My exclusive interview with 'Real Housewives of New York' Sonja Morgan!

Photo: Christopher Free

The ‘Real Housewives of New York City’ Reunion Part 2 airs tonight on Bravo TV & who better to dish with this week than one of the RHONY fan faves, Sonja Morgan.  I recently had a chance to chat with NY Housewife, Sonja Morgan, who explains why viewers aren’t the only ones surprised by what’s revealed on those Reunion shows. Sonja also shares with me how she’s been able to move on and start a new chapter in her life,, offering up advice to others going through a challenging time. 

I initially met Sonja & her beloved dog Millou last February at the ‘Golden Collar Awards’ last February here in Los Angeles, where Millou was nominated for Best Dog in A Reality TV Series. At that time Sonja agreed to do an interview with me for Examiner.com. Sadly, Millou passed away shortly thereafter last March.  Sonja stayed true to her word to me & gave me this candid interview, where I found her to be inspirational, funny, relatable & accessible.

Thank you so much for speaking with me & Examiner today. I wanted to say how sorry I am to hear Millou passed away, since meeting you both at the Golden Collar Awards. How have you been coping?

Sonja Morgan: It’s so devastating because he’s been with me for 18 years. He travelled with me everywhere. He was with me before I was married. He was with me during my marriage. He was with me for my pregnancy. He went with me to Russia, Turkey, South of France, everywhere this dog went. There’s no dog that will replace him.  Upon sharing with Sonja that I could relate because I lost my cat Precious last year, Sonja went on to say, I have a kitty who’s been here 4 years now & this kitty has come out now from under the bed & thinks he & I are a couple.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Will we be seeing your kitty on future episodes of RHONY?

 Sonja Morgan: I guess so because before I’d have to drag him out onto the pillow & say get a job & now because Millou passed away, he doesn’t feel like he has to get a job at all. He thinks he’s now Millou.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): When we last saw you on the RHONY Finale, you said that ‘you were turning a page.’ & ‘ready to put the past behind you.’ Have you been able to do that & what is the status with your ex?

Sonja Morgan: Yeah. I’m doing pretty well. I took down lots of photographs around the house. I took down the painting of my ex & myself which were a time capsule of all the good things in my marriage. It was hard to let go, but it really did cleanse my soul.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): You’ve become one of my favorite Housewives & are a friend in my head, not just to myself but many others as well & I think it’s because you are so relatable.  In the Finale you stated you ‘were angry, but you weren’t going to let it ruin your spirit.’ What advice can you give others who are going through a financial or emotional hardship? Sonja Morgan: If you’re going through a financial hardship, you still have to fight the fight. You can’t give up everything you’ve worked your whole life for. Obviously, I wasn’t going to walk away, but at the same time you can’t let it take over your spirit. So, I try to remember the good things that were in my relationship before money became the object between us, because if I die tomorrow who cares about the money. But, I have a daughter to support & I want to fight for what I worked hard for. At the end of the day, the relationship means more to me, which was why I was trying to salvage the relationship I have with my ex & to have a co-parent in my daughter’s life. My advice is to not try to control the things you can’t control & to live in the moment because really everything can be gone tomorrow including your own body & soul. You can only answer to the Lord.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): What’s been you favorite & least favorite part about being part of RHONY?

Sonja Morgan: Well my favorite part, being my age, is being able to show all the things I’ve learned for other people. I love to share all my tips & secrets or maybe some of the mistakes I’ve made. I love to share so people don’t go there, which is why I have so many interns. I feel the interns enjoy learning together with me & they’re so young & they know so much about technology & social media which is so important in my field. So they teach me that & I teach them the basics, the school of hard knocks with Sonja. That’s the good part. Also, all these emails that come through my website & knowing that people feel inspired & that they’re not alone. That’s so rewarding. The bad thing is the show is all over the world now & I can’t go anywhere without being recognized& ironically, I’m a private person. However, I am very grateful to Bravo, they’ve given me this opportunity to support my daughter & to feel independent again.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Is Aviva really as mean in person as she appears on TV & how did that make you feel when she called you “white trash?”

Sonja Morgan: Well, that wasn’t nice. She definitely has deep anger issues. When I’m not around her, I feel bad for her but when you’re with her & she’s saying this stuff to you, it’s so hurtful. I was worried about my daughter, but she didn’t take it seriously & saw the episode and said wow. She felt bad for Aviva as well. As time goes by, my initial personal feeling is easing & I now feel more pain for Aviva. She definitely has some very deep seated anger that she projects on other people. It’s more than anger it’s fear. I feel she’s fearful & very hard on herself, she’s hard on others. I wish she could figure out a way to love herself more & understand that people want to love her & not be so paranoid. I think one of the reasons I trust people so much is that I love myself, so I love others, maybe a little too much. So it’s very painful when it backfires.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): I’m curious what your take on this is. Certain Housewives change so much as the season progresses from when they first are introduced on the show. Do you think they are repressing who they are in the beginning or does being on the series bring out the worst in some people?

Sonja Morgan: I think that if you try to be someone you’re not, the demeanors very thin. If you’re gonna show hundreds of hours, the real you is going to come out. So, if you’re not sure who you are & you try to be someone you’re not & you’re insecure, that’s what happens.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): What have you learned about yourself from doing RHONY?

Sonja Morgan: I knew I didn’t love myself on camera. I don’t love the way I look.  I’m very critical of myself, but I learned being on the show that the viewers don’t mind the way I look at all. I get very few hate mail. I think most viewers could care less if you look beautiful or if your hair is perfect. The viewers are more into who you are & what you represent & what you share & if you’re real. That’s what I learned about the show. Where before I was so worried about being on camera because I was thinking wow Luann & Ramona have such great features at every which angle that they always film well & I was thinking I don’t have great angles unless I work at it. That’s what I learned. Viewers don’t care about that. I guess that goes with our mothers always tell us, beauty is from the inside out.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): You’ve been looking extra fabulous lately. I saw you on a recent ‘Watch What Happens Live” & you looked amazing. Can you share some of your beauty secrets?

Sonja Morgan: The first thing is, we film for months & months at a time. Plus I work extra hard on my other businesses. That lack of sleep starts to show & then the anxiety of what’s going to come out of the other housewives mouths. So the #1 thing is sleep. As soon as you start seeing me on WWHL & interviews toward the end of the season, I thin right up. The water weight comes off, the belly comes down. My other secret weapon is Dr. Sharon Geiss & that’s no secret because I put her on the show when Ramona introduced me to her on the show & you know a little Botox goes a long way, if you use it conservatively & don’t go crazy.  Everything in moderation & then I have my weekly facial peel. I take fiber & I have my special Chocolate Sesame shake which keeps things moving & of course fruits, vegetable & fish. Exercise sweats out impurities & helps keep your skin fresh. **Sonja Slim Packs will soon be available on her site.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): We can’t be good all of the time. What’s your guilty pleasure on a splurge day?

Sonja Morgan: Well I’m a fan of the 80% cocoa bars, Green & Black. I like the high content cocoa bars.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): What’s your favorite cocktail?

Sonja Morgan: Prosecco , sparking wine with fruit juice & I love vodka but my #1 choice is Prosecco.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Do you think you’ll follow in the footsteps of Bethenny & Ramona & come out with your own Prosecco line?

Sonja Morgan: Yeah. I’m looking into doing a bubby wine collection of drinks but I can’t do it all at once.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): When will your toaster oven be available? What is the status or your toaster oven cookbook?

Sonja Morgan: I need an investor for Sonja Home.  I need a backer to make these toasters. I have a manufacturer but I need to make sure they’re shipped properly. I did have offers regarding the cookbook from publishers but didn’t feel it was enough $ to go on tour because I have a daughter at home & I want to stay with her. If I’m going to take time off for the tour, it’s going to have to be worthwhile. So I started rewriting the book & putting lifestyle tips. People who watch the show are interested in housewives lifestyle, as well as the recipes.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Tonight’s the RHONY   Reunion. In your blog you state that ‘you’ll be surprised to say the least.’ Why?

Sonja Morgan: Because everything is different than what you think & then when I get to the reunion, I was even surprised myself. The comments that came out, because after the housewives watch the show, they’re surprised because we don’t see what goes down on film. We’re only basing what we saw & heard. So if Aviva tells Carol something about me & Ramona, it’s not necessarily true.  It’s her perception & when Carol tells Heather something she heard from Aviva, it’s not necessarily true. I felt Carol enabled Aviva this season instead if actually helping her friend. Everyone knows there was some contention between the Countess & the Princess over titles & whether people should use them or not. There were some revelations among the housewives themselves because they’re watching along with the viewers & the other thing is, we’re surprised at what Bravo decides to use. Just that trip to St. Barts was hundreds of hours of filming. We’re surprised ourselves at what Bravo decides to use.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Are you dating anyone now?

Sonja Morgan: No. There was a point where I said I need to focus on Sonja Home & focus on my catering & events company, Sonja in the City & I’ve always put my daughter first. So, after my time with my daughter & my businesses, there’s not much time to date.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Do you want to get married again?

Sonja Morgan: Yeah, I love being married.That’s my favorite state of life, being married & part of a family & having my family over for the holidays & having my group of friends over & visiting my friends around the world with my husband. That’s what I love to do, I’m good at it but, it will have to be a special guy, a smart guy to keep me interested.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): Can we expect to see you back on the next Season of the RHONY?

Sonja Morgan: Well, we’ll see. If it’s in the stars & it’s good for me & good for my daughter & Bravo wants me, I’ll be back.

Examiner (Miriam Bolber): In the meantime, your fans can interact with you on your website, Twitter & Facebook.

Sonja Morgan: Yeah, boy do we interact. I have to tell you, after I put my daughter to bed & pay bills online, it’s nice to tweet with fans because where they don’t feel alone & they relate to me, I relate to them & I don’t feel alone, so it’s nice to have a Twitter family & to feel supported & that I’m doing the right thing by choosing to be on the show.

If you’d like to Tweet with Sonja during tonight’s RHONY Reunion Part II and join her other 172,000 followers, follow Sonja Morgan at @SonjatMorgan. You can also “Like” Sonja Morgan on Facebook & check out Sonja’s website & sign up to receive her newsletter to stay updated with all things Sonja at www.sonjamorganonline.com.

Watch the ‘Real Housewives of New York’ Reunion Part II on Bravo TV tonight at 8:00 pm.  You can also follow Sonja Morgan’s RHONY blog at: www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-new-york-city