Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this column, we’ll be examining the celebrity couples that give us hope for our own romantic futures, and trying to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.
For the last two years, a regular source of serotonin in my life has been watching the latest episode of The Real Housewives of New York City on Peacock each Wednesday. It’s become something of a ritual for me to finish the day’s work, pour myself a mug of hot tea—or, more frequently, a glass of natty orange—and settle in on the couch to see what Erin Lichy, Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Brynn Whitfield, Jessel Taank, and Jenna Lyons have been up to. (Did I list them in ascending order of preference? That’s one secret I’ll never tell.)
As much as I love watching wealthy women fight over inane things, I have to admit that I was a little tapped out on RHONY drama by the end of last season—which is what made the additon of two new cast members this season so exciting. “Friend of the Housewives” Rebecca Minkoff is an entertaining presence, if only because I’d love to figure out what makes a Jewish-slash-Scientologist accessories designer tick (fun fact: I once tried to assign a story on Minkoff’s then-little-known Scientology while working as an editor at a now-defunct fashion and art magazine, but was told that our parent company’s lawyers wouldn’t be able to shield the freelance writer from possible legal action if it ran), but the new RHONY addition who has genuinely stolen my heart is one Ms. Racquel Chevremont: curator, art collector, former model, mother of two, and culturally significant lesbian.
Last season, it was a major pet peeve of mine that Lyons appeared to be the only queer woman on the show. As a queer person myself, I know the specific struggle of being surrounded by straight girlypops who have way too many questions about how you and your partner live your lives, and I often wondered whether it was wearing on Lyons to have to deal with, say, Whitfield’s enthusiastic flirting that bordered on queerbaiting. (Like, make out with a woman already! It’s not that hard!) When I saw Lyons finally joined by Chevremont—who has two children with her ex-husband and previously dated artist Mickalene Thomas—though, I was elated, but not nearly as elated as I was when the show introduced us to Mel Corpus, Chevremont’s affable, ludicrously hot, frequently leather-clad, motorcycle-riding forensic neuropsychologist fiancée.
Members of the Real Housewives franchise have a reputation for patronizing somewhat, well, less-than-cutting-edge establishments—remember when Whitfield correctly noted that De Silva’s choice of restaurant was “so 2005”?—so you can imagine my surprise when I saw Chevremont and Corpus hit up the Bush in Bushwick, a self-described “Dyke Bar for all of the queer community” that I spent many memorable nights at (and, for that matter, more than one night I can’t recall in the slightest) in my 20s. Did they bring a cishet guy there (specifically, Lichy’s husband, Abe)? Yes, and I don’t love that, but I do love Corpus praising him for having “a lot of lesbian sensibilities,” as I know firsthand that there can be no purer friend-love than the one between a queer woman and the token straight guy she goes to for no-frills girl advice.