Dorinda Medley Doesn't Have a "Bad Feeling" Toward 'RHONY' After Her Firing (EXCLUSIVE)

As any and all fans of The Real Housewives know, cast changes are expected, encouraged, and inevitable each season. Though many hirings and firings make sense to viewers, there are a few that have continued to puzzle the public. 

While Bethenny Frankel's (second) exit from The Real Housewives of New York City after Season 11 crushed many, she left the show on her own accord.

A season later, longtime fan favorite Dorinda Medley shared that she was done with the Bravo series after six years. She's since spoken out about what exactly led to her departure. 

Why is Dorinda Medley leaving RHONY? Keep reading to see what she said in her original statement, and to learn what she exclusively told Distractify about how she really feels about the show now. 

While Season 12 was still airing, Dorinda shocked fans by revealing that she would not return for another season. Her Instagram announcement was posted on August 25, 2020, and she referenced what a positive impact RHONY had on her life. 

"What a journey this has been. I have laughed and cried and tried to Make it Nice... But all things must come to an end. This was a great outlet for me to heal when my late husband Richard passed away," she wrote. Despite having issues with her cast members over the years (like all Housewives), Dorinda thanked them for being part of her journey.

In the months that followed her initial statement, Dorinda has opened up about why she really won't be appearing on Season 13. 

Though many past Housewives often share statements that make it seem like they left the show on their own accord, Dorinda made no bones about the fact that she was not invited back to RHONY. 

In October of 2020, Dorinda discussed her firing for the first time at length on her former co-star's podcast, Just B with Bethenny Frankel. She shared that she was hoping to have a redemption year of sorts, after a "rough" Season 12.

"It's been said that I probably should have taken a year off," Dorinda explained on the show. "Listen, I had a rough season, but that's what we do as Housewives. We have good seasons, we have bad seasons. We come back, we change it up."

Dorinda said that she had been coming up with ideas for filming when she learned that she was not asked back.

"I was thinking 'Oh my God, this is my season! I'm going to come back and everything is done, I'm in a good place,'" Dorinda continued. "No one likes rejection."

"I was ready to go back. I was excited about going back," she added. "I was planning on going back, and I thought I would have a great year. I wasn't given that option."

The mom-of-one was initially surprised by the news that she would not be on Season 13, but she later turned that "failure" into an opportunity. 

While discussing the details of her upcoming book, Make It Nice, Dorinda spoke with Distractify about the moment when Bravo put her on "pause" from the show. 

"Failure is really OK. Some of my best learning lessons from life have been when I've failed. The day that they decided not to have me back on RHONY and they put me on that pause, I called my mom. 'It's like keeping a fish on the dock and you keep throwing water on it all the time. You don't know what to do. Do you live, do you die?' I’d never been paused in my life," Dorinda recalled about that conversation. "My mom said, 'Rejection is protection. I think we'll see some great things come out of this.' And, boom, they did."

Instead of feeling bitter or resentful about her forced exit from RHONY, the Blue Stone Manor owner is just thankful for the opportunities that it has provided her.

"I don't have a bad feeling toward the show... I'm really appreciative of the opportunities that it gave me," she explained. "I probably never would have written a book without the platform that Bravo gave me."

She, instead, chooses to find the silver lining in it all. "I don't look at it like a sting; it presented me with so many opportunities that I never would have had," Dorinda concluded. 

It should therefore not come as a surprise that the entertainer would consider returning to the show in the future. "Who knows?" she shared. "Things change season to season."

Dorinda's book, Make It Nice, debuts in August of 2021.