Dorinda & Sonja Reveal Thoughts on New RHONY Cast & How Reboot Affected Them (Exclusive)

Instead of filming in the city (or Medley's Great Barrington, Massachusetts Blue Stone Manor), the pair and fellow alums, Luann de Lesseps, Kelly Bensimon, Kristen Taekman and Ramona Singer, hunker down in St. Bart's for a week getaway filled where -- between alcohol-fueled fights -- fans are treated to conversations they wouldn't necessarily get on the Bravo series.

On the Peacock streamer, the women are able to break the fourth wall and not only address the cameras and producers, but share secrets about what it's like to be a Bravolebrity.

While the series meant another return to Peacock after hosting a previous Girls Trip at her manor for Dorinda, it's a first for Sonja -- whose RHONY journey came to an abrupt end after an internal investigation was launched into Ramona over complaints from Eboni K. Williams. Singer was initially cleared, but was disinvited to BravoCon after a Vanity Fair exposé alleged Ramona used the N-word and exclaimed having Black cast members would "ruin our show." Though she's featured on RHUGT, she wasn't involved in press for the season.

Keep reading to see what Dorinda and Sonja had to say about how the Bravo shakeup affected their lives and financials, as well as their thoughts on the new crop of RHONY women, how freeing it is to break the fourth wall and whether they believe Crystal Kung Minkoff was talking about them when she said some RHONY girls were "rude" to her at BravoCon!

Dorinda, you've done one of these seasons already, but how was it getting to break the fourth wall in this? You get to talk about your experiences, Housewives, you can kind of acknowledge the camera people, the producers. Just how different is that? Is it, is it more freeing almost?

Dorinda: Well, it's freeing for me because I didn't have to host this time. Hosting is a lot more, like a lot, a lot, a lot. I was so exhausted because they had to come beforehand and stay afterwards and I was responsible for stuff. But it is nice to be able to break the fourth wall because it allows the audience to see and understand kind of what we're dealing with while we're filming. The audience forgets that we're there with a whole camera crew, with all kinds of people around us. It's not just you like secretly filming us. There's four cameras around us the whole time, which I think the audience loves.

Sonja: You know, this fourth wall business, everything goes over my head. I was just happy to be back with my girls. After doing Crappie Lake with Luann for six weeks, I realized how close we all really are. The last few years I filmed with Dorinda, we got so close, even though we'd known each other. Of course Ramona and I are just like family, you know? Heaven forbid I'll be in a hospital and she comes in and starts spoon-feeding me and telling them to keep me on life support. I already put it in my healthcare proxy that I will not have her pull the plug. I don't wanna be there with Ramona. I was just so happy to be back with everyone.

And the fourth wall, I agree with Dorinda as far as like, we're very close to the crew. They're family too. There were some things that happened when we were filming with some other housewives that I felt were so fake, them being fake about who they actually are and who I am. That's the nice thing about just doing six days, really intense, and the crew's involved.

Dorinda: When you see us break the fourth wall and talk about stuff that is maybe the audience didn't know we're going through or felt at the time of who we are, it's humanizing for them. They realize, you know, it's not always so easy for us. I always say this about the housewives, all of 'em, you have to be brave to do this. We are literally putting our lives out there. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the happy, when the hair is all messed up in the back, when we're in our pajamas. We make it look easy, but believe me, all of us have woken up saying, 'What have I done?' or it got cut out, or something didn't get shown to really explain the full story. No fault of anyone's other than time. But it humanizes it a bit. It makes you realize that we're just people. We're not anything that special. We're not actresses. We're just people and allowing you a glimpse into our lives.

Sonja: To add to that, we've had big superstars, big big actresses who do scripted and they always say, 'I don't know how you ladies do it.' Because they're in a trailer, they have stylists, they're in the middle of a desert or in Canada, they don't have to make their bed. They're not doing their philanthropy simultaneously on camera. They're not doing their support of their favorite fashion designers on camera. Like, they're not raising their children and going through divorce on camera. So they're always like, 'Wow, you girls really bring it, real time.'

We also love seeing like all of you filming Cameos and all the side hustles you have going on. Now that RHONY, with the original cast, is no more, how different has it been for you and how important are those side gigs now? On Girls Trip, Sonja, you say how much you needed the original show.

Sonja: The hustle is real. I know Dorinda works extra hard too. I was shocked when I went from filming five months with my girls, my set of support at work and personally. We would always have Thanksgiving and Christmas together. So that was a shock to me. And then, you know, obviously financially I went from 23 episodes to whatever it is called, 'Pause and Piss' is what I say. And then to be called an OG or legacy overnight, I was like, I don't like that. I think they are the new wives and we are the first wives and I may be down, but I'm never out. So I continued with the Sonja In the City tour, Dorinda and I both go on appearances constantly. We both sell our Amazon merch and our T-shirts and Luann has her cabaret, Dorinda's selling her bourbon like nobody's business. She just had a tour at Bluestone and I'm selling Sonia Sangria pretty well, but I'm getting some tips from Dorinda. I can always count on her, you know!

Dorinda: I don't know if it's the side hustle as much as I love to work. I just am not an idle person. And I think it's more of just, listen, Bravo is an incredible platform. On the show. Off the show. Once you're on the show, you are forever known. So to miss out on any opportunity would just be shame. I love making and money. I mean, I did it the other night. Someone's like, 'We'll give you $5,000 to show up at our tiny store in Lexington, we're doing a pajama party for an hour and a half.' Sure, why not?!

Dorinda: You have to remember, Sonja, myself, Luann, Ramona, we didn't grow up rich. I started working when I was 14. I like the hustle, I like the work. And, as one of my friends says all the time, I am the Joan Rivers of everything. I will not pass up a good dollar, a good honest, dollar. I will be like that until I can't do it anymore, I just love it all, why not? Why the hell not? When we're doing appearances together and we're all going to five cities in four days or whatever. It's fun. And then you get a paycheck at the end of it. Come on now!

Sonja: I'm just looking forward to another Ultimate Girls Trip with the Legends.

Where to though?

Sonja: I like, I'm thinking Barcelona, Spain, or maybe Tuscany, truffle season in Tuscany.

Dorinda: How about Halloween season at Blue Stone Manner?

Sonja: Blue Stone is always epic and it's iconic and it's a part of the show. By the way, I'm back in the townhouse. My renters moved out. So here I am, back home again. I need Dorinda to come over and help me clean out the basement again. It just keeps filling up.

For Dorinda, which Girls Trip was the messier one, now that you've been on two of 'em with two very different groups?

Dorinda: It just was so different because I had to host these girls. I really did come up with most of the activities and I was in charge of getting them motivated. Also too, you gotta remember, I didn't know a lot of these other girls. Blue Stone Manner is such a unique part of our show, and I don't know if some of the other girls kind of got it. I was like, wait a second, wait a second. This is Bluestone Manner and it is treated a certain way and honored a certain way. So in that way, probably the first one was more messy. That's my house, you know what I mean? This is my baby. Whereas this one I could just sort of sit back and relax and enjoy it and just be part of a cast.

You both did BravoCon. Were you able to really meet and interact with the new RHONY cast? I know you did some panels together.

Sonja: Everyone was telling me, Sonja, you have to meet Brynn, you have to meet Brynn and I can't keep anything straight. So I'm there and the executives are there and they're like, we're gonna introduce you to Brynn. And Andy Cohen had even said on Watch What Happens Live, you need to meet Brynn. And I was just like, I don't really watch TV or any of these shows, including my own. I'm just like, I don't know these new wives. So then I meet Brynn and there was some kind of instant connection, Dorinda. We really got along well and then I thought, why don't we do an ultimate girls trip with some of the OGs with some of the new girls.That could be fun because I just didn't know them at all.

Dorinda: BravoCon is obviously is for the fans, but it's also for us because you know, the Bravo world is such a unique world, right? And when you're in it, you're sort of all just kind connected by this thing, whatever that thing is. I know that everybody would love to think that there's this thing like, we don't like the new girls or we did that. We have nothing to do with that. This is just a new show with new girls. So of course we're happy to see them. I spent some time with Ubah and I saw Sai. There's always this wonderful connection ... to just see everyone, because we have a shared experience that we only really understand.

Sonja: What about Andy Cohen's baby shower in California? We were all together!

Dorinda: So are always happy to see a fellow warrior.

Crystal from Beverly Hills said some of the New York women were rude to her. She didn't name names, but said from both casts. Did you have any experiences like that or does that surprise you to hear?

Dorinda: Crystal just texted me yesterday when I was in LA, so it it wasn't me. Lemme just put that out there.

Sonja: It wasn't me! Some people say I snub them. Like it comes up every once in a while because I'm just in my own world and I'm very, you know, I'm kind of a recluse. I'm kind of a recluse, so when I do get out I'm kind of awkward. So I don't know. I don't think it was me this time.

Lastly, another BravoCon moment, but Sonja shocked everyone with her Viking stories. How is that going now, is he still in the picture?

Sonja: Yeah, it's been eight months! I think Dorinda said this earlier, but we both, we had kids at home, several floor homes to manage and filming five months. So it's hard to even focus on being with one person in a relationship. So now my daughter doesn't want me dating like 20-somethin year olds anymore. And so I finally, I met this 40 something year old guy and I'm really enjoying my time with him. And it's already been eight months. It's been hard though now that the house isn't rented because he's out on the island. So, and he gets two days off a week. So I have to figure that out.