News

Oct 18, 2023

‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ Is the Jessel Taank Show

By Louis Staples “Who the hell is Louis Staples, and why the hell is he spreading rumors about me?!” laughs Jessel Taank. We’re reliving the “hilarious” — her words, not mine — story of how we met. It

By Louis Staples

“Who the hell is Louis Staples, and why the hell is he spreading rumors about me?!” laughs Jessel Taank. We’re reliving the “hilarious” — her words, not mine — story of how we met.

It was two or three episodes into the latest season of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, which returned in July with a completely new cast. As one of the show’s new Housewives, Taank said on the show that she’d worked her way up from the bottom in the fashion world, as an immigrant who arrived in America with nothing. On X (when it was still known as Twitter), I had shared information from online biography sites, which claimed that Taank actually attended an elite private school in London, before the city’s prestigious King’s College. It seemed like a “gotcha” when I was watching the show in my pajamas, but the private school part turned out to be fake news. Oops.

Like any shrewd publicist would, Taank arrived in my Instagram DMs. And after I retracted the post, she got to work telling (and selling) me her story: about her Indian grandparents who immigrated to the U.K., and her uncles (Max and Nitin Vadukul) who escaped arranged marriages to set up new lives in New York to work in the fashion business, giving a young Indian woman like her a springboard for success. “I moved to New York in 2006 and I fucking hustled,” she says, telling me about working as an unpaid intern, like a far-less glamorous version of The Devil Wears Prada. “I knew it was my one shot to make it in this industry and make it in the city.” Now, she’s conversing with me from her home in Chelsea wearing a pair of giant heart-shaped earrings that I can’t stop staring at as they swing back and forth as she talks.

RHONY relaunching with an entirely new cast was a huge risk for Bravo. Most of the previous cast, like Luann De Lesseps and Sonja Morgan, had been on the show for decades and were beloved by fans. The show’s 13th season, shot amid Covid restrictions, was a total disaster: It became the only season in the history of the Housewives franchise not to end with a reunion after Eboni K. Williams (the show’s first Black cast member) made allegations of racism against Ramona Singer, which the network investigated. The rebooted 14th season symbolizes a new era, with a more diverse cast that better represents NYC’s elite today. Taank has described being Bravo’s first Indian Real Housewife as an honor. Particularly because, as a woman of color, she found it harder to relate to all-white iterations of these shows in the past.

Reality TV is an arena that Taank, a fashion publicist, never expected to be in. “I was very naive about everything. I thought we’d all go for coffee and have drinks and we’d become best friends. It was not that at all. Like, what the fuck?” she laughs. “I’ve always been behind-the-scenes. Never the person who people are talking about.”

And my goodness, they are talking about her. At times, the RHONY reboot has felt like The Jessel Taank Show. From the first episode — when Taank branded her husband Pavit “cheap” for not wanting to send their two-year-old twins to a $60,000-a-year preschool — she has been a topic of conversation. (I ask if this “cringe” moment — again, her words — was edited. But she insists that, no, this was “exactly as it happened.”)

Taank’s (sometimes untactful, verging on rude) honesty has divided fans, who have laughed and winced at her antics. In Episode Two, she was given a green lingerie dress as a gift from her cast mate, fashion guru Jenna Lyons. Rather than say thank you, she stomped around the house complaining that it was unflattering, comparing herself to a “Christmas tree!” (The lingerie that lives in the Watch What Happens Live! clubhouse, such is the Bravo tradition.) In the next episode, she casually remarked that the Hamptons home owned by her co-star Erin Lichy, the hostess of the trip, didn’t have ocean views and complained that her room was “freezing!”

It was in Episode Five that the tide finally turned. Meeting Lichy at a coffee spot in Tribeca to squash their lingering beef, Jessel described the area — one of the most expensive ZIP codes in Manhattan — as “up-and coming.” Lichy (a Tribeca resident) was open-mouthed, but Taank says this “bimbo” moment was liberating in hindsight. “At the start, people were like, ‘Who is this girl?! She’s a monster.’ But that was when my trajectory changed. Not only did I put Tribeca on the map, but I redeemed myself.” She now has passionate fans who call themselves the “Taank Tops.” (She’s considering launching her own line.)

It’s not all laughs, though. Later in the season, when the group took a cast trip to Anguilla, Taank’s backstory became a central storyline. The cast — particularly those who grew up in poverty, with parents who were either absent or using drugs — accused Taank of equating her story with theirs. She was charged with the crime of not acknowledging her own privilege — like having connections in fashion and relatives to live with when she arrived in New York — and of exaggerating her rags-to-riches story. Awkward and complex conversations ensued. Off the TV screen, Taank has been forced to clarify that she didn’t simply move to NYC for the show, after fan investigations revealed she had been temporarily living in Dallas and Los Angeles prior to filming. It’s a level of scrutiny that is part of the Bravo whirlwind, but that she didn’t expect. I wonder, what does she make of that now?

You took quite a lot of heat from some of the cast for sharing your parents’ and your grandparents’ story of immigrating from India and Africa. It seemed like they didn’t really understand that their story is part of your story?It was very bizarre to me. I’ve never really had to defend my background. I’m an Indian girl. I’m British. I live in America. It’s not straightforward when it comes to how I got here. I think one of the things that makes me interesting as a person is where my parents and grandparents came from. It was shocking to me. I say the word shocking because, like everyone else on the cast, my story is what informs my identity. They kept saying, “That’s not your story!” I was like, “Who are you to say that?”

Why do you think the conversations about “privilege” got so heated on the show?Very early on in the season, you hear these things being thrown around, like “old money” or that I was used to “being catered to.” There were all these phrases that, to me, were really offensive. They took one look at me and made a judgment. I talked about my family, and my uncle Max, who was a very famous fashion photographer, so they assumed that I come from a place of privilege and wealth. The concept of “privilege,” it’s such a triggering idea, right? Yes, I grew up with an incredible family. I had a huge support system. I had a roof over my head. I had structure. I was given all these things that Sai didn’t have, or that Brynn didn’t have. But I did not grow up with any kind of generational wealth or come from old money. I really wanted to squash that notion because it’s not accurate.

Why do you think you tried so hard to get some of the women, particularly Sai, to like you when it wasn’t being reciprocated?Throughout the entire process I felt I was misunderstood. I felt like I wasn’t really connecting, especially with Sai, in the way that I thought we would. It was very frustrating for me, because I think when you’re in a group setting, you sort of get lost in all of these strong personalities. For me, I always put my best foot forward. If I get a sense that something’s not quite right, I always take them out of that group situation. I know I’m super lovable once you get to know me and I know I can win people over. Sai had already made up her mind about me at that brunch. No matter what I said, no matter what I did.

Showing up late probably didn’t help …She didn’t text me when she was 20 minutes late! I was texting production saying that I was running behind. When I was five minutes away, they told me that Sai had just arrived!

Girl … Production is not your friend!A thousand per cent! I wasn’t thinking about how that would translate. I should have just texted Sai.

With an entirely new cast, Season 14 of RHONY had a central challenge: To introduce us to six new faces. Who are they? And why should we care about them? Bravo suggested the group of women were a preexisting friendship group. While some of them did know each other before, it became clear that wasn’t exactly the case. Most of them were getting to know each other at the same time as fans were meeting them.

With new friendships forming, a key theme of the season has been sharing: Who is sharing their story with the group? And who is keeping things hidden? What level of sharing is appropriate to different people? “Content creator” (influencer) Sai De Silva opened up about her story of growing up in extreme poverty, with a father who bought their Christmas tree at a dollar store and an alcoholic mother. PR consultant Brynn Whitfield also shared her story of parental abandonment and drug use. De Silva quickly became one of the group’s dominant personalities and it seemed like, after sharing her past, she demanded a level of sharing that not everyone in the group was comfortable with. Jenna Lyons was accused of being guarded, despite sharing a lot: growing up with an autistic mother, her genetic disorder that affects her teeth, skin, and confidence, plus the experience of being outed by the New York Post and starting a new life as a lesbian.

The domino effect of having kids and going through IVF was a tough pill to swallow when it came to getting back into the sack with him. It took an emotional and mental toll on both of us.

Taank faced a similar double standard. She was accused of not sharing enough, or not sharing in the right way. But the truth is she shared a lot — and not just her (slightly convoluted) explanation of her upbringing. Early on in the season, she shared her experience of undergoing IVF and that her mother — whom she is very close with — still didn’t know about it, because fertility is a taboo in Indian culture. (She eventually told her on camera.) Taank also shared that she and her husband Pavit — who has become a fan favorite — had not had sex for a year and a half, since their twin sons were born. Some of the cast, like Lyons, were supportive. But others turned Taank’s story into a running joke, speculating on the future of her marriage. When the couple planned a “staycation” and, ahem, broke the seal, Taank was even accused of lying about it. Fans were rooting for the couple — who seem genuinely connected, funny, and loving in their scenes together — but it didn’t feel like all of the cast were.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, toward the end of the season, which culminates in a dramatic finale party, a storyline formed around Pavit’s upcoming trip to Vietnam. Without any evidence (except for a slightly incoherent trip timeline), Lichy and De Silva continuously insinuated that Taank’s husband was going to Vietnam to have sex with other women. Some fans have suggested that associating Vietnam with men traveling abroad for sex is tantamount to cultural stereotyping. But even on a more personal level, for a show that initially felt refreshing in its low-stakes drama compared to other Housewives shows — with the cast arguing about restaurant reservations, cheese plates (really), and party etiquette in the early episodes — these insinuations about their marriage felt below the belt. Or, as Taank herself described it on the show, “mean girl behavior.”

Your marriage to Pavit was a central storyline this season. What was it like watching all the conversations that happened behind your back?It was really tough. Maybe I didn’t explain enough, or give enough clarity to why we were in the place that we were in our private life. I spoke about how IVF was really tough for me. The domino effect of having kids and going through IVF was a tough pill to swallow when it came to getting back into the sack with him. It took an emotional and mental toll on both of us. Maybe that didn’t really connect with them? They just thought that something was wrong in my marriage. And then there was all this talk about how Pavit travels. They were trying to insinuate that there was something seedy going on. It was very, very shocking! I never thought that those were the conversations that were happening.

Erin was really upset with Brynn for joking about divorce with her husband, Abe — even though it seemed pretty obvious she was joking. But she was insinuating your husband was cheating on you for several episodes. She questioned your marriage in a lot of different conversations. Do you think that’s hypocritical?I think it definitely showed a double standard to me, because she was very upset about the whole Brynn situation. Brynn probably shouldn’t have made that joke at the party, but whatever. At the end of the day, it was just really disappointing. I think that they looked at my marriage and took it to a place that really wasn’t cool. It could have been handled differently. I know that production is involved, but I’ve been prompted many times to talk about things and I’ve said no, because it’s detrimental to someone’s character or their relationship.

It felt like, as women, there was a real moment to have an interesting conversation about intimacy — and different types of intimacy in relationships. Why do you think that was missed?I think it went completely over their heads. I think for Erin and Sai, specifically, I don’t think they’ve ever had IVF. So I think when I was talking about it, they couldn’t relate to me at that moment. All they heard was, “She is not having sex with her husband. Something is wrong!” That’s what they were stuck on. In hindsight, should I have really tried to explain more? Maybe. Maybe that’s on me.

Did you feel like you were damned either way? They criticized you for not sharing your story, but then when you shared something personal about your marriage, it was used against you.I’ve got to tell you, I got to a point where I really was very nervous to share details. My “staycation” with Pavit was so fun, and I would have loved to go into details as you do with your girlfriends. But I didn’t feel comfortable, because I felt like every time I opened my mouth, I would be shut down and it would be construed in a negative manner. So for me, I just took a step back. My gut was telling me at that moment to not go beyond surface level.

When we talk, Taank seems to be hyper-aware of how she is perceived by viewers. She knows what her good qualities are and she knows why fans like her — and she explains it with a confidence that can take you aback at first, until she also shares the precise moments she knows fans thought she was an idiot. Her cast mates might not agree with this, because they frequently made reference to her lack of self-awareness in her interactions with them. It’s a conflict-heavy show where insults are often exchanged on pretty much all sides. Taank threw a few jabs herself this season, while some of the cast described her as “forgettable” as well as questioning her career, and her intelligence. (She insists they are all “forever bonded” by joining the show together. But with friends like these … who needs enemies, right?)

This is partly why fans have embraced Taank. She feels like a plucky underdog — an archetype that Housewives viewers are familiar with. Sure, she didn’t have the most tragic upbringing ever. But it seemed like the cast frequently underestimated her, perhaps because she can talk a little clumsily at times. At a launch party she threw for a designer client at her home, her co-stars seemed surprised to see high flyers of the fashion world in attendance: Vogue editor and fashion columnist Lynn Yaeger, former PAPER magazine editor Mickey Boardman, former Vogue Arabia Editor-in-Chief (and Saudi royalty) Princess Deena Al-Juhani, former W Magazine associate editor Felicia Garcia-Rivera, and Amazon’s head of fashion Sally Singer were just a few of the guests.

There is a strange combination of shrewdness and innocence that makes Taank an interesting character. The story of how we started speaking, which led to this conversation, is the perfect example of her hustle. (She thinks Indians are taught from a young age how to “make lemonade out of lemons.”) During this interview, she seemed like an open book. The only time she diplomatically swerved a question was when I asked about her thoughts on her co-star Erin Lichy making donations to President Trump in 2020. (Her pained facial expression did all the talking.) On the show, she has savvily used her screen time to promote different ventures – her PR company and a new fashion platform for Indian designers.

But on the flip side, she often appeared to have had no idea what she was getting herself into. Watching the show back and discussing the season with me now, she is aware of how she comes across. But in the moment, her habit of talking in circles and being a bit haphazard with her words suggests that she isn’t someone who is hyper-conscious of how every little thing she says is going to come across on TV. This is refreshing, because reality TV — particularly conflict-driven shows — can sometimes strip that away from people. If she stays on Bravo, I hope she can hold on to that charming naivety. It’s part of what makes her such good TV.

How did you get all those elite fashion people to come to your party? It seemed like the cast were taken aback by your connections …They wanted to support the brands that I was working with. And it was interesting because I think it came off the tail of conversations about how I apparently don’t work. Starting out as an intern, it kind of came full circle in that moment. When you can text Lynn Yaeger and when you can text Mickey Boardman, I felt justified in that moment. But it wasn’t like I was throwing my weight around — these are the people that I would invite anyway, regardless of whether it was being filmed or not.

Some of the cast kept calling you “forgettable,” and there were a few jabs about your intelligence. Do you think they underestimated how popular you would be with the fans?Very much! In fact, they’ve told me that. They’re like, “We don’t know how you do it, we need to take notes.” I was really just being myself. There wasn’t any agenda. I know I’m funny and witty and I have that dry British dry of humor that some people don’t understand. I also came in as a nobody. I’m a publicist, I wasn’t in the public eye like Sai or Jenna. And I’m also not the loudest person in the room, so I think people assumed I was going to be boring or, as they kept saying, “forgettable.” But what you see happen is that some of them [the cast] were so confident about my demise, that it gave them the platform to treat me the way they did. But they didn’t see that I am funny, that I’m giving fashion, and that I have a real narrative. I am being honest and open about the things that are happening in my life, which I think the fans found relatable.

If you could cast your own Ultimate Girls Trip spinoff and you had to pick some women from your own show and then some from the other shows, who would you choose?Ooh! OK. Ubah and Brynn for sure. We do everything together. On Ultimate Girls Trip, you’ve got to have fun. You’ve got to be able to like have a blast, let loose, and dance. I’d say Chanel Ayan from Dubai, because she’d give such fashion. I like Kyle Richards and it looks like she’s recently single so she’d probably be up for having fun. I love Candiace [Dillard-Bassett] from Potomac. She’s so witty and she’s got shade.

What was it like sitting next to Andy Cohen at the upcoming reunion? The center seats are the most coveted spot …I was very nervous. I was like, “Oh my god, am I in the hot seat?!” It’s hard with Andy, because he really gives poker face. You really don’t know which way he’s going to go with questions. But it was an honor! As a Housewives virgin, I didn’t know how important seating charts were. Everyone kept asking me about it and then Pavit sent me all these predictions, like it was fantasy football or something! It was wild. I totally thought Jenna and Brynn would get those middle seats.

There’s a phrase in the Housewives fandom called the “second season curse.” It basically means that, sometimes, after a new Housewife has joined the show and got more social media followers and is suddenly in the public eye, they change for the worse on their second season. The fame goes to their head, and they lose what fans originally liked about them. How are you going to avoid that?That’s a good question! I do think Pavit, bless his heart, keeps me really grounded. You don’t see it so much on the show, but he actually runs the show. I don’t know how to be anything but me. I’ll always say dumb shit. I’ll always like to be innocent in my shade. I’ll always bring the fashion. I’ll always be positive and I’ll always want to make people laugh. So hopefully that doesn’t happen to me!