Now far removed and embarking on her own ventures in television, Bethenny Frankel can speak openly and honestly about why she left The Real Housewives of New York. During her most recent interview, the OG housewife dished on how she knew it was time for her to leave the hit reality show. She has remained very vocal since her RHONY exit in season 11.
It was her second departure from the show after leaving in season three and returning in season seven. After eight seasons of being at the center of the drama on the show, she announced her final exit in August 2019. Her transparency and outspoken demeanor often put her at odds with the other housewives. The Skinny Girl founder never shied away from sharing the ups and downs of her love life and co-parenting situation with ex-husband Jason Hoppy. Since her exit, she has hosted her own daytime talk show while expanding her business ventures. In addition to hosting her own podcast, Just B With Bethenny Frankel, she is now preparing to release an upcoming HBO Max competition series, The Big Shot with Bethenny.
The Bravo star recently stopped by The Tamron Hall Show to promote her new projects and take a little trip down memory lane. "Yes, when I signed on to the ‘Housewives,’ the contract said $7,250 for the entire season," the Housewives alum recalled of her season one pay. She went on to explain how she started to look past the money and towards the bigger picture for her overall career goals. "I wasn’t looking at the money because you can’t always look at the money, you have to look at the big picture, the other opportunities, you have to look at the whole board, not just the pieces, and the money was just the pieces," she said. At the time that she left RHONY, she was the highest-paid member on the cast. So when asked why she decided to walk away from such a lucrative opportunity, Bethenny explained how the money was the only thing keeping her there for so long.
“In addition, later, I ended up being the highest-paid ‘Housewife’ when I left because I had leverage and I left [in 2010] and the ratings were affected and they wanted me to come back," Bethenny explained. "And when I did ultimately leave this last time [in 2019], people thought I was leaving because I wasn’t getting more money and I was leaving because I was staying because of the money.” Now that she's found her own lane, the former reality star hosts a top-performing podcast and is set to return to television in a more structured reality series. Things are on the up for the best-selling author. She recently reunited with her ex-boyfriend Paul Bernon after their October split.
Source: The Tamron Hall Show