..more so then Luann

Actually she wasn't. I read somewhere that they had offered her a friend of contract, which for RHoNY was very new and unusual. Alex played hardball and said that it was main cast or nothing. Bravo chose nothing.

Quote

Yea, Jill does NOT have good intentions, IMO. Everything is calculated. She and B will never be able to rekindle anything. That's scorched earth territory right there. 

The other reason they could never bring Jill back is because the shows, as much as possible, try to leave all of the 4th wall stuff out. With Jill, all of her stuff is 4th wall stuff. There is no way for them to have her interact with the women and not get into the fact that she ruined a friendship for a storyline and has since been alienating people all over Twitter and various podcasts. The woman secretly recorded her sit-down with Andy Cohen!!! She's so paranoid that people are going manipulate and portray her in a bad light because that's what she would do instinctively. Having her on the show would be a nightmare. I know she'd be walking around with a mess of hidden cameras.

[NewDigs]

37 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Actually she wasn't. I read somewhere that they had offered her a friend of contract, which for RHoNY was very new and unusual. Alex played hardball and said that it was main cast or nothing. Bravo chose nothing.

The other reason they could never bring Jill back is because the shows, as much as possible, try to leave all of the 4th wall stuff out. With Jill, all of her stuff is 4th wall stuff. There is no way for them to have her interact with the women and not get into the fact that she ruined a friendship for a storyline and has since been alienating people all over Twitter and various podcasts. The woman secretly recorded her sit-down with Andy Cohen!!! She's so paranoid that people are going manipulate and portray her in a bad light because that's what she would do instinctively. Having her on the show would be a nightmare. I know she'd be walking around with a mess of hidden cameras.

Bolding mine.

Do tell!

It seems to me that B & J are cut from the same ragged ass mean cloth.

I might watch that scorched earth!

[HunterHunted]

10 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

Bolding mine.

Do tell!

It seems to me that B & J are cut from the same ragged ass mean cloth.

I might watch that scorched earth!

http://www.realitytea.com/2012/10/25/jill-zarin-admits-to-secretly-recording-her-wwhl-interview/ 

http://pagesix.com/2012/10/25/jill-zarins-secret-bravo-tape/ 

Edited May 13, 2016 by HunterHunted
More links

[Umbelina]

Jill also wrote her own fake reviews, and threatened (using an easily discovered fake name) the lives of reviewers, their pets, etc.  Amazongate.  The thread is probably still up on Amazon if you look for the top rated review of her first book, then read the comments.  Many of the comments she made using an alias were deleted, but were caught by bloggers and screen capped before they came down.  Google "Amazongate" and I'm sure dozens will come up.

She's a nightmare.

One really stupid thing she did was use an old Amazon account of hers, and simply change her name.  However, if you just clicked on the name she used (Susan Saunders I think,) her wish list came up, included on it were things "for Bobby!" and for her daughter.  Then several other aliases were outed by posters there, and other positive reviewers who swore they never met her but simply loved her book (which among other things, recommended blow jobs for jewelry) idiotically used their real names, and google searches found them as customers or employees of Bobby's store, or houseguests of hers in the Hamptons posing for photos with her, photos she herself posted with captions like "my long time friend so-and-so."

Now, reviewing by friends is fine, but those friends including in their reviews *many later deleted or edited, but again, screen capped by bloggers, especially Lynn on the then name changed to "I hate Jill Zarin" site, after Jill also threatened her life* to not include the parts where they swore they didn't know Jill personally.  Seriously.  I am so not joking.  Ha.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Umbelina

[Satchels of gold]

^^ in addition to giving her own book great reviews she went so far as to give the other housewife books (  for Bethenny and Alex I'm not sure about the countess) awful reviews. She is really a jealous and petty person.

[Umbelina]

Yeah, and Amazon, in an unprecedented move, took those nasty reviews and 1 star ratings down when posters there proved what Jill had done.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Umbelina

[NewDigs]

2 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Yeah, and Amazon, in an unprecedented move, took those nasty reviews and 1 star ratings down when posters there proved what Jill had done.

Unprecedented?

[Umbelina]

Wow, thanks.  I mostly posted that from the efforts made in that negative review about Jill's book by their #1 reviewer at the time.  After all of the sock puppets and Jill herself were caught, several of the posters there also discovered that those same reviewers had giving Alex and Simon's books 1 star reviews and extremely negative comments, maybe Bethenny's as well, I can't remember. There were long negotiations with Amazon, who finally responded and removed them.

http://www.realitytea.com/tag/jill-zarin-amazongate/

http://www.realitytea.com/2010/04/22/real-nyc-housewife-jill-zarin-caught-reviewing-her-own-book-on-amazon/

I've posted negative reviews and never had them removed, so I didn't think it a blanket policy.  I know for sure on Barnes and Noble's site, ZERO negative reviews are allow, and no ratings under 3 stars are either.  Amazon has a ton of 1 star ratings on things.  Hmmm

[Satchels of gold]

40 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Wow, thanks.  I mostly posted that from the efforts made in that negative review about Jill's book by their #1 reviewer at the time.  After all of the sock puppets and Jill herself were caught, several of the posters there also discovered that those same reviewers had giving Alex and Simon's books 1 star reviews and extremely negative comments, maybe Bethenny's as well, I can't remember. There were long negotiations with Amazon, who finally responded and removed them.

http://www.realitytea.com/tag/jill-zarin-amazongate/

http://www.realitytea.com/2010/04/22/real-nyc-housewife-jill-zarin-caught-reviewing-her-own-book-on-amazon/

I've posted negative reviews and never had them removed, so I didn't think it a blanket policy.  I know for sure on Barnes and Noble's site, ZERO negative reviews are allow, and no ratings under 3 stars are either.  Amazon has a ton of 1 star ratings on things.  Hmmm

I just remembered that Jill's alter ego Susan Saunders was trying to say the #1 reviewer was antisemetic  and the reviewers responded that she was Jewish and very active in her synagogue. Then she threatened her cat. Lol oh Jill, don't ever change.

[Umbelina]

She ended up threatening a lot of posters in that thread, and not just on the Amazon board...jus' sayin'.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Umbelina

[KFC]

Maybe she just couldn't have the toxicity in her web browser? 

[Satchels of gold]

4 hours ago, KFC said:

Maybe she just couldn't have the toxicity in her web browser? 

Oh lord, I read that in Jill Zarin's voice. The entertaining thing about Jill is the first season she fancied herself as the " connector". She seemed eager to help everyone in " a rising tide lifts all boats" rich person  sort of way. Then she devolved into Susan Saunders, threatening to kill someone cat on the Internet. Fame does strange things to people.

[crgirl412]

Is anyone else watching Ramona and Mario's vow renewal on Bravo RIGHT NOW?!  It's crazy to see them all again!  Jill, Silex, Bethenny & Jason and Ramona had that nice short bob. 

It's odd to hear her gush over Mario in the vows!

I also watched S1E1 New Jersey earlier today!!  Danielle is still scary to me!! 

Edited May 18, 2016 by crgirl412

[LilaFowler]

Danielle was never scary to me, she was just good tv.  I liked when Jacqueline stood up for her in S1 but the dogpile on her in S2 wasn't cool.

[Umbelina]

https://www.instagram.com/simonvankempen/

Alex and Simon seem very happy in Australia, and the boys are growing up.

[crgirl412]

9 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

https://www.instagram.com/simonvankempen/

Alex and Simon seem very happy in Australia, and the boys are growing up.

That's good!!  They are basically very nice, good-hearted people. 

[Otherkate]

Aw, that pleases me. Good for them!

[ZaldamoWilder]

On 5/18/2016 at 4:49 AM, Satchels of gold said:

Oh lord, I read that in Jill Zarin's voice. The entertaining thing about Jill is the first season she fancied herself as the " connector". She seemed eager to help everyone in " a rising tide lifts all boats" rich person  sort of way. Then she devolved into Susan Saunders, threatening to kill someone cat on the Internet. Fame does strange things to people.

LOL!! It still tickles!

[candall]

I disliked Jill from the very beginning and there's hardly been anything in my TV life more satisfying than watching Amazongate unfold and reveal her as stupid and arrogant and mean-spirited and greedy.

She has a nice husband, daughter, dog, home, family business and gaboodles of money.  If all her constant clawing to stay famous and relevant, in some parallel to her former castmates, really landed her a berth back on the show, I'd be disgusted with the producers of the RH franchise.  And my opinion of them is pretty low already.

[Grneyedldy]

16 hours ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

LOL!! It still tickles!

Right? Yep, those were good times.

[Umbelina]

1 hour ago, candall said:

I disliked Jill from the very beginning and there's hardly been anything in my TV life more satisfying than watching Amazongate unfold and reveal her as stupid and arrogant and mean-spirited and greedy.

She has a nice husband, daughter, dog, home, family business and gaboodles of money.  If all her constant clawing to stay famous and relevant, in some parallel to her former castmates, really landed her a berth back on the show, I'd be disgusted with the producers of the RH franchise.  And my opinion of them is pretty low already.

Ditto.  I also disliked Bethenny because she hung out so much with that harridan.  I only started liking Bethenny when she wasn't with Jill as much.

[PhilMarlowe2]

Yeah, I saw Jill for who she was the moment she got so upset about not being invited to Ramona's get-together in Season 1 (her frenzied phone calls to mutual acquaintances, her complaining, etc) - and then her obsession over the tennis match. It was no surprise to me when she imploded.

[Almost 3000]

9 hours ago, candall said:

I disliked Jill from the very beginning and there's hardly been anything in my TV life more satisfying than watching Amazongate unfold and reveal her as stupid and arrogant and mean-spirited and greedy.

She has a nice husband, daughter, dog, home, family business and gaboodles of money.  If all her constant clawing to stay famous and relevant, in some parallel to her former castmates, really landed her a berth back on the show, I'd be disgusted with the producers of the RH franchise.  And my opinion of them is pretty low already.

Andy said they were going to ask Jill back this season and right before they were going to ask, she was on some show and talked smack about RHoNYC. I think it was on something like Brandi's like podcast.

[candall]

34 minutes ago, Almost 3000 said:

Andy said they were going to ask Jill back this season and right before they were going to ask, she was on some show and talked smack about RHoNYC. I think it was on something like Brandi's like podcast.

Well, either we dodged a bullet or Andy saw an opportunity to administer a spanking that would carry a little sting.

: )

[racked]

11 hours ago, Almost 3000 said:

Andy said they were going to ask Jill back this season and right before they were going to ask, she was on some show and talked smack about RHoNYC. I think it was on something like Brandi's like podcast.

Did he really? That's so surprising, I thought he hated her. 

Jill is completely insane, and I could never defend her, but damn if I didn't love watching her on this show. I prefer her as the villain to Bethenny, who has become her but somehow more shrill.

[Almost 3000]

6 minutes ago, racked said:

Did he really? That's so surprising, I thought he hated her. 

Jill is completely insane, and I could never defend her, but damn if I didn't love watching her on this show. I prefer her as the villain to Bethenny, who has become her but somehow more shrill.

I hope someone comes along and links the story for the when and wheres because I don't remember the particulars. I'd been thinking Jill would be good again on the show and I never thought I'd say that but she's probably burned that last bridge with Andy now.

[ghoulina]

Even if Andy hates her, I could see him doing that. Because it would cause a LOT of drama. And that's more important. 

[Umbelina]

He's flat out said she is too much of a pain in the ass behind the scenes to ever hire again, and not just to him, but to everyone working at Bravo.  I bet he said that to tweak her.

[ExplainItAgain]

Bravo is showing season 1 all day today. Gosh, it's so awkward watching it. Bethenny was actually relatively calm. She spoke about half as fast as she does now. Jason1...what a mess.

Alex and Simon and their not-so-subtle social climbing...Mario's sliminess...Luann referring to her husband as "The Count." I'm kind of glad my brain forgot all this craziness. And yet, here I sit watching it all over again.

[QuinnM]

So I'm sorting out old clothes and watching the Season 1 marathon. Does anyone know what happened to Jill's gay husband (I find that term offensive), Brad?

[SCS]

50 minutes ago, ExplainItAgain said:

Bravo is showing season 1 all day today. Gosh, it's so awkward watching it. Bethenny was actually relatively calm. She spoke about half as fast as she does now. Jason1...what a mess.

Alex and Simon and their not-so-subtle social climbing...Mario's sliminess...Luann referring to her husband as "The Count." I'm kind of glad my brain forgot all this craziness. And yet, here I sit watching it all over again.

 

Love it. Jill's mommy issues (that designer was not happy with her critiques)! Bawby and Jill dining (and getting along) with Alex and Simon! Rosie! Victoria chewing with her mouth open! Nicole with the headband listening to Lu blat about needing a nite out! Good times....

[Umbelina]

I'm watching some too! 

I never could stand Jill, and I really didn't like Bethenny much at all.  Who was that blond Bethenny was talking to?  Ginger was such an obnoxious little dog, much like her mommy, "nasty to everyone."

Ramona and her daughter had some of the best scenes.  I liked Ramona, all of her stuff about "make your own money" and her having fun with her daughter's friends.

[SCS]

"A skinny girl's margarita" vs "the skinny girl margarita" just aired. IMO, definite article wallops indefinite article. I gotta give the points to Lu -- something I've never done in 8 seasons. This frightens me.

[Umbelina]

I hate the way Bravo set up Simon and Alex.  They were the ones who told him to attend the girl party, and to look in the style section of the paper for a photo of Alex in her Opera dress.  By second season they had the intelligence to wise up to many of Bravo's sets ups, and avoid a few.

[straightshooter]

Holy cow, how could I have forgotten Jill's fit over the fashion show seating arrangement or Ramona's popping off and basically calling models brainless to LuAnn? Oh, how I miss the days when the stupid things Ramona says still shocked me! 

[straightshooter]

Wait a minute!!  The bald man who hits on Ramona and her pretty friends looks like Tom D.?  Am I losing it?  (His friend likes the other two but tells Ramona that there's something about her that he doesn't like)

[bosawks]

Luanne must spit bullets when she see's herself in the middle and Beth relegated to the side in the season one opening.

[straightshooter]

Wow, and hearing LuAnn talk about wanting to go out to "forget she has kids" after her son has been giving her a hard time, saying that all of the other parents are home with their kids.  The nanny said it perfectly - "the nannies raise the kids".  

This explains the biggest issue I have with LuAnn - that she's not one bit discreet about her sex life when her kids and their friends/parents of friends will eventually hear about it even if they don't see it when it airs.  THAT is what I find shameful.  Sonja is just as bad.  I have little respect for the two of them for that very reason.  I would never, ever do (or talk about) the things they've done while being filmed because of the impact it could have on my child.  

[SCS]

Damn, all done. I was hoping for S2. I'd forgotten what a cutie Johann was as A&S seemed to be All Francois All The Time.

Beth, are you wearing dusty pink eyeshadow from lash line to brows in your THs? You look like you're plagued with creeping conjunctivitis. Or plague.

Jill, I liked you so much in this iteration. Why did you leave me?

Sharon Geise, is that really proper office attire? Get Moaner back to her S3 levels, please.

Avery was wise, even then.

[snarts]

The marathon is over?  No, I want more!!!