Former Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel is setting the record straight about why she left the reality show that made her famous. Frankel says that people have it backwards, and she didn’t leave because of money. Instead, she stayed on the show as long as she did because of the paycheck.
“Everyone thinks I left because of money. I wasn’t leaving because of money, I was staying because of money,” Frankel told Variety. “It no longer became this platform to promote my business, because I had done that, and there was more promoting sort of new and questionable businesses than the legitimate ones at this point, if that makes any sense.”
The 49-year-old added that after the RHONY platform stopped benefitting her business, it was the “astronomical” paycheck that kept her coming back. Frankel admitted she stayed as long as she did for the money, but she started thinking about how bartenders and high-class prostitutes eventually have to make a move and say “Let me just do what feels right to me.”
The Skinnygirl founder announced in August 2019 that she was leaving RHONY after being a part of the series for eight seasons. Frankel was an OG cast member and first appeared in 2008. She starred on the show for the first three seasons, but she took a break for Seasons 4, 5, and 6, before returning for Seasons 7 through 11.
Frankel says that she was looking for a reason to leave the series because she was ready to go. She explained that she didn’t want to be there anymore, and she remembers calling her publicist Jill Fritzo to tell her she was done.
Fritzo questioned Frankel about her decision to exit RHONY, especially since they were starting to film Season 12. Frankel says that Fritzo reminded her that “once you’re out, you’re out,” but Frankel was ready to make her move.
Now, Bethenny Frankel is moving on to her own non-scripted series for HBO Max titled The Big Shot with Bethenny. The new show is an Apprentice-style business competition show. And, the winner will win an executive position at Skinnygirl.
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HBO Max is set to launch in May.
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