Bravo execs yanked an offer to New York socialite Annie Churchill to appear on “The Real Housewives of New York City” after the news broke of her husband Andrew Albert’s legal trouble.
In August, Albert was charged with defrauding several investors out of $600,000 for a proposed online-shopping Web site that never got off the ground.
Bravo had been looking for new cast members for the fifth season after dumping “Housewives” regulars Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon, Alex McCord and Cindy Barshop. Sources told Page Six that Churchill was offered a spot on the reality show to join remaining cast members Countess LuAnn de Lessep
s, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan.
But Bravo pulled the offer when Albert was charged with fraud and grand larceny after investors accused him of using more than a half-million dollars intended for the shopping site On1Ave.com for personal expenses.
Sources said the network wanted to avoid involvement with anyone facing criminal charges, particularly after the Russell Armstrong tragedy during filming of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
Michael Farkas, a lawyer for Albert, confirmed that Bravo rescinded its offer to Churchill. Farkas in November filed a motion to dismiss the case against Albert, who pleaded not guilty to the charges. “We’ve said Andy is completely innocent, and we’re strongly fighting the charges. Andrew is currently doing exactly what he has to do to prove these charges are baseless,” Farkas told us.
A Bravo representative told us, “We haven’t finished shooting this season yet, so we haven’t made any kind of casting decisions for season five yet.”
New cast members Carole Radziwill, fashion designer Heather Thomson and Aviva Drescher are currently filming the new season. A rep for Churchill said she may still make a small appearance in the series.