'Crappie Lake' stars Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan are having silly fun in their new series centered in a small town. It's a step up from the scrapped 'RHONY: Legacy.'

• 'RHONY' alums Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan sounded off on Bravo's scrapped plans for a "legacy" spinoff.
• Morgan said that the name "sounds like you have one foot in the grave."

"Real Housewives of New York" alums Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan aren't fans of the failed previously announced spinoff, "RHONY: Legacy."

"Legacy sounds like you have one foot in the grave," Sonja Morgan, 59, who was on "RHONY" for 10 seasons before it was put on pause in December 2021, tells Insider.

The "legacy" spinoff, which was announced by executive producer Andy Cohen in March 2022, was initially part of Bravo's two-pronged plan to overhaul "RHONY," which, after low ratings and fan complaints about the show's direction in season 13, has been "rebooted and recast" with a younger, more diverse set of Housewives.

Bravo announced in May that it was changing course with "RHONY: Legacy," and plans to feature fan-favorites from New York — including de Lesseps and Morgan — in a "RHONY"-centric cast for season 5 of "The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip" on Peacock instead.

But before they head to St. Barthélemy for "Ultimate Girls Trip," de Lesseps, the ex-wife of the French Count Alexandre de Lesseps, and Morgan, who was once married to the great-grandson of J.P. Morgan, are headed to a different type of exotic location: Benton, Illinois.

In their upcoming reality series, "Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake," the longtime friends ditch their glamorous lives in New York City to help revitalize the small Illinois town, whose tourism industry has been ravaged by the pandemic. De Lesseps and Morgan attended a "testicle festival," dove into a lake to catch "crappie" catfish by hand, rode monster trucks, and met locals and visitors alike — one of whom Morgan ended up having sex with.

"I'm all about being sexually free, and everybody knows that," Morgan says of her intimate moments being documented on camera.

Romantic diversions aside, de Lesseps and Morgan were intent on spending their six weeks in Benton using their talents to help reinvigorate the town.

"The mayor tasked us with all these things to do, and one by one we knocked them off. We had a long, long list," says de Lesseps, 58. "We had very long days of work. Our lives basically were gone for six weeks because we just needed all of our time and energy to spend getting this town into shape before we left. So, we got a lot done."

"We pulled everything off on that list, and we did it together," Morgan adds. "I mean, I know when Lu says she's going to do something, she does it, and so do I. We've been doing this our whole life between our charities and entertaining."

De Lesseps and Morgan say their crowning achievement in Benton was orchestrating a town talent show they called the "Benton Follies."

"We had groups of dancers, local groups of dancers who were very talented, but they needed just that edge. So, we needed to bring in an icon, and Paula Abdul agreed to come. We were thrilled," de Lesseps says.

After "Crappie Lake," the duo will next be seen vacationing on "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Legacy" — or as Luann likes to call it, "Scary Island part two" — where they'll be reunited with former "RHONY" cast members Dorinda Medley, Ramona Singer, Kristen Taekman, and Kelly Killoren Bensimon.

"It was great to be together again, we broke the fourth wall a lot by talking about things that have gone down over the years, which you never get to hear certain perspectives from us on situations that have happened. So, I think it's cool because you get to hear what our take is on it, and understand a little bit better what really went down," de Lesseps says.

"[RHONY: Legacy] didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to, but I'm happy that we got to do this 'Ultimate Girls Trip' because we are all available to go for a week somewhere and we get eight episodes out of it," she adds. "And I feel like it's a different vibe than Housewives. But at the same time, we're all together on a trip, so it feels like the best possible part of Housewives."

"Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake" debuts with back-to-back half-hour episodes Sunday, July 9 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. The series will move to its regular time slot on Sunday, July 16 at 10 p.m. ET following the Season 14 premiere of the rebooted "Real Housewives of New York City."