Brynn Whitfield is opening up about her decision to walk away from The Real Housewives of New York City, and she is not holding back on what made her want out.
The RHONY alum recently appeared on Casual Chaos with Gia Giudice, where Gia told her that fans were upset she would not be part of the upcoming Season 16. Gia then asked Brynn if she regretted leaving the show.
Brynn admitted that leaving RHONY was not an easy decision, but said she knew it was time to go once the experience stopped feeling fun.
“Walking away from it, I did it definitely with a heavy heart,” Brynn said.
Brynn explained that there were many things she loved about being part of RHONY, but she also has a personal rule when something no longer feels good for her.
“I just think for me, it got so, when something’s no longer fun, I’m like out immediately, whether it be a relationship, a job, anything.”
During the podcast, Brynn also revealed that she never really wanted to be a full-time Housewife in the first place. According to Brynn, she even asked during her first season if she could be demoted to a friend role.
“I even asked the first season, can I just be demoted to a friend of? I don’t want to have to have this filming and going to things, you know? So it was really surprising when it aired, I thought I was on the side. And like, I’m in the mix of everything.”
Brynn said things started to feel especially off during filming in the Hamptons, claiming there were no real storylines and that the cast kept coming for her without proof.
“It felt itchy during filming. Four weeks into filming that season … in the Hamptons, I like ripped my mic pack off. I was like, this is f**king boring. This sucks. There’s no storylines,” she said.
Brynn then addressed her former co-stars directly, saying, “And your guys’ storylines are showing up every week saying Brynn’s a b*tch and you have no proof. Get over it, be funny, be cool. Stop drinking off-camera. Be real, you know?”
Brynn claimed she eventually left filming and went to London, but was told she had to come back because of her contract.
“And I ripped my mic pack off. I went to London, and then I got a phone call. I won’t say from who, and they’re like, ‘Get f**king back and keep filming.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to.’ And they’re like, ‘You signed a contract.’ So I did it begrudgingly, but I was kicking and screaming the whole season.”
Gia then asked Brynn what it was like to share her past trauma during her second season.
Brynn did not sugarcoat it.
“It was f*cking horrible. And it was a lot of trust was broke[n],” she said.
Brynn explained that producers had originally wanted to show more of her dating life, but she told them she had been struggling with dating because of her past.
“At the beginning of filming whatever my last season was, they again had said the previous season, ‘Okay, we want to see Brynn dating.’ So I was just honest with them. I was like, I have been struggling with dating and here’s why.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, would you want to share that?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know,’” Brynn recalled.
According to Brynn, there had been conversations about what she felt comfortable sharing.
“It was agreed upon, I’m willing to film, but like, can I work with you guys with what I feel comfortable?” she continued. “And they were amazing about it for a season. Like, literally, the editors were like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’ And all this sort of stuff. So then I filmed one scene with my brother in Central Park, but then it was still on the table.”
Brynn said she was eventually asked if she was okay with the show including that part of her story.
“And I said, ‘Look, you guys’ I literally have the text message with Bravo and NBC, I was like, ‘You guys did such an amazing job and I trusted you, I’m gonna trust you with this.’ And I don’t feel like it was respected. So yeah, that’s all I’ll say about that.”
Brynn said she understands that producers have a job to do, but she believes her personal story may have been leaned on because there was not much else happening during the season.
“Production have a job to do. But I just think that there really wasn’t anything else going on. And I think, they might have thought I was tougher than I am, or maybe they thought that I wanted to be on TV more than I did,” she said.
Brynn added, “So when I go through something like that, I retreat, and I will bow out and quit.”
Brynn’s exit comes after a rocky run on the RHONY reboot, where she quickly became one of the most talked about cast members. While she brought humor, glamour and sharp one-liners to the franchise, her final season also saw her facing criticism from both castmates and fans.
Now, Brynn is making it clear that her decision to leave was about more than just drama. For her, the show stopped being fun, became emotionally draining and left her feeling like her trust had been broken.
And according to Brynn, once something starts feeling “itchy,” she knows it is time to go.
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