Thi Nguyen/Bravo

The “Real Housewives” franchise has proven once again just how real reality TV can be.

Even housewives, and even reality TV stars, get fired.

Bravo confirmed on Saturday the widely-circulated rumors that “Real Housewives of New York” cast members Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Cindy Barshop, and Kelly Bensimon were given the pink slip for Season 5 of the hit series, set to begin filming in just weeks.

The network portrayed the ladies’ departure from the show as “friendly,” writing in the statement, “We’ve had a fabulous run with all the ladies and appreciate them sharing their lives with our viewers.”

At least one of the women on the other side of Bravo’s ax, however, painted a less-than friendly picture.

“Following the reunion it was clear that the women genuinely didn’t like each other anymore,” Cindy Barshop, whose appearance on Season 4 was her first, and last, on the show, told ABC News after her firing was confirmed.

Barshop was referring, of course, to the show’s contentious, two-part finale in April that brought all five housewives together in a crying, screaming and finger-pointing recap of the past season.

The mass firings now leave Ramona Singer and LuAnn DeLesseps as the only two members of the original cast to survive through to Season 5.  The third housewife to avoid the ax, Sonja Morgan, a friend of Singer’s, joined the show partway through Season 3.

Zarin and McCord were both original New York housewives, alongside Singer and DeLesseps, in the series’ first season back in 2008.  Bensimon was added at the beginning of Season 2, and Barshop officially became a housewife at the beginning of Season 4.

While the four Housewives’ firings may be the biggest, and not of their own choosing, the departures are not the first for the New York series.  Original cast member Bethenny Frankel appeared on three seasons of the show before leaving for her own Bravo show, Bethenny Ever After, which was renewed for a third season in March.

The four New York castaways, nonetheless, are not the first to be fired from a “Real Housewives” franchise.  Danielle Staub, of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and Lynn Curtain, from the show’s original “Orange County” franchise, were each fired at the end of their respective seasons.

The entire cast of the “Real Housewives of D.C.” was fired last year when the show was canceled after just one season.

The ladies are proving, however, that a fired housewife does not go down without a fight, nor does a reality TV star relinquish the spotlight easily.

Zarin was visiting her daughter at college when the statement was released by Bravo so left it to her representative to tell People magazine, “Jill is humbled by the extraordinary amount of media interest in her response and looks forward to personally opening up about all of this very soon and announcing some exciting new projects.”

Her fellow Bravo stars may have hinted at her future as well.  “Hey @Jillzarin fans: don’t panic, she may have a show of her own…stay tuned!,” Millionaire Matchmaker‘s Patti Stanger tweeted over the weekend.

McCord’s husband Simon Van Kempen also spoke up about his family’s future, telling The Hollywood Reporter, that he and his wife “Don’t intend for this to be the final time you’ll see us on television.”

Bravo said in its statement Saturday that, “we continue to have ongoing discussions,” with Zarin, McCord, Bensimon and Barshop.