Few celebrities can pull off being known by one name, but mention "Dorinda" during a chat with a "Real Housewives" fan, and it's clear who the conversation is about — one Dorinda Medley.
The beloved Bravolebrity made her mark on "The Real Housewives of New York City" as a cast member from seasons seven to 12 and announced in August 2020 she would be stepping away from the series.
In a recent interview with TODAY, Medley said she didn't leave the series, but was instead "put on pause."
"I'm OK with that," she added.
Last September on SiriusXM's "Radio Andy," Andy Cohen addressed the pause and said, "Sometimes taking a pause is a good thing, and I am really hopeful that this is indeed a pause and that she will rejoin the show at some point."
During an interview on her former "Real Housewives" co-star Bethenny Frankel's podcast, "Just B," last October, Medley said she was "excited" and planned on returning to the show.
"I thought I would have a great year, I wasn't given that option," she said at the time.
She added that the temporary break gave her the chance "to do other things.”
Some of those "other things" include writing a book, creating a bourbon and maple syrup named after her beloved Massachusetts home, Blue Stone Manor, and even quite possibly hosting some "Housewives" stars.
"There's been rumors that there's been a visitation by the former 'Housewives' up at Blue Stone Manor," Medley told TODAY, possibly referring to a reported second season of a "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip" show for Peacock, which Medley is said to be a part of.
Any "RHONY" fan will recognize Blue Stone Manor as a staple of the show and a destination known for some of the franchise's most iconic moments and parties. Medley carved some time out of her busy holiday schedule to share Halloween decorating and party tips with TODAY.
Medley's main piece of advice for Halloween party planners is to make sure there's a theme.
"Do a theme. I always say think about it, plan for it," she explained. "You don't need to spend a lot of money. There's so much great stuff out there."
Medley said the theme of her Halloween soiree this year is "make it nice and spooky" and added she will be hosting a Dracula-themed dinner party, complete with spooky music and sounds.
"I really want to set the tone of, like, a haunted house, like literally a house you would see in Transylvania," she said.
Medley is working with Amazon and Ring this Halloween season and has filled her home with smart tech items to enhance her decor — and even set up a unique "make it nice and spooky" routine with Alexa on her Echo Show 10.
Some of her holiday decorations also have special familial significance.
"For every single season, every holiday, I have all old with new," she said. "My mother was a huge collector, and she had some of her grandmother's stuff."
While she'll be rocking a "beautiful, black, long sort of widowy dress" when she dresses as Dracula's girlfriend this Halloween, Medley said her favorite costume she wore on "RHONY" was her "epic" Lady Gaga bubble dress. In the first episode of season 10, fans will remember Medley had ordered what she thought was the dress online, only to realize once the costume arrived, that it was actually a kit with "a bunch of bubbles." So, Medley enlisted the help of her friend who made Gaga's bubble dress that she wore on "Saturday Night Live" to help craft her look.
"Literally by the end of the night, I had like four bubbles left," she said.
Medley has celebrated many holidays in her Berkshires home, which she once referred to on "RHONY" as her "sanctuary," and fans have been lucky enough to see a few of those festivities play out with some of the "Housewives" over the years.
"I would always do some sort of crazy theme, you know, half of them liked it, half of them didn't like it, which is always great for the banter between all the girls," she said.
Some of the most unforgettable moments for Medley happened after dark when the cameras were turned off.
"My favorite memory is probably when the cameras went down late at night. We would stay up, which you guys didn't know, super late and just have so much fun," Medley said about hosting her co-stars.
Many of those rough morning-after wake-up scenes were a result of those late-night antics since the ladies "usually stayed up sort of until 2-3 in the morning having a ball," according to Medley.
I think people always felt like, and I think the viewers as well, always felt like when they came up to Blue Stone Manor, it was sort of their home away from home.
Dorinda Medley
She also recognizes that Blue Stone Manor holds a special place in the hearts of Bravo fans.
"I think people always felt like, and I think the viewers as well, always felt like when they came up to Blue Stone Manor, it was sort of their home away from home," she said. "People really over the years have sort of tied Blue Stone Manor to the New York 'Housewives.'"
In fact, former "RHONY" star Carole Radziwill first came up with the name Blue Stone Manor during the ninth episode of season seven, when the women went to the Massachusetts house for Medley's 50th birthday party.
"It's just like a castle. I think we should call it Blue Stone," Radziwill said, in honor of the color of Medley's eyes as well as the type of stone used to construct the home, which was built in 1902 on a foundation made by her Italian grandfather.
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Medley explained in that same episode that her father had once worked in the home as a telephone man, and she said she always told herself growing up that one day she would own the house. Richard Medley, Dorinda's husband, ended up buying the home for her when they got married in 2005.
He passed away in 2011, but that doesn't mean his presence no longer lingers in Medley's Massachusetts manor.
"I do believe that Richard still has a little visitation every once in a while," she told TODAY. "I've never felt anything negative in this house."
