'The Real Housewives of New York City' Will Either Ruin or Reinvent Scientologist Rebecca Minkoff

Gotta be honest with you, I didn’t know what handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff looked like before it was announced she’d be joining season 15 of The Real Housewives of New York City as a “friend,” meaning she’s a recurring character, but not a full cast member. Her name is like Ann Taylor or something. Is Ann Taylor a real person? Hang on … okay, well, I guess there was a poet of the same name, but I don’t think they’re referring to that Ann Taylor.

Anyway, turns out Rebecca Minkoff is real, she lives in New York City, and she’s a Scientologist. That last thing was the main point of conversation when she was onscreen for the first few episodes of this season. That and the fact that she doesn’t drink, or isn’t drinking right now. The other women, Brynn Whitfield especially, find her boring.

Until Tuesday’s episode, when Erin Lichy (Brynn’s evil twin/sometimes enemy, and ostensibly the “friend” who brought Rebecca in) decided to tell Brynn and Jessel Taank at happy hour that Rebecca is pregnant and that the paternity of the child is in question. As in, her husband and the father of her other four children may or may not be the father. As in, Rebecca had a “crazy night” with some unknown person and it resulted in an unplanned pregnancy.

Excuse me—what? Did I blink and flashback to 2008? What is this, Maury? It is so outrageously gross that this information was brought to cameras not once, not twice, but thrice before Rebecca had anything to say about it. After happy hour, Jessel casually told her mom while they were jewelry shopping and her mom was like, “Um, wow…you should not get involved in that,” and Jessel was like, “Yeah, totally.” Then the cast meets up for a friendly dodgeball game, and before Rebecca gets there, Brynn says, “I heard a crazy rumor though,” and Jessel’s like, “Are you gonna do this?” Like they’re teenagers in gym class!

I know I said I like this show because it’s the old-fashioned Housewives model—just one big game of telephone—but this is a bridge too far. The problem here is Brynn. This is a person who admits to enjoying stirring the pot and getting a rise out of people. When Erin got there and found out Brynn told everyone else about the rumor, Brynn’s only defense was, “I’m hungover, I’m loose-lipped,” with a shrug. Then they started playing dodgeball, and Rebecca was the last person standing on her team every round because they were afraid to throw the ball at her too hard.

It was Jenna Lyons, former fashion-industry peer, who whispered to Rebecca after the game that there were rumors going around about her.

“Erin, you fucking told her?” Rebecca shouted.

“I only told Jessel and Brynn,” Erin squeaked, caught.

“Congrats,” Jessel said through gritted teeth.

“I’m out,” Rebecca said before storming out of the dodgeball court, Erin at her heels. All of the other women are left sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the astroturf, mouths agape. Cut to Erin and Rebecca arm-in-arm in the next room.

“That was good,” Erin said to Rebecca, both of them laughing conspiratorally.

Oh my god. It was a prank.

Erin famously loves pranks. Last season, she pranked Ubah Hassan by stealing her phone for a few hours, and Ubah almost had an aneurysm. Earlier this season she put a fake cockroach in Jenna’s cake and made Ubah and Sai de Silva throw up. She says it’s because she grew up with a bunch of siblings and they were always pranking each other. But this?

“I think it’s a bad move. I think it’s self-producing, I think you lose trust in your audience, I think it’s a bad move,” said Jeff Lewis immediately after the episode on Watch What Happens Live.

I agree. It’s more of what I’ve been reporting on lately in the Housewives and larger reality universe: the cast members are manipulating the storylines with off-camera stuff too much. At best this means that viewers have to be internet detectives, following every meme account and every Housewife on every social media platform in order to keep up. At worst, you get something like Erin’s prank: when you think you’re watching one show, but it’s actually completely different.

And why? Erin, the perpetrator of the fake pregnancy prank, actually is pregnant, as was announced yesterday via People. This was interesting news since what we’ve seen of her marriage so far this season seems rocky. Is that why she wanted to do something like this, to take the focus away from herself and her real life?

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Well, it worked, as the fallout from this prank is probably going to be the drama for the rest of the season. Brynn texted mutual friends of hers and Rebecca’s to confirm the rumor and get information about Rebecca’s marriage. She comes out looking the worst in this whole thing because it reveals her for what she really is: a vicious gossip. She’s not gonna like that.

Rebecca, though? I know her name now. Maybe she isn’t boring after all.