‘Real Housewives of New York City’ season 6: Countess LuAnn de Lesseps to return

For those of you were worried as to whether or not “The Real Housewives of New York City” was going to be losing its touch of royalty, don’t be. We’ve now learned that Countess LuAnn de Lesseps is officially not going anywhere even though a long salary dispute bled into the start of season 6 filming.

Sources have confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that LuAnn, who is one of the few remaining cast members from the show’s original season, will start filming immediately in order to make up for lost time. There is no word at present as to whether or not she will still be considered a regular, or be bumped down to “guest star” capacity for the time being. (We’re assuming she’ll still be a regular, just with limited participation in early episodes.)

At first, there was a massive holdout that included every cast member on the show earlier this spring, but Bravo threatened cancellation unless some of the women eventually gave in to what was being offered to them. The stars eventually acquiesced save for LuAnn and Aviva Drescher, who recently came to terms on a deal of her own to return. While money was supposedly one of the original concerns here, we never really understood why that would be a major problem for these ladies, given that none of these women receive necessarily crazy-high salaries for this show, and really use the platform to make way more money elsewhere. (Just as Bethenny Frankel about this.)

There is no announced premiere date for this new season of “The Real Housewives of New York City” yet, but given the start of filming, our guess is that we will see new episodes in either summer or fall.

Are you glad that LuAnn’s deal is finally signed? Be sure to share your thoughts below! Also, you can read more news on this whole contract mess by visiting the link here.

Photo: Bravo