How a 55-year-old businesswoman saved reality TV.

In 2013, American fashion designer Jenna Lyons was dubbed "The Woman Who Dresses America". 

The New Yorker had become the executive creative director and president of J.Crew, and was responsible for turning the classic American brand into a multi-billion dollar empire.

By the 2010s, the brand showed its collections at New York Fashion Week and Michelle Obama was raving about them on late-night talk shows. It was even joked that the J in J.Crew stood for Jenna.

The fashion designer seemingly had it all – not only professionally but personally.

She was married to artist Vincent Mazeau, had a young son, and lived in a Brooklyn brownstone that had been saved countless times on Pinterest.

Lyons was recently cast on the reboot of The Real Housewives of New York City. She is the most senior of the women at 55, and people are obsessed with her, for good reason.

Watch the trailer for the Real Housewives of New York reboot here. Post continues below.

In 2011, The New York Post published an article outing Lyons as gay.

The publication reported that she was not only divorcing her husband but also dating her female friend. The Post identified the woman too. 

"Very soon after I had told my husband that I wanted a divorce, she and I were having dinner," Lyons told The Cut in 2021. 

"We were probably sitting a little too close, looking at each other a little too longingly... and someone called The Post and felt like it was their job to share my personal story with the world."

She hadn't even had time to process her feelings.

"I was 43 years old. I was the head of a huge company and a very American, classic brand. We had an intercom at the office, and I was running a pretty large meeting. 

"The heads of marketing were on the other end, and they said, 'We have a call from New York Post. There’s a report that you’re seeing a woman — should we confirm or deny?'Ev

"I hadn’t told my mother, I hadn’t told any of my friends, really. I hadn’t told my ex-husband. I had a child."

In 2012, Lyons publicly acknowledged her girlfriend as jewellery executive Courtney Crangi. They were together for five years, before breaking up in 2017.

The same year, Lyons left J.Crew as part of a 'mutual decision'. 

"I had a girlfriend, a massive job and three assistants and they all went away," she told The New York Times. 

Lyons left the public eye for three years.

In 2020 she returned - hosting a design competition reality TV show on HBO Max, Stylish with Jenna Lyons.

And then in October 2022, it was announced that she would be joining The Real Housewives of New York City reboot.

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Lyons has been asked previously during a podcast interview if she would go on the show. Most people would assume the fashion designer would say no. 

But after it became an internet joke, she messaged executive producer Andy Cohen, which then led to very real talks with the producers.

Her intention was to go on and promote her new false eyelash business, LoveSeen, which was inspired by her hair loss caused by a rare genetic disorder.

But Andy Cohen thinks Lyons’s casting will help the show more than her.

"To give this reboot weight, they need someone with real New York City, cool, hip vibes to make the show real," he said.

For those who aren't across The Real Housewives universe, the New York version was one of the biggest in its heyday. 

But after 13 seasons of the same rotating cast of Upper East Side socialites, the network decided to bring on a new cast that better reflects New York City.

There's a content creator, model, publicist, real estate agent, communications consultant and Lyons.

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At 55, Lyons comes across as the most confident in herself.

Not that these things matter but I noticed how she hasn't covered her greys, and instead of wearing contact lenses she's stuck to her signature oversized sunglasses, and when the cast all wore gowns to the season premiere, she wore jeans and a tulle blouse. 

The RHONY cast with Andy Cohen. Image: Getty.

"Most girls in this group think that Jenna Lyons is a total enigma," Erin Lichy said in the first episode. 

"She does weird quirky things, like she doesn’t like dill but loves parsley. She loves olives but not the black ones. She’s a little bit of an oddball."

That could be what saves the franchise.

I only recently got into Housewives but you get the same characters time and time again - they are all fabulous and all love the drama.

Everyone is trying just a little too hard. You can feel it.

But not Lyons. 

You can feel her comfortability and her acceptance of who she is at 55, either take it or leave it.

I hope to see more of that on TV.

As someone on Twitter so perfectly put it: "Honestly this whole show could just be about Jenna Lyons and I would be okay with that."

Feature image: Bravo.