Reality Check: Andy Cohen defends 'Real Housewives of NYC' overhaul

NO ‘REAL’-GRETS

Bravo executive and “Real Housewives” impresario Andy Cohen is defending season 14’s complete cast overhaul of the “New York City” edition, saying on SiriusXM satellite radio’s “Andy Cohen Live” that, “I feel like we absolutely did the right thing.”

He added, “I know it's so hard for people when they watch the ‘RHONY’ reunion [episodes] and then I have [former cast members] Luann [de Lesseps] and Dorinda [Medley] on after and they're like, ‘Oh my God, we miss them,’ whatever, but … I don't have any question that we did the right thing for a variety of reasons.”

In response to a question, Cohen, 55, said that while he could not think of anyone he regrets letting go, he did believe Claudia Jordan of the “Atlanta” edition was treated unfairly “[W]e brought her in [and] she kind of moved to Atlanta for the show, which never works, and then we brought her in as a friend and then during production we bumped her up [to full cast-member], so I just think we didn't give her the best chances for success. It was not on her.”

DONYA KNOW

Uniondale’s Donya Taylor has made it through this season’s fourth episode of “Hell’s Kitchen,” with Melissa Irons eliminated.

FINALE

The four members each of Team Chicago’s Finest and Team Pride plus three of Team OK’s four head into the finale of CBS’ “Buddy Games,” Thursday at 8 p.m.

PREMIERES

Three-time champ D.J. Tambe joins Ryan Ashley and Nikko Hurtado on the judging panel as “Ink Master” returns for a new season of tattoo-artist competition, early Wednesday on the streaming service Paramount+ … Then from 9 to 10:45 p.m. on Bravo, the six returning “Real Housewives of Miami” and three supporting-cast friends all return for season 6 in a supersized opener … Thursday night at 9, ‘tis the (seventh) season, as Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge” gets cookin’ … Early Friday on the streamer Netflix, it’s similarly season 7 for the Los Angeles real estate agents of The Oppenheim Group on “Selling Sunset” … Sunday from 8 to 9:15 p.m., Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Potomac” welcomes attorney Nneka Ihim, a first-generation Nigerian American, as a new housewife, and Keiana Stewart as a new friend … Immediately following from 9:15 to 10:15, dentist Alicia Egolum, holistic-wellness practitioner Phaedra Parks and a male physician’s new wife, Lateasha Lunceford, join the cast of “Married to Medicine” season 10 … and partly opposite at 9, it’s the two-hour season 5 premiere of Food Network's Yuletide baking competition “Holiday Wars.”