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‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ Season 8 Premiere Recap: Bethenny Frankel Insults Jules Wainstein’s Size

Welcome (back) to New York! On Wednesday, April 6, the season 8 premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City started strong. While there were no explosions to put out just yet, plenty of the ladies were already kindling some flames. Hot topics ranged from Dorinda Medley‘s still highly disliked boyfriend John to Sonja Morgan’s heavy drinking to newbie Julianne “Jules” Wainstein‘s weight. Basically, no one was safe.

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Bethenny and Ramona Think Sonja Is a Lush

Both fresh off their former relationships, it seemed Bethenny Frankel and Ramona Singer were each ready to embrace the dating scene, though their approaches seemed very different. It’s also worth mentioning that Ramona settled her split in a matter of months (she kept both the city apartment and Hamptons abode), while Bethenny’s was dragging on. They met up for lunch to swap notes.

“She’s got some new titties,” Bethenny said of Ramona. “She’s got some new clothes. It’s hunting season.” (Luann de Lesseps also seemed to be on a bit of a dating tear as she came into the city to stay overnight with Sonja but reported that she would actually be going on a date that night as well. Sonja’s only comment was that Luann couldn’t have sex in her daughter’s bed, which seemed reasonable enough.)

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As for herself, Bethenny claimed she hadn’t had sex “in a long time.” When Ramona asked if she meant a whole month, Bethenny recoiled. Apparently, it had been much longer than that. It seemed that logistics were the main issue preventing Bethenny from hopping back in the sheets.

“When you’re in your 40s, dating is much more difficult. I don’t want anyone in my bed because then I have to get them out, and I have no interest in sleeping somewhere else,” she explained to the camera in her special Bethenny way. “When you’re 20, you don’t care about having your underwear in a brown paper bag and running across town in a taxi. Now I don’t want someone past my doorman.”

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Then the discussion turned to Sonja Morgan. Ramona claimed Sonja drinks too much and is “too frisky” with men, so she stopped hanging out with her. Bethenny then made a similar comment about Dorinda, saying she turned into “crazy late-night mercurial” Dorinda who drinks too much when she is with John.

“I have to ignore certain things about John, just the way Dorinda does,” Ramona quipped. Bethenny agreed that Dorinda knew what kind of man John was and that it “makes her self-conscious.” In other words, no one likes John.

John Is Moving In

To clarify, no one likes John … except Dorinda. In fact, Dorinda liked him enough that she was planning to have him move in as soon as her daughter, Hannah (who also doesn’t like John), moved out. John looked like a kid in a candy store discussing his imminent relocation, but Dorinda seemed a bit unsettled. To be fair though, John was basically undressing her at the dinner table while they discussed it, so that could have contributed to her discomfort.

She admitted that despite her hopes, there “certainly hasn’t been a meeting of the minds” in terms of John and her daughter’s relationship, but reasoned that it was simply a “natural progression” for Hannah to move out and for him to move in. It wasn’t exactly a cheer of enthusiasm, but she seemed resigned to her fate.

Carole and Adam Are Still Going Strong

In a surprising update, Carole Radziwill and her boyfriend Adam were still together and about to celebrate their one-year anniversary. No one, including Carole, thought they would last that long. What’s more, the free-spirited author admitted she had been “nesting” and had recently gotten a puppy, which she named Baby. (No comment.)

The lovebirds were about to face a new challenge, however, as Adam was preparing to leave for his first major international trip since they started dating. He was going to Ethiopia, and for unspecified reasons, Carole was staying home. She admitted she was going to miss him, but at least she had the baby to keep her company. We mean the dog — the dog to keep her company.

Cast of 'Real Housewives of New York'
Cast of Real Housewives of New York

Skinnygirl or Too Skinny, Girl

Dorinda, John, Bethenny, her date (also named John), newbie Housewife Jules and Jules’ husband, Michael, all met up for brunch. After exchanging some pleasantries about dry cleaning and how being a mom is the hardest job in the world, Bethenny brought up some incident that happened over the summer in the Hamptons that involved Dorinda and John being extremely wasted.

For her part, Dorinda was not amused, arguing that what happens in the Hamptons, stays in the Hamptons. Meanwhile, John seemed to be annoying just about everyone at the table with his terrible, repeated jokes. After politely nodding as John grilled her about whether she had fiber-coated the fabrics in her new apartment, Bethenny turned to Dorinda and quietly commented that she thought Jules was far too skinny. Dorinda seemed to agree, though she didn’t say much.

“She looks like a really thin girl — like, she looks like there is an issue,” Bethenny said to the camera. “I wrote a book called naturally thin. This is not naturally thin. It’s the kind of thin that makes people around you uncomfortable. I never had an eating disorder. I had a mother who had an eating disorder, and I’ve been around it, and I understand it.” Though Jules didn’t hear any of Bethenny’s comments to Dorinda (or the cameras, obviously), it seems highly unlikely the season will play out without her catching wind of them.

Tell Us: Do you think Bethenny is right to imply that Jules has an eating disorder?

The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. 

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