The NBC Syndication Deal Causing Problems

As reported earlier , NBC Universal sold the “Real Housewives” franchise to local stations. However, it appears the Real Housewives themselves were aced out of the deal.  According to informed sources, they will not receive any “residuals”.  This was the reason Nene Leakes and Kim Zolciak refused to talk about anything at the “Real Housewives of Atlanta season 2 reunion. Now there are rumblings from some of the others.

from crushable

Will Alex McCord – and her uber-metrosexual husband Simon – return to The Real Housewives? We’ve heard rumblings that they won’t come back to the New York edition since April. (Note: those stories were allegedly put out there by arch-enemy Jill Zarin)

And now there’s chatter that money – and Bravo’s alleged stinginess with reimbursing their Housewives for baiting viewers with intense drama -  might be a factor in such a decision.

“Bravo hasn’t decided yet whether season four is coming back,” Simon told Crushable at a GLAAD rooftop party and benefit last night. “It probably will and if we’re invited back, we’ll probably go back. Maybe.”

“We’ll see,” said Alex.

Alex, looking sleek in a turquoise dress, said she wasn’t sure that she would return to the show if BFF Bethenny Frankel dropped out.

“I don’t know,” she told Crushable. “I mean Bethenny’s a friend. We’re both crazy busy ,so we hardly ever see each other. But we were together this weekend. And she and I are good.”

A Bravo representative did not immediately return a request for comment on reports the Housewives are not happy with their paychecks.

Meanwhile, Alex and Simon mingled and partied on the roof of New York’s 230 Fifth nightclub, alongside Bethenny, Johnny Weir, Jill Zarin’s interior designer and various drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag U series on Logo.

“It’s important to support organizations like GLAAD or marriage equality or anyone that’s working for the LGTB community,” Alex said.  Because the thing is, ’til it’s no longer an issue, you have to keep talking about it.”

Given the popularity of Housewives among the gay community, would Alex and Simon consider themselves gay icons?

“I would never consider myself an icon – be it gay or anything else!” quoth Simon.

To that, Alex responded: “I would never consider myself a gay icon either. Although, I’ve been surrounded by gay men since I was about 13. So whether it was my cousins or my friends in high school or my friends in college, you know, it just is what it is.”