While Sonja Morgan, Lisa Vanderpump, and Luann DeLesseps are just some of the many well-known names to be birthed from Andy Cohen's Real Housewives franchises, few have stirred as much fervor in the show's audience as Bethenny Frankel. Frankel was with Real Housewives of New York City in 2008 when it premiered and remained with the show for eight seasons. She did not exactly part on great terms and fans would go on to miss her dearly.
But all stars also have their detractors as well as their fans, especially ones from the overtly dramatized world of reality television. While some fans love Bethenny Frankel for her snappy lines and outspokenness, some fans are not as into this businesswoman's schtick.
9 Fans Can't Stand: She Talks A Lot Of Smack
Bethenny Frankel is very much a "tell it like it is" kind of person. She will not bite her tongue when she feels the need to speak out against what she thinks is right and wrong. While some admire this brand of integrity, others think that she is a bit too into her ego. She has even gone as far as to criticize the show which made her so famous, saying it is "not inspiring." An odd criticism seeing how most people watch reality TV for outrageous fights and goofy one-liners that can be sampled for TikTok sounds. Most people aren't watching Real Housewives for a pep talk.
8 Fans Can't Stand: The Skinny Margarita Story
Rumors always seem to orbit every celebrity being horrible or rude in some way. Many are true and many others are unsubstantiated. That said, it was reported by Page Six in 2015 that Frankel was less than cordial to servers and some of her costars during a party put on by Luann DeLesseps to celebrate a recent magazine cover shoot. Allegedly, Frankel was "causing a scene" and almost threw a tantrum when she could not order a "Skinny Margarita."
7 Fans Can't Stand: She Allegedly Doesn't Get Along With The Cast
As one can imagine from the alleged "Skinny Margarita" incident, Bethenny was not a hit with her co-stars. She was said to be hated, according to the Page Six article about the party. Also, while fans loved her straightforward approach to her castmates, the other housewives might have started to feel disrespected. One cast member, Carole Radziwill, allegedly quit the show due to an ongoing feud with Frankel. She was not the only housewife to go on the offensive against Frankel.
6 Fans Love: Her Instagram Posts
Almost all of the Real Housewives cast members have major social media followings. Bethenny Frankel clocks in with nearly 3 million Instagram followers, where she posts both candid and impressively framed and staged photographers highlighting her life since leaving the show. She uses the site to promote her brands and show off outfits, your standard Instagram thoroughfare. Still, fans seem to just eat it up.
5 Fans Love: Her Outspoken Nature
Although, while her detractors are quick to criticize her for speaking so bluntly so often, many of her fans think this shows that she is strong and willing to speak truth to power. She was also not afraid to challenge her cast mates, like when Sonja Morgan created a brand that was almost a bit too similar to her own, Frankel called it a "cheater brand." Of course, the drama that makes the show what it is ensued.
4 Fans Love: Her One Liners
Bethenny Frankel was responsible for many of the most popular fan favorite moments on the show. Her argument with Kelly Bensimon during the "Scary Island" venture is the best example, as her quip "Go to sleep" remains one of her most quoted lines among her fans on Reddit.
3 Fans Love: Her Dynamic With The Cast
While the cast might have been annoyed with her, fans loved the dynamic she had with everyone on screen. It was less of a straight forward, friend or enemy, type of dynamic and was more like a power play. One Reddit fan said that Bethenny Frankel had a different effect on the cast than the others did with each other, like they, "want her approval." Perhaps this ability to be so influential is what helped her Skinny Girl brand to become so much more successful than some of her co-stars' ventures.
2 Fans Love: Her Covid Charity
Many were not happy with the behavior of celebrities during the Covid pandemic lockdowns of 2020. While many stars went on social media pleading for calm, trying to reassure the public, many who were effected financially by the lockdowns felt the stars were being tone deaf to rampant economic inequality. Frankel, however, took the crisis seriously. She quickly went on the offensive against the virus, donating supplies for essential healthcare workers, setting up pipelines for supplies, and much more.
1 Fans Love: Her Story
One thing that endears Bethenny Frankel to many of her fans is her humble life story. While many of the housewives are textbook definition "nepo babies," Frankel's childhood was much more difficult. Her parents divorced at a very young age, and her mother drank heavily and fought often with her stepfather. While Bethenny Frankel did not grow up destitute she was not rich until later in her life.
She is also one of the only housewives to have worked behind the scenes on television, she was briefly a production assistant for Saved By The Bell while she was pursuing acting in the early 1990s. After some work as a spokesperson, she landed Real Housewives Of New York City and became a reality TV icon. She is now worth near $80 million.
