This interview with Simon van Kempen of "The Real Housewives of New York City" was taped just before the launch of "Real Housewives of Washington DC." Bravo forbid any of the RHODC cast from doing interviews, but Simon -- who I contacted through Facebook -- was totally game to come down from Manhattan and have a lunchtime chat, my first foray into the topic of reality TV. The next would be with the by then notorious Tareq and Michaele Salahi - who filled the house.
The audience turnout for Simon was quite strong, also, including a couple of castmembers from RHODC.
I remained friendly with Simon and his wife, Alex McCord, seeing them in New York and having dinner together once here at Cafe Milano (where, of course, they turned heads). Best of all, I think, was when they invited me up to NYC to tag along on a RHONY shoot, so I could see what it was like behind the scenes. It was almost a whole day, a trek to Governor's Island with a lot of their "friends," and a birthday party there for Alex, and the literal convergence in one spot of three housewives (Alex, Kelly Bensimon, Cindy Barshop) and their individual crews. On the air it was about a 3 minute segment.
Alas, Alex, Simon, Kelly and Cindy are no longer in the New York cast, but I do communicate with Simon. My interest in the "Housewives" shows has waned quite a lot. I rarely watch. The new New York cast members, particularly Carole and Aviva, are buzzkills, in my opinion. Radziwill is a Debbie Downer. Heather could last, though. But ... does anyone care?
In that vein, I consider this interview a good dose of pop culture, circa winter, 2010.
Emmy-winning CBS News producer, talk show guest wrangler, published author, host of The Q&A Cafe, print & digital journalist, filmmaker, photog, and former saloon owner. 
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