Real Housewives of New York alum Bethenny Frankel has a lot on her plate these days. She shocked RHONY fans when she abruptly decided to exit the show in August of 2019. There must be some hard feelings, because Bethenny allegedly threw a fit when a producer during Bravocon opined that the show didn’t need her to succeed. A furious Bethenny blocked that producer on social media.
Since then, Bethenny has been busy helping those impacted by the coronavirus. The Skinnygirl mogul delivered 1 million protective suits to New York and 50,000 suits to Louisiana. Bethenny’s BStrong foundation raised funds to aid 100 black-owned businesses impacted by Covid-19. Say what you will about Bethenny, but she really comes through to help those affected by disasters.
Bethenny is also casting for her new television show, The Big Shot With Bethenny. Contestants will learn how to become successful entrepreneurs while competing to be part of Bethenny’s team. That sounds stressful.
The Season 12 RHONY premiere featured the current cast reacting to Bethenny’s departure. Sonja Morgan and Dorinda Medley seemed sad that Bethenny was leaving. Ramona Singer and Luann de Lesseps, in contrast, were elated! They will get more camera time without having to compete with Bethenny and her big personality.
After watching the episode, Bethenny commented, “The beginning of the show was the proverbial middle finger to me. The women have definitely had some unpleasant things to say about me … I wish them well.” She added, “The ratings overall in television have never been higher and perhaps the ratings on ‘Real Housewives’ aren’t doing well because it’s sort of not maybe the content that is inspiring people to do what they need to do right now.” Take that, Ramona and Luann.
Page Six reported that Bethenny discussed the possibility of a RHONY return in an interview with Fortune. While Bethenny is “humbled by the threads and comments” asking her to return, she isn’t planning to grab another apple.
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“I honestly am stunned. I haven’t been watching. I saw the first episode and part of another one, so I don’t know what’s going on there,” Bethenny remarked. “There’s a lot of talk about what’s going on there, and I read comments that people say to me, ‘Please come back,’ and ‘Please save the show.’ It’s all flattering, and I wish the girls well.” Bethenny stated.
She added, “I’m doing other things though, and I just don’t know how that really would fit into my life as is.” Bethenny appeared as a full-time cast member for the shows first three seasons. She made a triumphant return in Season 7 before deciding to depart again at the close of Season 11.
Bethenny does give credit to Bravo’s Andy Cohen for suggesting that she start her own podcast. Bethenny’s podcast, titled Just B With Bethenny Frankel will debut in September of 2020.
RHONY’s July 2 episode received the show’s lowest ratings since Season 7. It’s pretty clear that Bethenny isn’t returning to breathe new life into the franchise again. Hopefully the New York ladies can translate their drunken shenanigans, and naked tiki torch-throwing, into some higher ratings.
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TELL US- WILL BETHENNY EVERY RETURN TO RHONY? ARE THE RATINGS DOWN BECAUSE SHE LEFT? WILL YOU WATCH HER NEW SHOW OR LISTEN TO HER PODCAST?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]