RHONY, Season 5 (Bravo)

Last week it looked like The Real Housewives of New York City could get shut down for good when all six of the cast members refused to sign their contracts. Shooting for the series was supposed to commence last Wednesday (according to several news outlets), but was delayed when negotiations stalled.

Thank goodness it might not be over. According to Deadline, RHONY ladies Carole Radziwill, Ramona Singer, LuAnn de Lesseps, Heather Thomson, Aviva Drescher and Sonja Morgan all received modest pay increases, though how "modest" that money is definitely on a case-by-case basis; Ramona Singer made $500,000 last season and was holding out for a million, while a source close to the negotiations told The New York Observer that The New York Post’s quoted "average" payout for a housewife--$65,000--was "in the ballpark" of what was being offered this time around.

According to an industry insider, however, none of the ladies have officially signed their contracts yet, so don't be jumping for joy just yet.

According to another source, Bravo waited until the last minute even to send around the contracts with the numbers, leaving only two weeks before filming began for the women to try to negotiate for higher wages.

But the industry insider scoffed at that idea, saying that there would never be a planned shooting schedule before the ladies signed the contracts. "Things need to be in place, Bravo needs to know their availability, and the reps need to sign the contracts," said the insider.

"You have to remember, there are no unions for housewives," another source told The Observer, explaining that shooting can last all day on some episodes, with only a short break for lunch. Then there are the costs of the job: hair, makeup, and clothes are not provided, and if someone has a scene inside a house, the cast member also has to pay for all the cleaning costs to make her home presentable.

"A lot of the ladies end up in the red after the money they put toward being on the show," our source told us.

But our insider disagreed, saying that RHONY was about showing women leading their everyday lives, hence it would be ridiculous to pay for the extra perks. (Though for some red carpet events and special occasions, the person noted, the ladies may be afforded their own hair and makeup.)

According to the Deadline article, the new (unsigned) contracts "threw in a few more contractual baubles like covering expenses for additional hair and make-up for the cast."

Several other sources who wished to remain anonymous told The Observer that the problem was that the money simply wasn't there. They complained that Bravo they didn't spend nearly as much on advertising as they had the previous seasons, and the show was put in a more competitive time slot, moving from Thursday nights to Monday. "Of course the show would see lower ratings if you pit it against American Idol or something," one individual close to the negotiations remarked.

But Monday night's lineup is shattering the network's internal ratings, according to Nielsen.

Housewives drama! (Bravo)

Last night at the Harboring Hearts Spring Gala at the Rubin Museum, Real Housewives of New York star Sonja Morgan sniped about her new co-star, Aviva Drescher, calling the latter out for only joining charities after she knew she would be on the show.

"We all went to one of her SoulCycle events, but she wasn't really involved with any charities," the ex-wife of JP Morgan told The New York Observer. "I ran into her ex-husband (Harry Dubin) and he was just as surprised; he said Aviva never did any philanthropy."

This was quite surprising, as we had interviewed Ms. Drescher prior to her Housewives announcement, and the three causes she was involved with played a major role in her story.

"She just told you that because she knew she was going to be on the show," Ms. Morgan sneered.

We called Ms. Drescher for a response. "That's about as silly as saying that I have two legs," said Ms. Drescher, who has worn a prosthetic leg since she was a child.

"It's absurd. I've been helping people who were amputees, one-on-one, since I was 20. I've been the national spokesperson for One Step Ahead for approximately five years."

"Besides, Sonja Morgan is an alcoholic," Ms. Drescher added. "She has to be carried out of every party."

It's fair to say that we've marked down June 4th for the Bravo premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City for what is sure to be an amazingly back-stabby season.

Aviva Drescher on the new season of 'RHONY' (Bravo)

Well, what do you know? After months of speculation and waiting around, our prediction that philanthropist and "Wall Street Wife" Aviva Drescher (whom we profiled in December) would be joining The Real Housewives of New York City proved correct! Now let's see if the other rumored women for the show will also be joining Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan and Ramona Singer for the 5th season of the Bravo hit.

From Bravo's official press release:

The city that never sleeps is about to get a real wake up call, as Bravo unveils the new cast of “The Real Housewives of New York City” season five, which premieres with a 90-minute super-sized episode on Monday, June 4 at 9pm ET/PT.  Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan and Ramona Singer welcome Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill and Heather Thomson as they navigate their hectic lifestyles of jam-packed social calendars, careers, children and city living.

So the three newbies will be Ms. Drescher, Carole "Related to the Kennedys" Radziwill, and Heather "Yummie Tummie" Thomson. No surprises there...those have been the only three names bandied about to replace fired Housewives Cindy Barshop, Alex McCord, Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon.

A sneak peak of the new season shows the women adjusting to their new roles in the spotlight.

We hope Ms. Drescher's role won't totally be reduced to answering question about her prosthetic leg to a baffled Ms. Singer.