She's the bubbly addition to The Real Housewives of New York City season 14, but Brynn Whitfield revealed an unexpected amount of depth on the August 6 episode of the franchise, an already emotional edition that also featured Whitfield's co-stars Erin Lichy burying her grandmother and Ubah Hassan grieving her mother.
Though Brynn has already been involved in plenty of drama with the other RHONY women this season, including Restaurant gate, the ladies rallied around Whitfield during Sunday's episode. While the rest of the Housewives chatted about their upcoming plans for Thanksgiving, Brynn revealed the holiday season was a hard time for her due to her troubled childhood and family struggles, and instead of spending it with family, she was planning to head to London for a week with her ex-fiancé Gideon.
"I would love an overbearing mother-in-law... that's why I'm friends with all of my exes and their parents," Brynn joked to Jessel Taank and the rest of the RHONY gals over breakfast, before turning serious: "I've never had, like, a real family."
The women decide to throw a "Brynngiving" to cheer up their fellow Housewife, which Sai hosts at her Brooklyn brownstone. "I just relate to Brynn because I know what it feels like to not have family around," Sai explained. "It feels lonely, it feels isolating. So I understand why she just gets up and leaves or always wants to go on a trip with a friend."
It's at the holiday fete that Brynn grew emotional and disclosed even more details about her upbringing. "My mom had me, my brother and my sister when she was a teenager... and then my father, older," she confided, adding that the only time when the whole family lived together was during the first six months of her life. She was largely raised by her mother's mother, who legally adopted her and her siblings.
"It wasn't a good situation. We were poor as f***, welfare, food stamps, everything," she tearfully told them. "There was, like, abuse and neglect... I wasn’t picked up for like six days or my diaper wasn’t changed."
"Brynn had a really rough history but I didn't realize it was this bad, and it's heartbreaking." Erin said of the confession.
Fans react to RHONY star Brynn Whitfield's childhood
The episode showed another side of the flirty, fabulous New Yorker. Fans took to social media to praise the reality star for opening up about her difficult past.
I hate seeing Brynn cry. 🥺 But childhood trauma is universal and it’s extremely important to share stories like this. #RHONY pic.twitter.com/mP5Tc8N0QDAugust 7, 2023
That last part when Brynn was sharing her life, her family struggles, not having a home or a positive family dynamic as a baby was heartbreaking!! #RHONY pic.twitter.com/iFwCBWdnOaAugust 7, 2023
Tonight Brynn solidified herself as one of my fave Bravolebrities. Her aura is so amazing and I just want to be her friend and give her a hug. I knew she was an Aquarius💖 #RHONY #WWHLAugust 7, 2023
I have never gotten teary eyed watching Real Housewives, but i did today. #RHONY Brynn😢August 7, 2023
Also, Brynn really clicked for me this episode. That was on me. I wasn’t getting it #RHONYAugust 7, 2023
Brynn is a very strong woman for still pushing through, after all she been through. #RHONY🗽August 7, 2023
The #RHONY ladies are so relatable. Brynn is helping a lot of people just by sharing her story. So many people have had rough childhoods and persevered. So resilient.August 7, 2023
What I love so much about #RHONY, besides the women, is the sharing of their childhoods. Sai and Brynn’s were heartbreaking. Erin showed how her upbringing influenced her career. Ubah’s tears about her mom.August 7, 2023
My heart goes out to Brynn. I can relate to some of her story.. My dad was never a part of my life including his family and some of my mom's. It was brave of her to open up about what she went through #RHONY 🍎August 7, 2023
I so relate to Brynn. I don’t want people to ask me how I am because the dam might burst. But I’ll be there for other people. #RHONYAugust 7, 2023
Oh my. I just got to the end of #rhony. Sigh brynn. There's so much to that story she's probably never been told the truth. I wanna hug her.August 7, 2023
I love how the #RHONY women can go from shading everything about staying at Erin’s house to rallying around Brynn around the holidays. the group brings a refreshing range of fun, pettiness and support. and I appreciate how open they are about their backgrounds and familiesAugust 7, 2023
New episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City premiere Sundays on Bravo. The latest episodes are available to stream on-demand the next day on Peacock.
