Tom Schwartz Says Vanderpump Rules Firings Don't "Feel Real"; He Is “In Denial”
Lisa Rinna Upset With Garcelle Beauvais For Bringing Up Her Daughter’s Eating Disorder On Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills; "That's Mom Shaming"
Lala Kent Is Open To Faith Stowers Returning To Vanderpump Rules
Bravo To Air "Race In America" Special Featuring Real Housewives Garcelle Beauvais, Porsha Williams, Leah McSweeney & More
When Bethenny Frankel decided to quit Real Housewives of New York in August of 2019, it was a surprise to many viewers. According to co-star Ramona Singer, Bethenny’s fellow New York Housewives found out the news in the press. Yikes!
Allegedly, Bravo executives were upset with Bethenny months before she left RHONY because Bethenny was teaming up with Mark Burnett to produce unscripted TV shows. Whether or not you are a fan, Bethenny does create great television.
When I heard that Bethenny Frankel was leaving the Real Housewives of New York, I was a little sad. Bethenny can be audacious, self-absorbed and always seems to be surrounded by chaos, but she was also a good fit for the show. She was often spot-on in her assessments of her castmates and wasn’t afraid to address issues like Luann de Lesseps’ cabaret obsession or Ramona Singer’s rudeness.
One of Bethenny’s most admirable traits is her business acumen. Within a few years of joining RHONY, Bethenny started her Skinny Girl brand and later sold off the cocktail division of her business, reportedly for big bucks. Last season, Bethenny admitted that her life was overwhelming her and that she was considering simplifying things by selling a part of her company. Over the summer, Bethenny announced she was leaving the show to focus on her daughter, philanthropy and a production partnership with Mark Burnett. And with a more recent announcement, Bethenny continues to focus on her Skinny Girl brand.
Bethenny Frankel knows how to hustle. There’s no doubt about that. She’s also been afforded plenty of opportunities to demonstrate that hustle across a host of platforms – reality television specifically. She got her start on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart in 2005, and came in second place. While she has admitted in interviews that she thinks Martha Stewart was not a fan of hers, she definitely impressed producer Mark Burnett. Shortly thereafter, Bethenny was cast on a little show we know called Real Housewives of New York City, and well the rest is history!
In her time on RHONY, Bethenny went from single, to married, to divorced mom, and author, all while building an immensely successful brand. She was able to make her ideas a reality, leverage her name and status from the series and build SkinnyGirl into a brand. The brand was executed so well that she sold the company to Fortune Brands Beam Global in 2011 for an estimated 120 million dollars. Her story is part of why fans admire her and she definitely has bragging rights.
When Bethenny Frankel announced on August 21 that she was leaving Real Housewives of New York, everyone was stunned. Viewers were stunned. Her RHONY co-stars were stunned. It was the departure that no one expected.
Bethenny’s new man, Paul Bernon, is very private and doesn’t want to be on camera, so that could be one reason for Bethenny’s departure. There were also rumblings that Bravo executives were angry for months that Bethenny had plans to produce unscripted shows for television with Mark Burnett.
Talk about leaving on a high note. Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel recently dropped the bombshell that she is once again packing up her Birkin bags and leaving the show. The news came as a shock to fans since Bethenny really brought the drama last season and was even credited for saving the show.
Other than the big meltdown in Miami when Bethenny went off on Luann de Lesseps, B was surprisingly simpatico with the rest of the cast. Maybe because Carole Radziwill was out of the picture, and no one else stepped up to call her out on her BS. However, not everyone in the Bravo family was supposedly all sunshine and rainbows with Bethenny last season.
The latest scandal to rear its ugly head from The Bachelor is that one of the young women looking for love with the new “Bachelor” Jake Pavelka was fooling around with a staff member from the show, according to reports. The incident became public when ABC aired a brief promo about the contestant. “She’s been having a sexual affair with somebody else in the Bachelor House,” one of the other women is heard saying on the clip, which has now been removed from the ABC website.
According to the NYpost, fansofrealityTV.com also revealed several weeks earlier that a male member of the show’s production crew and one of the contestants were romantically involved while “The Bachelor” was shooting in the fall. In addition, the website claims to have some inside information regarding the affair.
Officials from the show have refused to comment but this is somewhat interesting since reality shows prohibit cast and crew members from fraternizing off camera. Mark Burnett, producer of several hit reality shows including “Survivor” claims that his crew members are warned that merely talking to a contestant is grounds for immediate termination.
“The Bachelor” has been lucky with ratings – impromptu happenings like when Jason Mesnick changed his mind a month after initially proposing to Melissa Rycroft have proved to be a ratings boost for the show. In the Reunion show, he announced he was really in love with the runner up Molly and dumped Melissa on national TV.
The episode where the alleged scandal takes place will air in late January, according to reports. However, no one seems to know which bachelorette was caught fooling around this season and the fate of the crew member. The bachelorette will however be one of the 15 that remained on after the first night of eliminations.
The new season of the Bachelor premiers January 4th on ABC.
Audrina Patridge has evidently had a change of heart, and has officially signed on to return to the next season of The Hills. The 24 year old announced back in August that she would be leaving the show to pursue her own reality show.
UsWeekly is now reporting Audrina has agreed to come back after weeks of negotiations.
“I can officially confirm that Audrina Patridge will appear in the 6th season of The Hills,” Jennifer Shoucair Weaver, a rep for Audrina reveals. “Production will resume shortly after the new year. Next week, Patridge begins filming the pilot episode of her currently unnamed spinoff show, also for MTV . The new show will be produced by Mark Burnett.”
According to a source, Audrina will be “getting six figures per episode. It is an incredibly lucrative deal.”
Audrina Patridge has decided to follow in the footsteps of former castmate, Lauren Conrad, as she has also decided to leave her hit show, The Hills.
“I’m almost done with The Hills. We’re in the middle of finishing these episodes, and I’ll be leaving then,” Audrina revealed at a junket for her new thriller Sorority Row Sunday in LA.
“It feels like I’m graduating,” she added. “I’m taking the next step and growing up and maturing and moving on in my life.”
This might also have to do with the fact that Audrina,24, is currently developing her own reality show with Survivor producer Mark Burnett.
Audrina also plans to continue pursuing her acting career, and credits The Hills for helping her, “I feel like it’s helped me a lot going to auditions and sitting in front of the camera… blocking the camera out and just getting into character.”
The new season of The Hills is set to premiere Sept. 29 on MTV.