It’s just business. Bethenny Frankel opened up about the real financial reason she decided to move on from The Real Housewives of New York City after season 11.
In a TiKTok video shared on Tuesday, July 5, the Skinnygirl founder, 51, addressed the misconception that she only left the franchise “because of the money.” Frankel clarified: “If I stayed, it would have been because of the money. I left because I wanted to leave. I was ready to leave, and I used a technicality deal point as my excuse.”
The New York native added that she “just lost someone very close” at the time of the contract renewal and didn’t want to go back to work. “Pros play hurt,” she continued. “I’m a professional. I show up on time, I deliver. That’s my reputation in business.”
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She claimed she noticed a “new point” in the Housewives’ contracts which made it so they allegedly “won’t be paid” if they didn’t appear in an episode for one reason or another. That rule, however, didn’t exactly apply to the RHONY OG who was with the series since its inception in 2008.
“The production company said that they ‘Would never air an episode without you.’ They told me that directly, I have receipts,” Frankel continued.
The Big Shot With Bethenny alum went on: “I already knew that I’m a professional and there would just be no situation where I wouldn’t show up for work. But sometimes, these little things, if you’re thinking of leaving and you don’t want to be there, you know I’m the type of person where that one thing would give me an excuse. So I said no. And the reason for that term was because Housewives in other cities who weren’t filming, they just decided not to film. That was just my excuse.”
The former talk show host noted that Bravo executives said they “would’ve changed it” for her, but she was ultimately “looking for a reason” to make her final exit.
“I knew that I showed up for work every single day when I experienced a tremendous loss. So, obviously, I’m going to show up for work under any circumstance,” the former Bravo personality said. “There can be no more extreme circumstance and that the little, tiny, minute detail that would have never come to pass, it was the impetus. That was the catalyst that just said, ‘Boom. Not going back.'”
After the network confirmed earlier this year that RHONY would return for season 14 and that a greenlit, second series temporarily titled RHONY: Legacy, would also be created Frankel weighed in with her take on the news.
“I got a text from, you know, the powers that be in the Bravosphere saying, ‘Is there a chance? Is there a chance? Just asking, is there a chance?’ Meaning, would I come back,” the entrepreneur said on her “Just B” podcast, explaining how she “didn’t really understand” how the show was supposed to turn out.
She added, “When asked, I say, ‘There’s a number, but I don’t think you can afford it.'”
