Real Housewives of New York City is returning for its 11th season on Wednesday, March 6, and while there are no new Real Housewives this year, there is a new Friend of the Housewives. Luann's friend Barbara Kavovit is joining the RHONY crew. And it’ll be interesting to see what goes down on-screen with Barbara, because drama between her and another Housewife is already in full swing off-camera.
But before we get into that, let’s get to know her.
According to Bravo, Barbara was cast on RHONY because of her connection to Luann. Bravo describes her as “a good friend of Luann’s who stood by the former countess after her relapse.” In fact, Luann recently commented on their friendship on Instagram, and pointed out just how long they have been buddies. Congratulating Barbara on her new novel, Luann wrote, “We have been such close friends for over 14 years. I am beyond proud of you my darling & loving this novel about you taking over the NYC construction world.”
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And that actually explains a lot about what Barbara has going on right there. Barbara is the CEO and founder of Evergreen Construction, a New York City-based construction firm that she started in 2015. The company’s website describes Barbara as “one of the leading figures within the commercial construction industry”. Before founding Evergreen, she had founded Anchor Construction after graduating from the State University of New York at Oswego.
Making big moves in an industry dominated by men has always been important to Barbara. “Male chauvinistic people that are in this business, they still exist,” she said in an interview with Marie Claire. “Because they've been handed down through their grandparents to their fathers, and now the sons are in it. And the mentality still exists of that construction is no place for a woman. But I'm here to tell them that it is, and I'm taking projects away from them."
Outside of her construction company, Barbara has a line of tools called DIYVA by Barbara K. She’s also written three books: Room for Improvement and Invest Your Nest are both more on the self-help book side of things, and her upcoming book, Heels of Steel, is a novel that’s definitely inspired by her own life. Barbara described the book on her Instagram, writing, “It’s an amazing book of a determined young girl from the #Bronx who against all odds shatters the glass ceiling in the #NYC world of hard hats and construction in the good ol boys club.”
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As for her personal life, Barbara is a single mom to her 21-year-old son, Zach. In an interview with Us Weekly, Barbara explained of raising her son, “Being confident, being self-sufficient — and it goes from my construction job and being in my own home — and being able to be self-sufficient as as single mom of a son. I want to show him that I don’t need to rely on anybody else, that I can do it myself.”
So, as for how Barbara is going to fit in on RHONY, obviously, she’s good friends with Luann and she also knows Dorinda. And in the trailer for the season, it looks like she gets involved in the continuing Dorinda/Luann/Jovani drama.
Also, don’t be surprised if she doesn’t get along with Ramona, because they’ve been making it crystal clear that they don’t get along outside of the show. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ramona was asked about the “new Housewife” and responded, “She’s not a new Housewife. Just a Friend, so she’s not a new Housewife … I don’t know what she is. I don’t even want to talk about her. They’re not giving her an apple.”
In response to this, Barbara told AOL, “Not surprised at Ramona's response considering she's nasty and condescending to most. She's someone who doesn't support other women, even though she brags she does, so this is very on-brand for her. Who would say something like this on camera or off? Not a good look! One thing I learned from growing up in the Bronx and being a boss lady in construction, I demolish at the job site but I don't tear other people down!"
Well, if they do decide to give her an apple at some point, at least we know she has her tagline ready.