Bravo net to spotlight LI ‘Princesses’

Bill San Antonio

The Bravo network is well renowned for its ability to capture the stereotype of the over-privileged yet often unappreciative American socialite as she exists in nearly every major city across the country, as its mega-hit “Real Housewives” series has largely helped to redefine the genre.

On June 2, the network will add a new group of socialites to its reality lineup who happen to hail from an area very close to home, as Bravo’s new series “Princesses: Long Island” premieres at 9 p.m.    

The show follows six college-educated women from well-to-do Jewish families: Amanda Bertoncini, 27, of Great Neck; Erica Gimbel, 29, of Old Westbury; Ashlee White, 30, of Roslyn; Casey Cohen, 28, of Jericho; Chanel “Coco” Omari, 28, also of Great Neck; and Joey Lauren, 30, of Freeport, as they live the good life despite still living at home with Mom and Dad.

“We all know there’s a stereotype of people from Long Island, and every girl is a princess at heart,” Bertoncini said. “I’m able to have the luxury of coming home to live with my parents, and in that way maybe that makes me a princess, but at the same time I do work and I’ve always maintained a job and there’s a side of me that isn’t dependent upon my parents.”

Unlike their “Real Housewives” counterparts, none of the “Princesses” are married, and over the course of the show, each faces the pressure that comes with searching for Mr. Right while also struggling to attain financial independence and maintain her social stature.  

“A lot of us are trying to find independence within our family dynamics,” Omari said. “I’m trying to find my independence financially and find myself within my love life and all the women of the show are doing the same thing in one area or another in their lives. With women getting married later and later in life these days, I think a lot of people can relate to that search.”

Coming from a modern Jewish orthodox family in which children live at home until they get married, Omari has felt even more pressure to find her soul mate, a sentiment she said would definitely be explored as the show progresses.

“Finding the love of your life is finding your soul mate,” Omari said. “Finding your soul mate is making you complete, and making you complete is making you happy. We’re all waiting for that next big thing, and that’s what’s so excited about it.”

Bravo’s Web site said White is looking for the man of her dreams, but her high standards make him difficult to find.

The site also describes Cohen as someone who “won’t just settle for anyone, and requires her prospects to love life as much as she does,” and Lauren as one who is not in a rush to settle down, despite most of her friends already being engaged or married.

For Bertoncini, who met her boyfriend Jeff while aboard the Long Island Railroad, the pressure to further her relationship in the presence of television cameras could have made for some hairy moments, but she said her love life is better than ever.

“Relationships in general are hard work and I was very scared in the beginning to include my boyfriend in all this,” Bertoncini said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but I think it made us stronger. Jeff is my rock, and I saw this side of him that I don’t think I would have been able to see otherwise.”

Gimbel said certain family members could not dedicate time to participate in the show, most notably her brother, whose wife is pregnant with their second child.

Everything else, from the early afternoon trips to Starbucks to the party nights that you never want to see reach their conclusion, was documented.

“You’re going to see a lot of relationships – with ourselves, with our own inner struggles and trials and tribulations of love and the relationships we have with our parents and the lives that we live,” Gimbel said. “You’ll see who we each are as individuals, so to speak.”

Of course, the most significant relationships portrayed on the show will be those between the girls themselves, who grew up knowing of each other, if not having already been friends, prior to the start of filming.

“I’ve gone through my tough times, but I couldn’t get through them without these women and every single one of them has saved me in their own way and helped me,” Omari said. “That’s the one thing I will take away from this experience, that no matter how bad it gets, finding that light at the end of the tunnel and that support, and I am blessed to have found that support at such an early age.” 

But those friendships weren’t formed without their share of drama, as the show’s trailer features a good deal of arguments and expletive-riddled tirades that have become staples of reality television.

“If there are negative things that I do, that’s me being human,” Gimbel said. “I can’t sit here and tell you I don’t make mistakes. It’s all part of being human. I do get the opportunity to see myself and the things about myself that I like and don’t like and can change from, too.”

Omari added: “What I love about the show is that it’s all very real. I’m a very real person, so what you see is what you get. There are moments where you will cry with us and you will laugh with us and you will feel for us, and maybe you’ll feel for your own lives as well. I really respect that about this show and this network. You can’t go wrong when you’re real.”

Just how “real” will the show get? Bertoncini said you’ll just have to tune in to find out.

“Obviously when you put six girls together they’ll find some things to bicker about, but at the end of the day we’re there for each other to shoulder to cry on and have a ball as well,” Bertoncini said. “But when we get together, it’s always a really good time.”

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