June 5, 2012 | 12:05 am

Real Housewives of NYC - Catching Up with Jill Zarin

Posted by Ilana Angel

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As the new season of RHoNYC begins, I am more interested in what is going on with Jill Zarin than with Countless (LuAnn), Drunky (Ramona), Delusional (Sonja), and the new ladies.  I contacted Jill and asked her if she wanted to chat and as always she was gracious and open to talk about anything.

I asked Jill how she was doing and she said she was feeling mentally healthier now than she had the entire 5 seasons on the show, but at the same time she was thinking about the new season.  Change is hard for Jill and being left out of the group she helped create was hard for her.

She is not sad, or bitter, but she is feeling a little anxious that the party is going on without her.  It was a raw and honest answer.  Jill misses organized play dates with the other cast members.  Not all of them of course, but some.  She has very good memories of her time as a Bravo housewife.

The last season in particular was important because she was struggling with empty nest syndrome as Ally went off to college.  You raise your children to go out into the world and succeed, but losing your child to life is hard.  The show helped filled the void for her.

Jill is feeling free. For the premiere of the new season she was planning to be in the Hamptons with Bobby and was not sure she would watch.  Part of her wanted to and part not so much.  In the end Jill and Bobby decided to go back to NYC and just have fun on premiere night.

Jill has been tweeting photos and updates all night of her whereabouts. She started at Luann’s premiere party. She then went to Adrianne Malouf’s party for her new line of face creams, and then watched the beginning of the new season with new housewife Aviva and her family.

I loved Jill on RHNYC.  She was real and allowed her true self to be seen.  The good, bad, and sometimes ugly.  She was authentic and one of the few Bravolebrities who did not have making money factor into her decision to be onTV.  That freed her up to be herself with no fear.

She looks back at the show and had great experiences.  She loved looking at apartments with Bethenny in her suede outfit and a hard hat.  She loved developing her own shapewear, SKWEEZ Couture, and she liked sharing the joy and love she has with her beloved Bobby.

Love her or not, Jill was good television. She was there from the beginning, she brought in LuAnn and Bethenny, and she was not treated with respect or kindness when they fired her.  Bravo did not do right by Jill and in doing so did not do right by the fans.

When there was talk of a cast change Jill was assured she would be given a heads up if it affected her.  Bravo said she would be given the opportunity to quit before being fired but when she mentioned quitting they fired her.  In my opinion it was not professional.

A producer at Bravo fired Jill over the phone.  Thirty minutes later she got a call from Andy Cohen.  Whatever.  It does not matter what she says about it all now and so she says nothing, but I think there are things to be said and I for one would want to hear a detailed account from her.

Jill knows a lot of secrets about a lot of people and she has opted to keep them all.  I would be a little more bitter, but she is a class act and she is not out to hurt anyone.  She may not be friends with Bethenny or Ramona but she is loyal to the friendships she had with them at one time.

No one is perfect, and she does not claim to be.  Mistakes were made and she can’t change what happened or how the audience viewed it.  If she could go back and change something, she wishes she would have listened to Bobby more.  He tried to guide her but she did not listen.

She misses parts of her relationship with Bethenny, especially the good times they had Season 1.  She has watched her show, but listening to Bethenny yell at Jason makes her sad and reminds her of a dark time so she has not been watching regularly but is happy for her and also proud.

I asked Jill if she would go back to the show if asked and her answer surprised me.  She said she would go back if Alex did.  There was no love lost between them, but she feels strongly that it would not be right to go back without her.  She knows they made for good television.

Jill was shocked she was fired, but sad that Alex was fired.  Jill did the show for fun, but for Alex, the money mattered and Bravo letting her go, when they knew Simon had lost his job, was hurtful.  They helped make the show what it was, yet they were tossed out while others were not.

Bravo talks about how the fans were not responding to Jill or Alex, yet they are not firing anyone in Atlanta or New Jersey and we can’t stand those women.  We will never know why they were fired but I imagine Bethenny had something to do with it.  I like to blame Bethenny for stuff.

Jill is fine, Ally is great, Bobby is healthy, and Ginger is perfection.  She would consider being back on TV one day and welcomes her own show, but the break after 5 years was really needed.  She is touched by the fan support from so many.  They lift her spirits and give her joy.

She is happy, healthy, and whole.  Grateful for having had the opportunity to be a real housewife, even though we all know it isn’t real anymore.  If her fans get their wish they will see her back on TV.  I am a fan of Jill Zarin because she is good television.

I will get a lot of hate for my support of her and in the end I don’t care and neither does Jill. The Real Housewives is a brand that she helped build and she is proud of that.  If Bravo had any brains or balls, they would bring her back because this show is best with her on it.

I want to see Jill and Alex on Watch What Happens Live. THAT would be good television.  I watched tonight and it was not the same. Change is good, but admitting you made a mistake and fixing it is better.  Take note Bravo.  Bring them back and keep it real.

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