Bethenny Frankel's split with Jason Hoppy has been anything but happy. The 42-year-old former Real Housewives of New York City star, Skinnygirl mogul and talk show host ended her nearly two-and-a-half year marriage in December 2012, but divorce proceedings and a custody battle over their 3-year-old daughter, Bryn, are still raging on. In an upcoming interview with ABC's Nightline, Frankel opens up about how she's coping.
"I'm going through a brutal, brutal time," she says in the interview, airing Tuesday, Aug. 13. "It really, really is. I mean, there's no other way to slice it."
"I felt like I disappointed people, because I felt like I was this role model, that represented the fairy tale," Frankel explains. "I'm definitely bruised."
Frankel's marriage to Hoppy was featured on her Real Housewives spin-off shows, Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After. The Bravo star, however, doesn't blame the "curse" of appearing on a reality show for causing her marriage to end.
"I don't regret letting the cameras roll at all," she says. "I could have skated by. I could have stayed on the show and been like, 'Oh, everything's perfect with us. Everything's great.' It made me feel dirty for people to think that I had this perfect relationship and this perfect life."
To help deal with the stress of her marriage ending, Frankel says she's enjoying alcohol — cocktails from Skinygirl, to be exact, which she sold to Jim Beam in 2011 for an estimated $100 million.
"I would imagine eventually, sex would be a nice release, but you know, who knows," she said. (Last month, Frankel vacationed in St. Tropez with hedge-fund Warren Lichtensten, but a source told Us Weekly they are just friends.) "If I'm exercising or doing yoga it'll take the edge off on some level. And then I like to have a Skinnygirl cocktail. I'm not going to lie. Honestly. It's mommy juice."
Frankel's full interview with Nightline airs Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 12:35. a.m. ET.
