Andy Cohen Announces Newest ‘Real Housewives’ Cast Member at Bravo Fan Fest

Heavy/Getty Andy Cohen

After three seasons with the same cast, there’s officially a new “Real Housewives of Miami” star in the 305. Andy Cohen introduced the newest RHOM cast member during Bravo’s Fan Fest in Miami on Saturday, November 23, according to Bravo’s Daily Dish.

“Guess what, y’all. I wanted to bring you a special guest, okay?” Cohen said, while on stage with the existing RHOM cast. “To start Fan Fest right, you [the RHOM cast] all know her. Are you ready to meet the new Real Housewife of Miami? Here she is, Stephanie Shojaee!”

Shojaee then joined her castmates — Guerdy Abraira, Lisa Hochstein, Julia Lemigova, Alexia Nepola, Larsa Pippen, and Friends of the Housewives Adriana De Moura, Marysol Patton, and Kiki Barth — on stage and greeted the fans in her first public appearance as a Real Housewife.

“Below Deck” star Kate Chastain was also on stage for the announcement, and asked the newest mojito-holder what her first thoughts were about her new co-stars. “My first impression is that they were very calm and very sweet,” Shojaee shared. “That lasted five minutes.”

Who is Stephanie Shojaee?

Shojaee spoke with The Daily Dish ahead of her Fan Fest announcement to let fans get to know her a little bit more. “So I’ve always been a trailblazer in everything that I do. All my decisions and all of my choices are always surprising everybody,” she said of her decision to join the show. “I was like, ‘I think I just have to take it. I think the timing feels right and here I am.’ And what better way to show who I really am than to do it on ‘The [Real] Housewives of Miami’.”

Shojaee, a real estate developer, also told The Daily Dish about herself, “The best way that I can describe myself is that I’m like this very tough cookie, but I’m a delicious cookie. I’m one of those really, really large cookies that not everybody can eat all at once and they don’t even want to eat it all at once, but there’s just so much that I bring that I bring to the table. I’m the twist that no one’s prepared for in every setting: whether it’s in the office, whether it’s at a family dinner, wherever it is. Nobody really expects what I’m gonna say, and I’m just excited to show how much happiness and excitement.”

Stephanie Shojaee’s Connection to Dr. Nicole Martin

Shojaee’s casting was spread around the internet as a rumor prior to the official announcement, and some fans noticed that she used to date RHOM star Nicole Martin’s fiancé, Anthony Lopez.

Martin, who left RHOM ahead of season 7 filming to focus on her growing family and mental health, commented on Shojaee’s casting days before the official announcement.

“How do you feel that they replaced you with Steph? Wow she’s Uber Uber fabulous rich,” one user asked Martin in a November 19 Instagram story Q & A. The anesthesiologist responded, “I’ve never met Steph and don’t know her, but can totally see why they wanted her on the show. She brings a lot to RHOM – successful business, marriage, lifestyle, obulence, and ties to the cast. Seems reasonable to me.”

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