In season 5 we welcomed Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill, and Heather Thomson to the Real Housewives of New York City. This season, there’s another new face coming to stir things up: model mom Kristen Taekman.

BuddyTV recently participated in a conference call with Kristen and Heather to discuss the upcoming season of Bravo’s RHONYC. Here’s are seven facts about Kristen that will help you get acquainted before Tuesday’s premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City season 6. 

1. She is BFF with RHOBH‘s Brandi Glanville

…but she didn’t get any advice from her before filming. (Thank God.)

“You know, I think I’m going to shock people with how much I’m not like her.”

2. She is an Elvis Fanatic

Some might call her Elvis-obsessed, and we will see this side of her on the show. She even named her daughter Kingsley, as a tribute to “The King.”

3. She’s “Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed”

Her tagline of “I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I’m pretty” has some viewers all riled up…but it’s all in good fun.

“I just can’t believe that people are having an issue with it,” says Kristen. “I take my work and my family seriously. But everything else is just–it’s silly, it’s funny, it’s a reality show. I’m 36 and I’m still a model and I kind of play off the fact that…not all models are the sharpest tool in the shed.”

4. She Didn’t Have Preconceived Notions about the RHONYC cast

“Obviously everybody was talking about what happened in St. Bart’s. And I really didn’t remember exactly what happened. So, you know, of course I’m hearing all this stuff and it was really hard to sort of filter through it and say, ‘Listen, I’m just meeting this woman. She didn’t do anything to me. So…I’m just going to take everything with a grain of salt and just kind of move forward.’ And that’s what I did.”

5. She is Not Concerned about “The Housewives Divorce Curse”

Even though viewers will see Kristen and her husband Josh fighting this season, she considers their relationship solid.

“We fight, we bicker. We have a two and a five-year-old. So, you know, we’re still changing diapers. And my daughter still gets up some nights. And that just really weighs heavy on us as a couple. And then towards the end of the season, I decided that our bickering is our personal form of flirting.”

6. She Only Occasionally Watched the Previous Seasons of RHONYC

When she found out she was cast in the show’s sixth season, her friends told her she needed to watch the past episodes to prepare.

Her reaction? “I don’t need to do anything. I’m just going to go in there. Heather’s introducing me to her friends. This is real life to me and that’s just how it was.”

7. She is Not Afraid to Voice Her Opinion

When asked if she gets involved in the other ladies’ drama that stems back to last season, Kristen responded, “I mean in the beginning, I think it’s hard because you weren’t there and you kind of hate to give your two cents on what happened. But then after you hear so much about it, you feel like you were there.”

Indeed, we see from the previews of this season that Kristen has confrontations with both Ramona and Heather. 

To see what other kind of trouble Kristen gets into this season, tune into the season 6 premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City Tuesday night at 9pm on Bravo.

Want to add RHONYC to your very own watch-list? Download BuddyTV Guide for free for your phone.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

Lindsay Podolak

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV