This season’s Real Housewives of New York is all about fixing. Heather Thomson is trying to fix Bethenny Frankel. while Bethenny (and everyone else) is trying to fix Sonja Morgan. A handful of the ladies are trying to fix Ramona Singer up with a new man (God bless him, poor soul). And Kristen Taekman is praying to keep a fixed Bravo paycheck for another season. Sonja, for her part, is just trying keep her house standing up and her bathing suit parts glued together while she reaches for another drink to dull the pain of her many, many delusions of grandeur.
In her blog, Bethenny revisits the first installment of the ladies trip to Turks and Caicos, just the beginning of the wild ride to come, she says. But first, Bethenny revisits her confrontation with Kristen at Luann de Lesseps’ fashion soiree. “Let me back up and clean up the Kristen mess. I said it best at Luann’s party: I may have an opinion on the choices that someone makes in business, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to walk up and get in someone’s face about it.”
CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON FOR MORE!
Bethenny also explains why Kristen simply annoys her. It’s all about Kristen’s “delivery,” apparently (this year’s RHONY buzzword!). Bethenny claims, “If Kristen had something she wanted to discuss with me or ask me, there is a way to do it. Starting with a negative tone certainly doesn’t motivate me to have a conversation. Kristen is a beautiful and fashionable girl who cares a lot about looking pretty, and no doubt she knows a lot more than I do about nail polish. I wish her all the luck and success in the world. I am no expert in anything. I just go by my personal experience and my gut.” Bethenny does thank her attack dog good friend, Ramona, for defending her. “Ramona was getting my back, and I understand where it came from. As she said, she feels like Kristen has had a hard on for me and just wants to get in the ring.”
Moving on to the Turks and Caicos trip, Bethenny expresses frustration and amusement with Ramona and Sonja’s insane grabby behavior over room assignments. “I was shocked and had forgotten how getting to a rental house is akin to the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Ramona felt that she and Sonja had some seniority or special privilege and that they deserved first choice of the rooms. It turned me off a little bit. We are all beyond grown women, and no one is more entitled than anyone else to a certain kind of room.” Bethenny revels in the fact that “karma got involved, because Luann got the best room by just ‘being cool’ and sashaying into her pool and ocean front piece of heaven. I slept in a twin bed facing the driveway and couldn’t have cared less.” (Is this Bethenny’s attempt at appearing “low maintenance”?)
As for Ramona’s bikini-clad antics by the pool, Bethenny (and I) couldn’t get enough! “Ramona, aka ‘Swiper’ from Dora the Explorer, was in rare banana-colored bikini form. She was classic Ramona, and I loved every minute of it. Watching her awkwardly exercise while trying to heist Carole [Radziwill’s] shoes could entertain me for days and actually did.”
Tossing an aside comment to Heather about her clothing line, Bethenny says, wasn’t meant maliciously. But it does lay the groundwork for Heather calling Bethenny a “know it all” later on the trip. Bethenny says she thinks Heather “has talent and is a great fashion designer,” and that she “was merely suggesting that she really focus on fitness, because there is a lot of opportunity there. She seemed to take offense to that. Everyone is a little sensitive and touchy. I think I’m missing that chip, so I often say something to offend them. As Kathy Griffin says, ‘You can’t be who you’re not’.”
So if she can’t change who she is, why does Bethenny continually try to force Lady Morgan to? Reflecting on their screaming match in the kitchen, Bethenny admits, “It really is me at this point, because I don’t need to insert myself into Sonja’s life. I’m just trying to be constructive, because she seems to have alienated the other women at this point. I hope this isn’t a shame-on-me-for-trying moment, but I can only do what I can do.” She adds, “I understand Sonja feeling very paranoid and not trusting of this group. I genuinely want the best for her and for her to succeed in all areas of life. There really is a lot going on for many women in this group emotionally.”
Confessing that screaming “Shut the f*k up!” in Sonja’s face was probably not the best tactic to win her over, Bethenny shares her regrets, and makes excuses for her behavior. “It is not my job to fix anyone, and I’m not Dr. Drew. I care about and genuinely like Sonja, and I was trying to break in and make some sense of the situation. I had no right to tell her or anyone to shut the f— up. I was frustrated beyond the brink. In watching this episode, I see how intense I can be. If you knew the half of what was going on with me personally, you might understand. That said, we all have our sh–.”
Warning viewers that “What happens next on this island is definitely one for the books. In the words of the late Karen Carpenter, ‘We’ve only just begun…,'” Bethenny leaves us with the sense that her argument with Sonja was nothing compared to what awaits us.
TELL US: DO YOU THINK BETHENNY NEEDS TO BACK OFF SONJA? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS IN STORE IN FOR THE REST OF THE TURKS TRIP?
Photo Credit: Bravo
