Ramona Singer is a veteran housewife who’s been an important part of the cast on Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City for eight years! This loud and lovable New Yorker joined the cast back in 2008 for the first season and she’s remained a regular cast member ever since. Now appearing on season 8 of the show, she continues to be one of the more controversial ladies on Real Housewives, but that’s what makes her a fan favorite! We all know the Ramona we get to see on television each week, but there’s more to her than being a housewife. Here’s a look at 10 things you probably didn’t know about Ramona Singer:
10. She’s Ambitious
Before she became one of the most widely recognized housewife’s on Bravo, Ramona Singer was known in New York City for being a successful entrepreneur. From a young age she was interested in fashion and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. After she graduated, Ramona got an elite job as a buyer in the executive training program. She then moved onto working for huge fashion moguls like Calvin Klein and French Connection in sales management. She took her ambition to a whole new level at the mere age of 30 when she started her own company working with some of the largest retailers.
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9. Her Parents
Ramona’s parents are Bohdan and Veronika Mazur (nee Tersansky). Her mother was born in Budapest, Hungary and her father was born in Ukraine.
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8. Fame and Fortune
Ramona’s career skyrocketed after she joined the Real Housewives of New York and she claims this took a toll on her marriage. Former housewives on the Real Housewives will attest to the fact that being on a popular reality series can cause an immense strain on a marriage and often results in divorce. Many relationships and marriage that have been featured on the show have ended, and some of them ended quite badly! All aspects of the show are a recipe for disaster — the cameras, the fame and fortune and most of all the drama! In terms of Ramona’s marriage, she said the fame and success she experienced after joining the show is what really pushed Mario away. For many years on the show, Ramona boasted about her perfect marriage, but in reality things weren’t going well. She said, “Things started to go downhill when Mario found out how much I was making for Season 6 of The Real Housewives of New York. Mario had just turned sixty and his business was struggling. [But] his wife had become famous and was earning a great salary. He was on a path leading him father and farther away from our marriage.”
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7. Plastic Surgery
After much speculation and years of denying any plastic surgery, it seems all it took for Ramona to either get plastic surgery or simply just admit to it was the demise of her marriage. In the most recent season of RHONY it’s now common knowledge that she had her breasts done, sitting comfortably at a double D! She wrote about it in her memoir, “Recently, I did have my breasts done. I’ve always been honest about the work I’ve done and I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of. I’ve worked hard to maintain a youthful look and I’m proud I was able to put off surgery as long as I have.”
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6. Joining Real Housewives
It’s hard to imagine the Real Housewives of New York City without veteran housewife, Ramona Singer. In her memoir, Ramona wrote about her start with Bravo and divulged to readers that she almost turned down the opportunity because she was “too busy” and “already popular.” She said, “After they sent me the contract, I started having second thoughts; I don’t really have time for this. I don’t need to be famous. I already have a successful business. I’m married. I have my daughter. I have a full life. I don’t need this stress in my life. What do I need to take this on for? In contact Bravo and tell them I’m out.” Thankfully she reconsidered!
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5. Divorce Settlement
Rumors swirled about infidelity in Ramona’s marriage to Mario Singer in 2013 and 2014, and she finally addressed them publicly after catching him in the act at their home in the Hamptons. The divorce was finalized on November 24, 2015 and a lot of people are curious how it all went down considering the two had been married for over two decades and didn’t have a prenuptial agreement. Despite Mario’s adulterous ways, it seems their divorce was pretty amicable as the two split their assets 50/50. Fans definitely expected the scorned wife to walk away with a huge settlement from this one, but it seems that isn’t the case at all. Mario told OK!, “The fact is that I signed over the condominium to Ramon in exchange for a financial settlement on both our Southampton house and our New York City apartment. I received half of the value of our two homes as the divorce laws of New York clearly state that there is to be equitable distribution in a divorce.”
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4. New Dating Life
Now that Ramona is single after being married for over two decades she’s on the look out for a new relationship. In an interview with People she said her preferred way to meet a man is by being set up through a friend because then the date has a better chance of working out since the person who set them up knows both parties. She likes to leave certain things out of the conversation on the first date, like the fact that she’s on television. She said, “I don’t want them to have any kind of pre-judged opinion of me. I’m proud of what I do but I don’t want to be judged for what I do because it can be taken out of context.” Her idea of a perfect date is, “Have great bottle of wine, great conversation, maybe go somewhere else later for a drink and then the next day they send you flowers.” Sounds like she’s looking for Mr. Perfect! The best part about Ramona being single is that the high strung and sometimes controlling housewife has no idea where her life is going and she’s finally becoming a little more laid back: “I can’t see where the road ahead leads. But because of everything I’ve been through I know I am strong enough to handle everything life throws at me.”
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3. Net Worth
Fans of the show would know that Ramona loves to point out how hard working she is and that she’s a businesswoman, not just a housewife. As we mentioned earlier, Ramona’s been extremely ambitious in her career and it’s definitely paid off! After getting her start as a buyer and sales manger, she started her own company and now owns many business ventures like RMS Fashions, Tru Renewal, Ramona Singer Jewelry, True Faith Jewelry and Ramona Pinot Grigio. In addition to collecting earnings from all of these companies, she gets an estimated $500 thousand for each season of Real Housewives bringing her total net worth to a whopping $18 million!
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2. Abusive Childhood
In her memoir titled Life On The Ramona Coaster she reflected back on her childhood, revealing that her father was an alcoholic who was physically and emotionally abusive. She wrote, “The next few years of my life are a blur of nightmarish memories, punctuated by my father drinking too much, then drunkenly abusing and berating my mother. An endless cycle of screaming, fighting, and crying. I feel like I am living in a war zone.” During a memorable episode of The Real Housewives of New York City when all the women were staying at Heather Thompson’s house in the Berkshires, Ramona had a “meltdown” because the forested area they were walking through looked like her backyard as a child. She said, “I believe my father moved us to the country so he could just hurt my mother and the neighbors couldn’t hear. It brought back memories of my parents arguing, and that’s just something I don’t want to remember. As a child to hear that every day is stressful.”
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1. Pushed to the Edge
As previously mentioned, Ramona grew up in an abusive home and she’s been pretty candid about it on the show. One evening, things got particularly bad so Ramona was forced to fight back. She wrote about it in her memoir. “I lunge toward him. I point the blade directly at his face and scream, ‘Stop it. Stop it right now or I swear I will take this knife and shove it into your neck.'” In typical Ramona fashion she continues to remain positive, and even found some positives from her experience growing up in an abusive home, stating that it has allowed her to tune things out in life, like the cameras. “It’s easy for me to block out the cameras. Probably because, growing up, I had to block out all the noise in my family. I shut the cameras out, just like I shut out my father’s yelling.”