RHONY Alums Return for Ultimate Girls Trip — Revisit What Happened on the Last St. Barts Trip
We’re reliving the first RHONY trip to St. Barts before some of the women return to the island on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy.
We’re ready for St. Barts Round 2!
Some of our favorite alums from The Real Housewives of New York City will be soaking up the sun and dishing out the drama in the upcoming The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy as the ladies head back to St. Barts.
But before the Housewives hit the sand, let’s revisit the first RHONY trip to St. Barts in all its pirate-filled glory.
St. Barts was the location of the cast trip in RHONY Season 5 after Carole Radziwill offered to host some of her fellow Housewives, including Luann De Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Heather Thomson, and Aviva Drescher on the Caribbean island in 2012. (Aviva was initially planning to skip out on the trip, but then made the controversial decision to join the final weekend with hubby Reid Drescher in tow, disrupting the “girls trip” vibe).
On RHUGT: RHONY Legacy, Luann, Sonja, and Ramona head back to the same stunning modern six-bedroom villa, but this time with Dorinda Medley, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, and Kristen Taekman in tow.
What Happened during the RHONY Season 5 visit to St. Barts?
The inaugural trip to St. Barts in front of the cameras began as a harmonious girls trip with drinking, dancing, and some pirate fun, until it descended into what Carole dubbed the “vacation from hell.”
RELATED: Watch the RHONY Legacy Cast Show Off Their Best Dance Moves and Bikinis in St. Barts
The week-long vacation started out with a bang, literally, when Heather was so taken by the crystal clear view of the ocean from their high-end villa that she accidentally slammed into the glass wall, mistakenly thinking it had been open to the outside.
The collision may have hurt her pride (and her nose) but the entrepreneur quickly bounced back and got into the vacation spirit. Each of the Housewives were tasked with planning an activity for one day and spent the week at the beach, on a boat, or taking a dip in the villa’s massive pool.
But it was Sonja’s choice to hit Le Ti St. Barth that really got the party started.
“It’s my home away from home when I’m in St. Barts,” Sonja said at the time of the island’s beloved dinner cabaret show and bar. “It’s sexy and it’s entertainment and partying and pink champagne. I love it there.”
How did Luann meet the pirate?
At the cabaret bar, Luann, who was dating Jacques Azoulay at the time, was immediately smitten with a Johnny Depp lookalike, Tomas Ribeiro, who was wearing a pirate costume. She described him to the table as “very cute.”
As the tequila shots flowed, the Housewives eventually agreed to be part of the cabaret show, changing into pirate costumes of their own, dancing on the tables, and having an all-around good time.
RELATED: Luann de Lesseps Reveals What Her Son, Noel, Is “Still Not Over” from Her Early RHONY Days
What happened from there remains in dispute. Several of the ‘Wives claimed they saw (or heard) LuAnn come home late that night with Tomas. The next day, she initially told everyone she had met up with some “Italian friends” but was overheard talking on the phone in French asking her friend for a “big favor.”
“I went out with Tom last night. You know, the one that looks a bit like Johnny Depp? And the girls, they know I brought someone here,” she said in French. “He cannot say that he was here last night with me. That’s the problem. I don’t want the girls to know he was here with me.”
For years, Luann has continued to insist she never had an affair with the swashbuckling pirate.
Whatever happened between the two, it was noticeably uncomfortable when Tomas arrived later that night for a party at the villa, insisting he had not been with Luann the night before.
While Luann kept her distance, Sonja was unable to resist the pull of the pirate this time and the two hooked up in the garden.
“Luann had her time with Tomas last night, tonight is Sonja’s night,” Sonja playfully told the cameras.
Aviva's Husband Comes Along
Everyone was having a good time in the tropical paradise with Heather even remarking that “everyone’s getting along great” until Aviva decided she’d make the trip after all with husband Reid, who she claimed she needed with her to help her through her anxiety about flying.
But some of the ‘Wives were worried that adding a man to the mix could change the carefree girls trip vibe, and when Aviva caught wind of the concerns, she wasn’t happy. She insisted her husband “just did an amazing thing” by accompanying her.
“He came down here to help me get on the plane,” she told Sonja and Ramona, who took the brunt of her criticism. “I'm getting pissed. These are not friends supporting friends, these are people being really disgusting. You were going to ask him to leave.”
Aviva threatened to leave the villa unless Sonja and Ramona were kicked out, but Carole managed to diffuse the situation (at least temporarily).
Tensions remained high for the rest of the trip, and when Heather learned that Carole, her rocker boyfriend, Russ Irwin (who was in town for a show), Aviva, and Reid planned to break from the group to have a double date on their own, she stormed off from their tropical lunch spot, prompting Carole to claim it was “like the vacation from hell.”
Tempers finally simmered the last day of vacation when the ladies spent the day lounging by the pool and getting massages. After a final dinner at the house, they ended the trip with a splash.
The Housewives leapt into the pool still wearing their fanciest dresses, except for Sonja who was quick to shed her dress in favor of going all natural. Ramona, who hoped to sit this one out, was knocked into the pool by a scheming Heather.
When does RHUGT: RHONY Legacy premiere?
Sonja, Ramona and Luann will return to the island with a new group of Housewives as part of RHUGT: RHONY Legacy, premiering on Peacock Dec. 14.
And fans may even get a surprise visit of sorts from the pirate Tomas himself. Luann told The Daily Dish that although “the pirate has reached out to me,” he told her he couldn’t make the trip in person this time. But Tomas, who was living in Miami in 2020, still may find a way to pop in from a distance.
“I think he’s gonna do a call or something,” she said. “I think we’re gonna do a little FaceTime with the pirate, but I’m looking for a new pirate. I need a new pirate.”
