On Thursday, Bobby Berk from Queer Eye was on the Jenny McCarthy show. When the topic turned to the RHONY, he said one one of the housewives stole from his store, Bobby Berk Home. He says that a housewife came in and asked him to design her new place. Although we do not know the year or season this situation happened, my research indicates that he opened his SoHo store in 2007. So it could have been from any season. On a possibly related topic, Luann and The Count divorced in 2009. Other married housewives included Jill Zaran, Ramona Singer, Alex McCord, Betheny Frankel, Kristen Taekman, Heather Thomson, Aviva Drescer and Jules Wainstein.
The unnamed RHONY also assured Berk that she could get him on the show. He eventually agreed to design and furnish the new apartment at cost in order to publicize his business. Shortly after he took on the project, he got a call from the husband who “tried to bully him” into doing the job for free. The couple was so disagreeable, that the cancelled the deal entirely.
It Seems Likely It Happened During The Early Seasons
But that wasn’t the end of the situation. They mystery RHONY showed up at the store when Berk was not there and told the employees that she had permission to borrow items for a photo shoot with Bravo. He says she basically cleaned out his store. They never saw any of it again. They called for months with no response. Then, they attempted to charge her credit card, but the card was declined.
Catch Up On All The RHONY Tea You Missed Here!
He also found out that the apartment was rented for filming by Bravo. Bobby Berk Home appears to have closed down right around the end of 2015. So this probably happened between season one and season seven. So that kind of rules out Jules.
I think it was probably Luann de Lesseps didn’t have an in town apartment and Bravo renting one for her. I remember her moving in on the day she had to do a performance or something. What season was that? Who do you think it was? I considered Ramona, but I don’t remember her not having an apartment in the city?
UPDATE! The current speculation that it was Aviva Drescher has not been confirmed. However, it appears that Bobby called Aviva a con artist in 2014 and that fits the proper time frame.
Its Aviva.
Its alex. They were renovating at the time. Now out of country
That’s what came to my mind too, Alex when she was redoing her Brooklyn townhouse, which apparently she sold and is now living in Australia!
But Alex and Simon owned their townhouse. Aviva and Reid were the notorious renters.
But they had rental units (plural) upstairs according to Zillow. I wonder if they moved into one of their units (or least used the rental unit’s kitchen and bathroom) while the construction was going on downstairs and Bravo footed the bill? It looked unlivable downstairs and Jill Zarin said it was dangerous with nails sticking out of the floor. Would Alex the supermom let her kids be exposed to that? And I could imagine Simon being the type of husband to demand the interior design be done free.
Just a wild guess.
I thought Alex straight away. But anyway just tell us already, giving a half story leads me to think this Bobby guy just wants publicity!
Yes, they did report that it was Aviva.
Yes, Aviva’s townhouse in season six was a rental because her co-op would not permit filming that year.
Ah…so maybe.
That’s what I was going to say. I remember Carole calling her out for filming in a home that wasn’t even hers after she tried to ‘out’ writer girl…..
Yes! Exactly!
Yup. It’s Aviva.
My guess without knowing anything would be Aviva. Just sounds like her
No one reported it was Aviva, they assumed. I dont disagree as no one else seems to have a husband. Bahahahaha
It sounds like Luann to me remember when she asked that famous designer friend of Carole Radzwills to borrow the gowns? Carole was mortified and confronted her in camera.
But LuAnn was divorced so no husband to call and ask for everything to be free.
I think it was Ramona. She has always seemed that way to me
Ramona lived in the same apartment She owned with Mario until last year I believe. While I don’t doubt it sounds like something she would do. Her family apartment has been the same through the entire 15 years the show has been on until her sold it.
That’s right. Ramona owned her NYC condo and her Hamptons house. The person in question was a renter. Had to be Aviva. She rented the apartment she filmed in, and had just moved in. Even Sonja is a townhouse owner.
Asking “to borrow” is no where near taking & false representation AND! seriously doubt the Count bullying anybody! Nor LuAnn’s style!
When I first read this on another site (sorry) I thought of Luann right away. It just sounds like something she would do. I remember season one when Bethenny introduced her to a driver and said “this is Luann” and she got shitty with her for not introducing her as a Countess.
The LuAnne was a condescending b**** on season 1 episode 1 to a pizza person on the phone. She kept saying Countess and the poor person didn’t understand. Her daughter was sooo embarrassed for her. Obviously they had ordered pizza pre show but never insisted on the title. She is a side show freak to me.
I thought of Alex
I did too because of the husband piece. I could just see Simon trying to wheel and deal that way. But I don’t as much see Alex doing this.
I thought it was Alex because it sounds like how Simon would act.
I did too. I can kind of see her and Simon doing pulling that kind of crap. But they had that crappy house in Brooklyn or were they living somewhere else their first season?
A full, 4-story brownstone in Cobble Hill is a “crappy house”?
My.
My thoughts exactly. When they sold it they sold it for several million. Simon and Alex got into Cobble Hill early on.
Some people just have no clue about NYC real estate.
This sounds so like Luann, except for the part where her spouse allegedly called Bobby to threaten him. Didn’t she move into her first solo apartment after she and Alex divorced? And by your own sleuthing, it doesn’t look like this happened during Lu’s brief marriage with Tom. (Bobby Berk closed his NYC store in 2015, yet Lu didn’t marry Tom until New Year’s Day 2017.)
I guess Lu could have just gotten Jacques to call Bobby and tell Bobby he was her “husband”. Still, between this detail and Bobby apparently calling out Aviva on Twitter in 2014, I’m sensing Aviva’s our most likely culprit here.
Lu was married to the count for the first two or three seasons. And I don’t think they lived in the city but in the Hamptons. or maybe they had a place in the city but he stayed there in the final months. I distinctly remember Luann rushing to move into a NYC apartment that was filmed. She has some sort of engagement on the same day and we saw her struggling with the freight elevator. At that time Bravo was renting her an apartment for the filming months.
Alex’s apartment was very lived in looking.
Who knows.
Lu and Alex announced their divorce while RHONY Season 2 was on air (so after Season 2 filmed), and they filmed the first two seasons at an Upper East Side townhouse they claimed was Alex’s. Since Bobby Berk opened his SoHo store in 2007, it’s at least theoretically possible the incident happened then. (But again, Bobby’s own social media rants suggest Aviva’s our prime suspect.)
I remember the freight elevator scene. I’m fairly sure that was RHONY Season 10, which was filmed in late 2017 and early 2018, after Lu and Tom broke up, and after Bobby closed the store in question.
While this sounds so much like something Lu would do (and for that matter, something Ramona and/or Sonja would do), I’m still thinking Aviva did it. I have a hard time seeing Alex or Kristen stealing furniture. Bethenny, Carole, and Heather were too business savvy to do something so outrageous. I also have a hard time seeing Dorinda risk losing invitations to fancy NYC soirees over being caught stealing from such a reputable store. And as obnoxious as Jill was, she also worked in home decor, and I have too hard a time envisioning Jill risking her own reputation to do something this ridiculous.
True bravo historians!!!
LuAnn and the Count had that gorgeous townhouse in the city. I think he kept it after the divorce and she got the Hampton house. I do remember her looking for an apartment but I have no idea what season. Didn’t she end up getting a fully furnished place? Ugh my memory!
LuAnne said multiple times it was a rental and they let it go. The count moved back to Europe after the divorce.
Everyone keeps saying it’s Aviva But no one is giving a broken down timeline like you are doing for Luann. So are we just assuming is Aviva because of the Twitter rant?
Everyone keeps saying it’s Aviva But no one has given a broken down timeline like you are doing for Luann. So are we just assuming is Aviva because of the Twitter rant?
Yes, That is what we are doing. However, there is apparently a bunch of circumstantial evidence that puts Aviva in the lead. Apparently, she has a history of being an art thief.
Well, it has to be someone who doesn’t own their condo/apartment/house so that narrows it down from the usual suspects. Aviva had just moved into that apartment right before filming started and it was a rental.
Berk said on Twitter in 2014 that Aviva was a con artist – so Its a safe assumption saying it is Aviva. Entitlement at its best.
Yes, you should totally believe everything you here on Twitter.
But since it was Berk himself….
He didn’t admit it was her, in 2020. He just called her a con artist in 2014 which definately makes her the frontrunner. I stopped recapping RHONY that season because y’all were so vicious to Aviva.
OH LORD! It seems to be a pattern with Aviva. Bobby called her a con artist in 2014 because SHE DID THE SAME THING TO ANOTHER PERSON ONLY MUCH WORSE!
https://pagesix.com/2014/09/15/former-real-housewife-accused-of-extorting-5k-from-artist/
Romona did get her apartment redesigned and did steal dresses from Bethenny….
That’s what I was thinking too until everyone said it was Aviva. Aviva doesn’t surprise me either.
It was Jill Zarin, my guess
Post Updated.
What’s funny to be is that it could possibly be anyone! Luann was and is so entitled but so was Aviva and so many otters
Off topic, did anyone see Teresa’s creepy lawyer, James on Jersey Shore last Thursday? He really makes his way around. He’s supposedly Angelina’s attorney. He was consulting her after the girls roasted her at her reception. Shiz was scripted all along.
Skeevy Avila for sure.
Aviva was one the most shifty entitled of all the performers of HW history. It’s her, no doubt as many here have stated. So many come close but she’s the worst.
Love this post! I read the article and immediately thought Aviva. I remember her rented apartment with all the yellow wallpaper. In comparison to her Miami property it had a completely different feel. Bobby Berks aesthetic fits the apartment she rented for the season. So did Alex and Simon’s brownstone but for some reason I don’t see them as the threatening type. More like someone who would plead/cajole.
I seem to recall Avivas husband was accused of fraud or something around the time of filming. Also her dad swindled Mary Lu Retton, I’m sure I misspelled that. She invested in some project and her dad ran away with the money. Avivas husband is related to Fran Drescher and she has zero to do with him and Aviva tried to use that connection numerous times to her advantage. Also Avivas dad sued the people whose farm Aviva was injured at, I seem to remember that the girls had been told to stay out of the barn or something and the family did pay the medical bills and such. I may be remembering wrong.
I still think it was Ramona. She’ll take anything that isn’t nailed down! I always thought Mario was pretty sketchy, too. This has the Singer Stinger written written all over it.
Ramona
Not Alex and Simon because I think I recall that Jill Zarin spent a ton of time and probably money helping them decorate their place in Brooklyn. Say what you will about Jill but she was always generous.