 A new cast member was also introduced the seventh season, Dorinda Medley.With the addition of Medley, the returning wives from season six; Singer, Sonja Morgan, Heather Thomson, Carole Radziwill and Kristen Taekman, and the wives returning to the series; de Lesseps and Frankel, this marked the first time in "The Real Housewives" franchise that there were eight full-time cast members.. 

Medley returned to New York, after spending over a decade in London running her and her former husband's cashmere company, DCL Cashmere.She and her Daughter Hannah returned after the divorce, Medley navigated life in New York as a single mother.