Next chapter. Bethenny Frankel isn’t done with TV, but she is ready for a change.
The Skinnygirl founder, 49, shocked fans when she announced her departure from The Real Housewives of New York City in August. Now, Frankel is opening up about her decision in an interview with Variety published on Thursday, February 20.
“Everyone thinks I left because of money. I wasn’t leaving because of money,” Frankel, 49, told the publication about her RHONY departure. “I was staying because of money.”
The businesswoman, who announced her latest TV venture, The Big Shot With Bethenny, on Wednesday, February 19, explained that she had outgrown the reality TV series.
“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,” she said.
Frankel admitted that the “astronomical” paycheck made her hesitate before she ultimately decided to part ways with the Bravo franchise.
“I just thought to myself, a bartender, a high-class prostitute who’s making a lot of money, you gotta sometimes make a move, and just say, ‘Let me just do what feels right to me,’” the New York native explained.
She added: “I just was looking for a reason. And I just was ready to do it. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I mean, honestly — I just didn’t.”
The Skinnygirl founder and CEO is now looking to the future, which consists of filming her HBO Max show that will help Frankel find her second-in-command at her company.
“I had so many ideas for shows, and one of them was to find my successor,” the entrepreneur told the outlet. “The show came out of the need. I’ve always had amazing, young, hungry, aggressive employees, but I’ve really still had to be the one directing them, and teaching them how to fish. I’ve hired different brand managers and presidents; I haven’t really had a person that I felt could live and breathe the brand, understand it, and speak as me, make decisions as me, write as me.”
The show is still in it’s planning phase, but according to Frankel, the next step will be to start the casting process and revealing how people can apply. “Then we will begin shooting in not that long of a time, in the next couple of months,” she added.
The New York Times bestselling author is prepared for the move — especially after taking a brief break from the TV world altogether.
“I feel rested, I feel calm. It does feel different. It took, like, a couple of months to detox from being on TV in that way for 12 years, for a quarter of my life,” she explained. “So it was a great opportunity, it was a great experience, a great platform. I came on as a what I consider a girl, and now I’m a woman and a mother and a businessperson.”
