Get Ready, NYC: Dynamic New Cast Member Racquel Chevremont Is Shaking Up ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’

There weren’t many big shakeups as The Real Housewives of New York City cast members signed season 15 contracts. Jenna Lyons, Brynn Whitfield, Jessel Taank, Erin Lichy, Ubah Hassan, and Sai De Silva will return. The only big change regarding “friend of” cast members is fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff replacing “multipreneur” Bershan Shaw. However, there is one major addition to the main cast, Racquel Chevremont, and she’s ready to shake things up.

Bravo released the first trailer for The Real Housewives of New York City season 15. In it, the cast calls Racquel Chevremont “the LeBron of the art world,” adding, “Uh oh, Jenna [Lyons]’s got competition.” Looking at the two housewives side by side, Chevremont and Lyons do have several things in common. Both are a part of the LGBTQ community, and both are heavily involved in NYC’s art and fashion communities.

Elite Model Management discovered Chevremont in 1993. Born and raised in the Bronx, she went on to represent Fila, Nivea, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Benetton, and Elle Magazine‘s international editions. The mother of two went on to curate art for more than 20 years, working with collectors, artists, and committees for the Studio Museum in Harlem and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Chevremont has also curated art for television and film. Her collections have appeared in Empire, And Just Like That…, Severance, and Law & Order.

Chevremont identifies as a queer black woman, or a “later-in-life lesbian,” as she told GLAAD. “When I first came out, I lost a lot of people.” The 53-year-old credits her age and accomplishments with not caring what others thought. “I had spent my entire adult life in the fashion and art worlds, so while my personal life might have suffered, my professional life didn’t really skip a beat due to my queerness. I was lucky to be a part of two industries where queerness is embraced.”

In 2008, Chevremont funded and co-founded a Brooklyn-based hub, State Street Salon, for artists, curators and collectors. She’s also curated the art awards program for the Tribeca Film Festival for the last several years. In 2019, Chevremont co-founded The Josie Club, a “Black Queer Femme and Woman supported and operated social impact group that organizes community around collaborative event productions.” She describes the organization as providing “safe, welcoming, and luxurious” spaces for “Queer Women from the African Diaspora.”

When weighing whether to join RHONY, Chevremont involved her kids in the decision. “My family and I really had to think about it; in the end, it made sense,” she shared with GLAAD. “My entire adult life has been about representation and using whatever platform I have to get the voices of queer folks of the diaspora out there. What better way to do so if not as a member of this iconic franchise.”