Jill Zarin

Jill Zarin is a television personality, entrepreneur and author best known as an original cast member of The Real Housewives of New York City. Zarin was born in Woodmere, New York, and spent her early years on Long Island. She earned a degree in retail management from Simmons University (formerly Simmons College) in 1985. After graduating, she began her career as an assistant buyer at Filene’s before becoming vice president of Great American Knitting Mills.

Zarin built a successful career in the fashion and textile industry before joining Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City in 2008 as one of the franchise’s original housewives. The series made her a reality TV star and introduced viewers to her family life alongside husband Bobby Zarin and daughter Allyson Shapiro. During her time on the show, she expanded her public profile with business ventures, including Jill Zarin Home and SKWEEZ Couture. She also coauthored the book Secrets of a Jewish Mother (2010) with her mother, Gloria Kamen, and sister, Lisa Wexler.

In addition to RHONY, Zarin has appeared on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Celebrity Wife Swap and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. She has continued to grow her home décor and lifestyle brands while remaining a familiar face within the Bravo universe. In 2026, she was named as a cast member of the RHONY spinoff The Golden Life but was later removed from the show following her criticism of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX performance.

Zarin married Steven Shapiro in 1987, and the pair divorced in 1998. They welcomed daughter Allyson Shapiro in 1992 via sperm donor. She wed Bobby Zarin in 2000, and they remained together until his death in 2018. Through that marriage, she became stepmother to his three children: Jonathan, David and Jennifer. Since 2018, she has been in a relationship with businessman Gary Brody.