The Real Housewives of New York City‘s Cindy Barshop was the first woman to speak out about Bravo’s decision to cut her and three other women (including Alex McCord, Kelly Bensimon, and Jill Zarin) from the show before the fifth season was to start shooting. But last night, Zarin took to her website and followed Cindy’s lead and confirmed her departure as well. In her statement, she wrote “I’ve had four amazing years on The Real Housewives of New York City. I’m grateful for the experiences and friendships I’ve made on the show. I’ve certainly learned a lot about myself and others. The show has decided to take a different direction and unfortunately I will not be a part of Season Five.” Back in early August, there were many rumors that Jill was considering leaving the show and to focus more on her Skweez Couture line of lingerie and to spend more time with her fabric store-owning husband, Bobby Zarin. But they stopped when Jill herself told Us Weekly, “Everything that has been reported is simply rumors, gossip and speculation. I personally have been very busy with my shapewear line, Skweez Couture and am still very much part of the Bravo family.”
But Jill’s statement suggests that while she’s gone from the housewives franchise, she’s not gone for good. She ended her note with, “For all the people who have supported me and wished me well, you can see me on a new show that will be announced soon.” Odds are Jill’s new show will be about her quest to develop and launch Skweez Couture into the American market, which sounds like a fine concept. But unless she starts taking her cues from Sonja Morgan and leaves her BlackBerry in a Skweez investor’s toilet instead of asking her daughter what a class about sex is like in college, she hasn’t got a leg (or and audience) to stand on.
Sources: Perez Hilton, Huffpo, Us, Jill Zarin
