Bethenny Frankel to Star in New Reality Show, Will Boyfriend Paul Bernon and Daughter Bryn Appear?
Bethenny Frankel is preparing for her reality television return. Over a year after announcing she was leaving the show that
Lindsay Cronin
Bethenny Frankel is preparing for her reality television return.
Over a year after announcing she was leaving the show that made her famous, Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City, Bethenny is speaking out about her latest project, The Big Shot with Bethenny, which is set to begin airing in the coming months on HBO Max.
“I’m not doing a personal reality show because The Big Shot With Bethenny is also very personal,” Bethenny told Hollywood Life during an interview last week. “You’re going to see me in my home habitat, so it’s different.”
Months prior to leaving the cast of The Real Housewives of New York City, much to the dismay of her longtime friend, Dorinda Medley, Bethenny signed a multi-year deal with MGM Television and producer Mark Burnett, which will have her working both in front of the cameras and behind them.
“We are thrilled to have Bethenny Frankel join the MGM television family and bring her unique entertainment savvy that has been loved by viewers since her appearance on The Apprentice and Shark Tank,” Mark said in a statement.
According to Bethenny, her first project with MGM and Mark is competition reality series that will award its winner with a position within her Skinnygirl empire. However, when it comes to what viewers will be seeing on the upcoming series, it won’t be only business-related topics. In fact, Bethenny hinted that fans will be seeing much more than the inner workings of her company.
“It’s more meaty to have a show that actually has somewhere that it wants to go, but also get that truth about my life,” Bethenny said. “Right now I’m in my home with my dogs but I’m doing business. I don’t know anyone who has more of a grey area between their personal life and their business so you’re going to get a lot of that.”
Frankel is Also Launching a New Podcast
In addition to her exciting new television series, Bethenny is also getting into the podcast game with her new show, Just B With Bethenny, which reached #4 on the Apple charts before it beginning airing on September 28.
“I made a commitment like I first did when I went on reality TV to do it real and come correct and live and direct,” Bethenny said. “There’s no fluff or nonsense about who you’re sleeping with or gossip. It’s all about really finding out what makes them tick, how they make decisions, how they think, how they operate in business and everyone is revealing so much about themselves rather than if I was asking them really personal questions, just saying things that you would never hear anywhere else, so it’s going to be amazing, much better than I ever imagined.”
Bethenny has also launched a new line of supplements for women, continues to expand her HSN clothing line, and does plenty of philanthropic work through her charity, B Strong.
“It wasn’t that long ago that I really didn’t know what was going to happen to me, so I’m really grateful and it’s really hard to pinch yourself every day because a million things are happening,” Bethenny added. “it really makes me sit back and go, ‘Wow. I’ve come a long way baby.’ But there’s a lot of intensity. A lot of work, a lot of stress to keep the machine going and to do relief work and the way that I do it. It’s intense. It’s not that easy. If it were easy, everybody would do it. It’s not that easy.”
Bethenny Quit RHONY in August 2019 After Eight Seasons
Just before the rest of the cast, including Ramona Singer, Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Dorinda Medley, Tinsley Mortimer, and Leah McSweeney, were set to begin filming on the 12th season of The Real Housewives of New York City, Bethenny confirmed to Variety that she was leaving.
“I have decided to leave the ‘Housewives’ franchise to explore my next chapter,” she said in a statement. “It’s time to move on and focus on my daughter, my philanthropy and my production partnership with Mark Burnett, producing and starring in shows which represent a shift in the conversation for women. With the changes in modern culture, I want to highlight the strength, confidence and unstoppable power that women have. My experience at Bravo has been an incredibly magical ride. I am so grateful to them for highlighting my entrepreneurialism and allowing me to pave the way for many women to achieve their goals. I am excited for my future. The best is yet to come.”
As fans of the Bravo reality series will recall, Bethenny was one of the original cast members of the series but left after season three to pursue her own show, Bethenny Getting Married, with her now-estranged husband Jason Hoppy. Then, after the series was renamed Bethenny Ever After and aired for two additional seasons, Bethenny returned to The Real Housewives of New York City for season seven and appeared in a full-time position through season 11.
Andy Cohen Was Grateful to Have Bethenny for Eight Seasons
Following Bethenny’s announcement, Andy addressed her departure on his SiriusXM radio show, Andy Cohen Live.
“My overwhelming feeling about Bethenny leaving [The Real Housewives of New York City], and I told her this six months ago, were she going to leave, that I am so grateful that she came back,” Andy explained. “She already left is what we need to remember. So we were so lucky to have these last seasons with her on it. And it was so fun to have her back, and she brought so much to the show, that I just am living in the gratitude of her second return. And I will hopefully live in the gratitude of her third return because we are much like the mob. You can’t get out. And I do hope and think that she will come back some time… Who knows?”
Andy went on to say that because Bethenny has maintained ties to the cast of his reality show, it is certainly possible that she could one day return, even if only for an episode or two.
“She’s so still a part of everything that’s going on that you could almost see her dropping in. You never know. So, I look forward to her in any capacity on the show and I’m just grateful that she was back at all… and we all should be,” he noted.
More recently, Bethenny appeared on Andy’s late night talk show, Watch What Happens Live, where she joked that she would consider returning to The Real Housewives of New York City, but only if there was a huge payday coming her way.
“If you get my gate code and there is a Brinks truck full of a lot of cash. It’s all about the Benjamins,” Bethenny laughed.
“I don’t know. Who knows?” she continued of her possible comeback to the series. “I have a different career now as a result of not being on. Different opportunities do come because of it. It would have to be a different show and I have had ideas. It would have to be a…. clean the deck.”