Dorinda Medley “Real Housewife Of New York City”

As the newest “Real Housewife of New York City”, Dorinda Medley had tough shoes to fill; she was replacing the notorious leg thrower of last season, Aviva Drescher. With her sharp wit and ability to cut through the b.s., Dorinda is becoming the new “Greek chorus” of the show. Dorinda sat down with Contributing Writer Michael Cook and chatted about what made her decide to finally join the “Housewives” franchise and what she wants to get from the entire experience.

Dorinda, welcome to the “Housewives” roller coaster!
Thanks Cookie! You know, it’s funny, I actually waited to watch the first episode, I wanted to wait until everything died down, get a glass of wine and watch it when I could really pay attention.

What made you decide to become a part of the cast of one of the biggest reality show franchises around?
It’s no crazier than my real life really, that’s the best part of this whole journey. I haven’t experienced anything that I have not experienced every day on the Upper East Side of New York City. Also, I’ve known some of these women for almost twenty years. They would invite me to their parties, and when it was first starting as “Manhattan Moms” many years ago, it went viral on the Upper East Side, and I kind of just thought “how will that be succesful”? Then Ramona and LuAnn would invite me to events, and things like that. The timing was never really right either. My daughter Hannah was still in school, my ex-husband George was involved in politics, so there was a conflict. After my late husband Richard passed away and Hannah was at school, I thought “you know what, why not”. I threw my hat into the ring, and said I’m gonna do a Madonna and reinvent myself, and this is a great venue to do it. I love the girls, so it’s great!

Your life is definitely starting to change as an official “Housewife”.
You know when you’re in the midst of it, you don’t even think of it as “filming”, you’re just with your friends and it’s very natural. You don’t really believe it’s going to come to television, it’s really just your life. It wasn’t until really the last week that I started to see the commercials, someone recognized me at Whole Foods, and part of me was “Oh my God” excited, while the other part of me was “Oh My God”! I have every emotion right now; I’m grateful, I’m excited, everything. I really don’t know what to expect; I keep going through my mind and thinking if I slept with anyone, did I do anything that bad? Right now, I’ve gotten onto the roller coaster and I’ve gone up the hill; it’s time to go down the hill and take the ride.

While you did know some of the ladies, some of the others you did not. How did the perceptions differ once you got to know them?
You know it’s funny, I only had a relationship with Heather (Thompson), as an example, in the country, as we both have country houses. The dynamic was totally different in the city. I had never seen her once in the city, isn’t that odd? In the Berkshires, it’s about kids, going to the pool, no makeup. So my relationship with her in the city was definitely different. With Bethenny, I did not know what to expect, as you hear many things. I approached that relationship with kid gloves and it all worked out. We all had our little moments which everyone will see. We got through it though, and came up with some solutions and I think we are all closer because of it.

Speaking of Bethenney, half the cast worked with her as part of the original cast, while the others are new to her as well. What do you think of her re-addition to the cast?
I definitely think that in the girls eyes, it’s like the kingpin coming back in. But I definitely think she brought some of the old school feeling about the show. It’s kind of like when you watch “Sex and the City” reruns and you remember that it used to be that way. She brought back that kind of vibe and camaraderie back; I think the show had lost some of that.

Many of the ladies of the franchise take this opportunity and use it as a platform to promote their various products. Anything that is close to your heart that you would want to launch?
I would love to. I would love to have my nineteenth career at that age of 50 LOL! I could stroll around like Wonder Woman at this rate. Many people approach you and during the last couple weeks, its calls about hosting, can you promote this, etc. I think I am going to take the first few weeks and see how I am perceived and see what kind of lifestyle I’m presenting and go from there. I don’t want to put my name on anything until I’m comfortable with it, because this is all new. I would really love to do something like go to St. Jude’s Hospital or the Ronald McDonald show where teenage girls may love this show. That’s what I would love to start doing. I think these things kind of naturally flow, and I hope to do something that is really successful.

Right now, things have completely changed for you; if you had to sum it all up in one word, what would it be?
Patient. I’m definitely gonna be patient!