Bethenny Frankel is here for the haters. The Real Housewives of New York City alum welcomed her critics with open arms in a new Yahoo Entertainment interview, telling the outlet that if she’s stirring up RHONY fans with her new podcast, then she’s on the right track.
Frankel, who starred on the Bravo hit from Seasons 1 through 3 before taking a break and returning for Seasons 7 through 11, left the show for good in ahead of Season 12, which premiered in 2020. Now, she’s hosting the ReWives podcast, in which she rewatches Housewives episodes with guests like Suze Orman and Kevin Nealon.
Unfortunately for Frankel, her past comments about RHONY have come back to haunt her, with critics coming out to rip the reality star for capitalizing on the very franchise she’s called “toxic” in the past. Still, Frankel isn’t letting the chatter get to her — in fact, it sounds like she’s thriving with it.
“It’s really annoying people, which means I’m doing something right,” Frankel told Yahoo Entertainment. As for specific comments from her former co-star, Luann de Lesseps — who has dragged the podcast as “pathetic” —Frankel brushed those off, too.
“I mean, I don’t really spend any time thinking about Luann,” Frankel told the outlet. “She spends a lot of time thinking about me. So we can thank her for that, because it’s certainly helping [bring in listeners]. I mean, every little bit counts — even if it’s just a little bit from her audience, it’s helpful. I appreciate all the promotion. It’s definitely working.”
Frankel continued to defend herself, telling Yahoo Entertainment that as an original cast member, she’s the perfect Housewives historian.
“I’m completely integral to the success of the Housewives, so I’m absolutely qualified to talk on its history,” she said.
While de Lesseps certainly won’t be tuning into Frankel’s new show, RHONY executive producer Andy Cohen isn’t too ruffled by her podcast, Frankel said. While she admitted that Cohen is “probably a little annoyed” by ReWives, Frankel told Today with Hoda & Jenna last month that she and the Bravo exec remain friends.
“We totally are pals and we take beach walks and most of what we talk about on those walks is the Housewives of this city, that city, this person, that person,” she said, per Page Six.
