Ten years after her run as a Housewife, Jill Zarin is making a return to television.
After quickly becoming a fan favorite on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York” Zarin departed the Bravo-verse after Season Four and began a new chapter of her life away from cameras, focusing on her family, businesses and personal growth…all culminating to create a refreshed, better-than-ever Zarin today.
Viewers will get a peek into Zarin’s life now on the upcoming “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club” premiering on Peacock on June 23, as Zarin is set to appear alongside eight other iconic wives in a cast Andy Cohen called his “twisted fantasy": Dorinda Medley of “RHONY,” Phaedra Parks and Eva Marcille of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge of “Real Housewives of Orange County” and Brandi Glanville and Taylor Armstrong of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” The show filmed at Medley’s Bluestone Manor, a spot for "RHONY" drama over the years, setting the tone for an iconic week with some of the best wives in the Bravo-verse.
TODAY sat down with Zarin to hear all about what to look out for on the mashup.
Zarin’s majorly evolved since we’ve last seen her
For Zarin, the past 10 years have come with major evolution. After losing her beloved husband Bobby, Zarin found love again with a new man, Gary Brody.
Zarin also made her foray deeper into the home products space, expanding the brand she runs with her daughter, Jill & Ally, into trendy home products. With the change, Zarin has evolved the most personally, and attributes her growth to medication for anxiety and depression.
Zarin said, “I have definitely calmed down a lot. And I have less anxiety. ... In my life, I’m just in a much better place than I was, you know, 15 years ago, I have less noise in my head.”
Zarin’s experience has created a new way for her to connect with her fans, as she explained, “I get a lot of emails from people who are starting medication and are scared to take it like I was. I was really surprised by the impact of that.”
Filming ‘RHUGT’ was a different, welcomed experience for Zarin
As a “RHONY” OG, Zarin knows her way around reality television cameras better than most, and the production style of “RHUGT” was exciting for her.
Zarin explained, “There’s no downtime, and what the good thing about that is, it is really happening. There’s no, like, stop and go, reset. There’s no calling your friends and saying ‘this person said this, what should I do?’ Like, there’s no time for advice. So you are actually being 100% yourself.”
Filming for the show was confined to Medley’s Bluestone Manor and the surrounding areas, also a major change from Housewives filming, as throughout a typical season of “RHONY,” the Housewives are seen galavanting across New York City and are seen out of the city on cast trips.
Zarin noted that the “the best part was just being with the girls,” and loved that the trip felt like it had stages, as there was a clear beginning, middle and end.
Drama is aplenty for the ladies this season and is still going
With so many all-stars packed into one house, drama was bound to erupt between the ladies during their stay at Bluestone Manor.
Zarin teased that during the vacation, the ladies broke off into two cars, as “there were some people who didn’t want to be with other people,” but Zarin’s car was the “A-List (car).”
The trailer shows a variety of dramatic moments, and Zarin said, “we all had our moments, that’s for sure. ... I think when you’re together for seven days you’re going to have some bad moments,” but also noted that she empathized with Gunvalson as the week (and drama) went on.
As the ladies begin press rounds for the season, drama continues to erupt between Medley and Gunvalson, as Gunvalson said on a Bravo Instagram Live that she would be “miserable” living in Bluestone Manor full-time due to it being in a rural area. Medley responded in a variety of posts, notably tagging Gunvalson and calling her out for her comments on calling Bluestone Manor “old.”
Zarin said she thinks there was a misunderstanding between the ladies, as she said, “I think she (Dorinda) heard it wrong, to be honest. I think she reacted right if she heard what she thought she heard. All Vicki said is that I wouldn’t go back because it’s boring. It didn’t mean that her house is ugly.”
Zarin spills more about the season and what’s to come
On who is the most likely to cause drama: Medley
On who is most likely to make the group laugh: Glanville
On who is most likely to tout their own brand: “Dorinda and I are neck and neck!”
On who serves the best looks: Parks
On who spills the most tea: Judge
On who she would bring on from her OG franchise: Anyone!
Zarin explained, “You know what? I don’t care who they pick, I’ll always make it work.”
On what to look out for this season: "I think that you’re going to see each of us exactly the way you remember us, just in a different setting, because when the cameras follow you long enough, you cannot hide, you can’t change who you are. You can start out trying, but by the evening you forget the cameras are there. So maybe the first episode you might see a little bit of trying and then forget about it.”
