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In the upcoming new Season 4 of Real Housewives of New York, Alex McCord has completely changed her persona. She’s found her voice and no longer stays silent. Here’s why:

“I have finally had it up to here,” Alex tells Hollywood Life exclusively at the premiere party at NYC’s Covet Lounge on April 5. “I have a very long fuse, and when it blows — it blows.” But, when Alex’s newly found voice causes an uproar among her castmates — only a few of the women have her back!

“The biggest difference in the metamorphosis is that I’m actually just saying what I was thinking all along,” Alex tells us. “Both of us [meaning her husband Simon van Kempen] have felt freer. If you don’t say what you are thinking, people will make up all sorts of things that they think you’re thinking and it’s never real.”

Unfortunately some of the women find Alex’s words annoying. “I love Alex. I think she’s a really sweet girl,” Kelly Bensimon explains to us. “But I think one of her biggest issues is that she’s outspoken about the wrong issues — sometimes less is more.”

But some of her co-stars have her back. “I think they are just shocked that she’s stepping out of her shell,” Ramona Singer tells us. “First season she was a quiet mouse. Now she has a voice. And you know what, she comes to my defense a number of times on the show. She’s become a good friend. I just like her. I think she’s real and does things unpretentiously. She’s very genuine person.”

Sonja Morgan also joins the pro-Alex team … most of the time. “I am very friendly with Alex,” she says. “She’s entitled to have her opinion and vent.”

“I’m there for her, but I do have to pull the plug at certain points,” Sonja adds. “I’m not a doormat. I have to draw the line sometimes. But she is my girlfriend regardless. She’s entitled to her emotions and passion.”

Newest housewife Cindy Barshop — who admittedly is closest with the other side including Jill Zarin, Kelly and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps — even stands up for Alex occasionaly. “I didn’t know her when she wasn’t outspoken,” says Cindy. “Now she’s just saying what’s on her mind. Maybe even a few times I even encouraged her to speak up a little more.”

Credit: Hollywood Life (Lindsey DiMattina)