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Eboni K. Williams Dishes on What Being RHONY's First Black Housewife Means to Her

By Samantha Bergeson Apr 28, 2021 6:55 PMTags

Eboni K. Williams is a Bravo fan just like the rest of us! 

The newest The Real Housewives of New York City star has already made history as the first Black cast member for the franchise ahead of season 13—and it's clear attorney Eboni is making her presence known. A drama-filled teaser trailer shows Eboni already slinging iconic lines like "I'm not Toni Morrison in this bitch, I can't be teaching you guys everything," and even butting heads with Ramona Singer over a "help" comment

Eboni exclusively discussed with E! News' Daily Pop what it means to join the iconic RHONY cast. "It was such an honor. It still is so surreal to me," Eboni gushed. "I am a RHONY fan. I've seen every episode from day one."

So what led her to sign on to the series? "I just wanted to show up for the culture, represent for Black women and women of color everywhere and especially here in New York, the most diverse city in the world," Eboni continued. She also seems to be living up to her promise to discuss race with her co-stars onscreen. 

Daily Pop co-hosts Justin Sylvester and Lilliana Vazquez couldn't help but ask what the Housewives were like behind-the-scenes. "One great piece of advice that I actually got from my cast mate Leah McSweeney was even though you've seen all the episodes and you think you've seen these women, do yourself a favor and kind of divorcing yourself from those notions and get to know each one of them individually in real time," Eboni explained, citing her background in television news as prep. "But I will say though, most of my cast mates are as advertised."

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In our exclusive interview, Eboni doesn't hold back calling out which fellow RHONY stars welcomed her with open arms—and which she still wants to confront at the reunion.

"I'm going to exclude Leah McSweeney because Leah...is a sister. She's beyond a friend," Eboni praised the Married to the Mob founder. "I do say she's Black culture adjacent though. I love me some Leah and she brought me into this group!" 

Aside from Leah and Eboni's offscreen friendship, it was the one and only Sonja Morgan whom Eboni bonded with the most. "It ended up being Sonja Morgan, actually, that took the quickest liking to me and just took me under her wing," Eboni admitted. "It's just a beautiful thing that Sonja and I got going on."

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Shockingly, Eboni isn't holding onto any hard feelings with the Ramona mishap—in fact, it's Luann De Lesseps whose Countess etiquette doesn't sit right with Eboni. "I do look forward to revisiting some points of contention that we had in this season [at the reunion]," Eboni revealed. 

Fans can also look forward to Eboni teasing more of her love life onscreen. While she does "believe in discretion," RHONY viewers will get a "candid look" at Eboni's romance with a mystery man. Check out the exclusive clip above for all the juicy details! 

The Real Housewives of New York City returns Tuesday, May 4 at 9 p.m. on Bravo. Bing past season on Peacock any time.

(E!, Bravo and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)