‘Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip’ Star Luann de Lesseps On Sonja Morgan’s Claim She Speaks To Bethenny Frankel On The Phone More Than Her: “Delusion”

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip is back for Season 4 in St. Barths with some of the most iconic women of the Real Housewives Of New York. With the first three episodes now streaming on Peacock, fans can start off their holiday binge-watching season just as Andy Cohen Claus intended. Bravo fans knows St. Barths is the place where some of the RHONY women’s most famous exploits occurred, including Kelly Bensimon‘s “Scary Island” meltdown and Luann De Lesseps’ rendezvous with a pirate. Joining Bensimon and De Lesseps for another St. Barths adventure are Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan, Kristen Taekman and Ramona Singer. To make things even better, the women are staying in the notorious Saline Beach house — better known as the Pirate house — featured in Season 5 of RHONY.

Fresh off of Luann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake, de Lesseps hasn’t been away from the Bravo cameras for very long. However, it’s been almost 10 years since Bensimon has graced our screens as a Housewife, and it was great to see both ladies at BravoCon in November. When taking the stage before a panel, Bensimon commented: “I looked at Luann and she’s like, ‘Are you okay?’ I almost started crying just because I was so moved by all the love.”Meeting all these new people reminded me that Bravo is such a monster family,” she continued, “and I’m a part of that.” “It was amazing,” added de Lesseps.

Over Zoom, Decider spoke with Bensimon and de Lesseps about the returning to the scene of their infamous crimes, their ever-evolving friendships, Sonja’s “delusion[al]” relationship with Bethenny Frankel, and why they wish Tinsley Mortimer would have joined them on the trip.

DECIDER: Kelly, you rightly point out that you coined the term “Scary Island.” Does it feel good to take back your narrative and clear up any misconceptions the audience and the women may have?

KELLY BENSIMON: I didn’t take back my narrative, I wrote that narrative. After we filmed those episodes, Luann and I met the next day and she was like, “Are you okay?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m fine.” I just came back home, rode my horse, hung out with my kids, celebrated Thanksgiving, and then went back to filming. I was like, “You know what? I need to really wrap a nice big bow on that experience.” I was just thinking out loud before I was doing one of my interviews and I was like, “Let’s see, there’s Fantasy Island. This isn’t Fantasy Island.” I’m like, “Oh, it’s Scary Island.” It was just a fun way of packaging a moment that was so iconic.

Lu, Bravo fans just watched your adventures with Sonja in Welcome to Crappie Lake. How did it feel to reunite with the rest of your RHONY ladies in St. Barths?

LUANN DE LESSEPS: It was great. I see Ramona all the time. I talk to Dorinda all the time. I’ve seen Sonja of course. I wanted to meet with Kristen again. I was most excited to spend that much time with Kelly again. It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a trip together. My first Ultimate Girls Trip was more about getting to know the other Housewives I hadn’t met before. I didn’t know the Jersey girls well, and I didn’t know Kenya [Moore] or Cynthia [Bailey] really at all. Now I do [laughs].

This Ultimate Girls Trip was a totally different flavor because this was the OG cast coming back together, plus a few others. It was exciting. On these trips we break that fourth wall so we get to talk about a lot of things we’ve never discussed before. I wanted to hear what the oldies and the newbies had to say about everything that happened over the course of the 13 years we’ve been doing the show.

I have to ask: have you two been to a Rangers game together?

KB: She’s been!

LDL: With a friend.

KB: With a guy! I’m old news.

LDL: I couldn’t wait any longer for her to invite me so I had to take it upon myself.

One of my favorite parts of the first three episodes has been watching you two reconnect and reevaluate your friendship over the past few years. Was it easy to be vulnerable with each other in an environment like that?

KB: I just felt like telling her I needed to spend more time with her. I don’t care how it came across; I needed her to know. I am so happy that Luann was like, “Well, okay, if you say you want to do this, let’s do this.”

LDL: Yeah, invite me to a Rangers game.

KB: She doesn’t want to go to the candy shop with me, only the Rangers game [laughs]. That’s what real friendships are about. Even though our relationship has been through good and bad times, I have always trusted Luann. That’s something that is really invaluable to me. I am so proud of that part of our relationship.

LDL: Kelly and I go way back. We’ve known each other since I moved back from Europe in 2002. It’s a long friendship that has had its ups and downs like any relationship. We don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like. I’m busy doing my cabaret touring, and Kelly’s doing her real estate thing. Once in a while in the Hamptons, she’ll reach out. So now she’s going to reach out more often.

KB: You know what Luann did as well? She sent me a referral for one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen. There’s so much more to our relationship and our friendship than what the viewers have seen.

LDL: We’re part of the same discombobulated Housewives family. Like family, you sometimes don’t get to see each other, but when you do, you get to the table and you work out your differences. That’s what we do on the show.

Speaking of the dining table, one of the wildest moments from the first three episodes is when Sonja claims to speak to Bethenny on the phone more than she speaks to Luann. Lu, what was going through your mind when she said that?

LDL: Delusion is the first word that comes to mind [laughs] because I know that she doesn’t speak to Bethany on a regular basis. Sometimes the stuff that comes out of her mouth is wild, but I know she loves me, and I know that sometimes she can have a lapse in memory. I love her nonetheless.

Kelly, you call Kristen a fan and a host over in the first 3 episodes. Did your opinion change about Kristen over the course of the trip?

KB: I don’t know. You’ll have to watch it and see.

LDL: It doesn’t get better that soon.

KB: You guys know who I am. I’m a hundred percent authentic. I’ve told you for a million times that I never watched the show. I always just went in cold and was my authentic self all the time. I’m really proud of who I am and how I see things. I see things for how they are, so maybe that can help you a little bit with where I stand.

I do want to end on a positive note. Lu, I was so glad you mentioned Tinsley among the women you would have loved to have on the Ultimate Girls Trip with you.

LDL: I’ve known Tinsley for a long time from back in Palm Beach. I’m just so happy for her. She finally got what she always wanted, which is to get married and to have children. She’s got this wonderful Insta family. I reached out to her. I told her I’m so happy for her. She was very grateful that I reached out. I missed Tinsley on the trip because I like Tinsley’s energy. She’s fun to watch. She’s eye candy. She’s lighthearted and really doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. It would’ve been great to have her along. But I totally understand. She’s moved on. Her family is her priority now.

KB: I’ve known Tinsley for so long, but I never got to film with her. It would have been great to have her along, but we couldn’t be happier for her and family. Congrats, Tins!