‘RHONY’: Does Kelly Bensimon Still Hold a Grudge Against Bethenny Frankel?
Years after the infamous “Scary Island” episodes on The Real Housewives of New York City, Kelly Bensimon still has some insight and thoughts into what actually occurred.
During a girls trip, Bensimon seemed to completely melt down and accused Bethenny Frankel of “trying to kill her.” Bensimon left the trip after becoming so distraught and then only returned to the show for another season.
Since leaving the show, Bensimon shared what she witnessed during the trip. Plus, she revealed how she feels about Frankel today.
She thought Frankel’s pregnancy was in jeopardy
When Bensimon recently discussed the trip on the Out in the Wild podcast and shared what she witnessed on the fateful trip. “She was pregnant this entire time and was having serious issues with her unborn child, and she’s flying back and forth pretending to film with her dying father in L.A., but really just filming in the car and never saw him,” People recounts.
Bensimon added, “And I’m like — you want me to film with a woman that doesn’t even care about her kid in her stomach? She’s like, ‘Oh, if I have a miscarriage, whatever.’ She was having serious, serious, serious [pregnancy] complications, and I just didn’t understand why we were there filming and why she was even there in St. John.”
She continued by saying Frankel seemed to want to control the situation too. “She would literally scream into the camera, ‘This is not what this scenes supposed to be about!’ and I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ You can’t do that,” Bensimon said. “It’s not fair. She’s trying to be the executive producer or the Kim Kardashian of Housewives, fine. But, she created such a disconnect between Bravo and us, so there was so much animosity and underlying tension.”
Frankel offers her opinion of Bensimon’s interview
When Frankel appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen she addressed Bensimon’s podcast interview. “I mean, if you want to take a look at insanity, like listen to that — don’t read it ’cause Dorinda said, ‘I listened to it, and it’s like watching Scary Island,'” Frankel said, Bravo’s The Daily Dish reports.
She adds, “So I’m going to promote these people who are trying to act normal?” Frankel launches in her take on what Bensimon might be saying too. She added, “If she wanted vindication from Scary Island, this is Scarier Island.”
One of Frankel’s friends told People “She absolutely did nothing to risk anything during her pregnancy. Her pregnancy was her priority. Anybody who knows Bethenny knows she’s a great mother.”
But is Bensimon holding a grudge?
In a 2017 intereview, Bensimon seemed to be at peace with Frankel. “Her philanthropic efforts with B Strong made such an impact on me,” she told People. “That is the kind of girl that I like. I like someone that’s philanthropic, a girl’s girl. The future is female, and I have spent the lexicon of my life raising girls and supporting and celebrating women. …Whatever she wants with philanthropy, I am behind her.”
While she wishes she handled things differently, Bensimon claims to have moved on. But she seemed to be more on edge about Frankel today. If she were to return to RHONY, Bensimon thinks fans would be confused.
“I would threaten her entire brand [Skinnygirl],” Bensimon said on the Out of the Wild podcast. “Hypothetically, If I went back on Housewives, and there was a moment where she was like, ‘Wow. I really like Kelly. Kelly Bensimon is hot s—,’ her entire brand would go to s—. Because her fans would be like, ‘Wait, what? We’ve been spending 10 years hating Kelly Bensimon, and now you like her? What?’ It’s different from her makeup with Jill Zarin because I am the ultimate, ultimate nemesis.”
