Great news for all us Bravo Dykes: Jenna Lyons thankfully no longer has to be the token lesbian on Real Housewives of New York. The season premiere — which aired last night — introduces new cast member Racquel Chevremont, who is friends with Jenna and has a lot in common with her. Racquel also used to be married to a man and came out as a lesbian later in life. As Brynn Whitfield says in the episode: “There’s a new lesbian in town, and I’m interested.” I’m especially interested in Racquel because she has a VERY HOT FIANCÉE, who also appears in the episode. So technically, we get to see three lesbians in the RHONY premiere, and that’s so many more lesbians than we usually get to see in a Bravo episode!
A bit of backstory before we hop into the events of the episode: Racquel Chevremont is a model and art curator and collector. Her fiancée (who, again, is very hot) is Mel Corpus, a forensic neuropsychologist who rides motorcycles. While Racquel previously hadn’t dated women, Mel has been out for longer. They met when Mel was still married to her ex-wife, and Racquel goes a bit out of her way to emphasize that they were both very single when they started dating in a way that suggests that isn’t quite true, but I’m not judging! “Mel and I, we’ve been friends for over 12 years,” Racquel says in a confessional. “We were very single when we got together, but there was a bit of a scandal. There were a few people that were not all that happy.”
Jenna’s boo Cass Bird does not appear in the episode, but her mom does, which is very sweet. In the premiere, Cass’ mom and Racquel join Jenna in her closet and talk a bit about, well, coming out of the closet. Racquel shares she met Jenna in 2012 when Jenna was going through her divorce from her ex-husband and coming out. “And I was doing the same,” she says. “It almost validated what I was going through. I don’t know what I would have done if I had not met someone else who was going through the exact same thing.” Jenna shares she and Racquel didn’t have any gay friends in their lives at the time.
Racquel also opens up about having a complicated relationship with her mother, who has met Mel but only when they were still just friends and not since they’ve started dating. This vulnerable moment then transitions into Jenna and Racquel having a pretty dated conversation about the concept of “gold stars.” I think Racquel and Jenna still need more queer friends.
Later in the episode, we meet Mel. This is Mel:
Hot Mel!!!!
Racquel also shows off her unconventional engagement ring, which Mel sweetly picked out alongside Racquel’s two teen children who she co-parents with her ex. Her kids love Mel. I love Mel! Everyone loves Mel!!!! Racquel and Mel are a gorgeous couple, and even though only Racquel is an official Housewife, they seem to spend a lot of time together, so I’m hoping that means Mel will be invited along to more events throughout the season.
Together, Racquel and Mel share three motorcycles and a love for adventure. I can’t believe there are dykes on bikes on Real Housewives of New York. All my dreams are coming true.
But Racquel and Mel don’t get to spend the whole episode just riding together on a motorcycle minding their business, because this is Real Housewives after all, and drama’s gotta drama. The premiere really wastes no time getting into it, and when the full group comes together at the end, things quickly unravel, and Racquel gets her first taste of what it really means to be in this game. But first, Racquel shares a little more about their dating history again, with fellow new Housewife Rebecca Minkoff. Apparently, Racquel and Mel were a little star-crossed for a bit, one of them always in a relationship when the other was single, before they finally got together. “It’s lesbian talk, it’s lesbian talk,” Mel says as Racquel recaps. Now that there isn’t just the one queer Housewife, it does seem like we’re actually going to get a lot more LESBIAN TALK on the show.
But as the tension between all the other Housewives starts to boil over, we move away from lesbian talk into straight nonsense. “I don’t have straight women problems maybe,” Racquel says at one point as she listens to the other women fight. She’s curious though, especially since the drama so far doesn’t involve her. But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before that’s no longer true.
While I won’t be recapping every episode of the season, I’ll make sure to touch down on any instances of Lesbian Talk and particularly queer drama or storylines. Plus, I’m sure we’d all love to see more of Hot Mel.
