Shade of the Week: Bethenny Frankel
Here’s the skinny on the Skinnygirl.
Ever since the inception of The Real Housewives Of New York, Bethenny Frankel has been my favourite with her hilarious sense of humour, savvy business attitude and her relatable aspects that many of her early rich costars didn’t have but after her return to the show it gets to a point almost every season where her newfound righteous behaviour starts to grind my gears but this season it seems like everyone else is starting to see the same thing.
The Carole thing isn’t even what I’m mad about. Not even close. After six years with us on TV Miss Radziwill has finally discovered what its like to be a Housewife and is truly participating in the show for the first time so although her beef with Bethenny is real, it’s also her launching point to be relevant and develop herself a bitchy storyline. That said, if this beef has exposed anything it’s not that Adam is an operator or that Carole is sad, it’s that Bethenny has become her own version of season three Jill Zarin. It’s a full circle moment.
She’s snarky, pretentious and obviously positions herself as the Queen B of the group which for all intents and purposes she is but the show takes ALL seven women to make it great. We need Sonja’s underwear smelling, Ramona’s eye-popping behaviour, Dorinda’s drunken moments and so many of the other RHONY staples, not just Bethenny and her bitchy quips with an array of Skinnygirl plastered in the background. She loves TV just as much as Jill had and seeing her talk with pompous about every other person on the show is sort of getting tiring, I love a bitchy moment but it gets to a point where you have to ask if she even likes anyone else on the show.
In season three Jill tried to initiate a beef with Bethenny and blamed her for all the wrongdoings in their relationship, however when Bethenny told her side of the story it completely backfired and Jill looked like the idiot. History really does repeat itself. Now in season ten, Bethenny brought up the fact that Adam wouldn’t take photos for her charity in Houston and then tried to say that she sent Carole a text about missing her where she replied to by saying “That’s a lot” however when the two had a conversation Carole explained the situation saying there was a much longer text which said “This is a lot to talk about over text, let’s meet up when I’m back” and that Adam couldn’t go to Houston not because of not being paid but because he already had another job. It just shows how Bethenny tried to manipulate the situation to suit herself and position the viewers to side with her which is a CLASSIC Jill Zarin move.
The one positive from her feud with Carole and exile from the group is that it opens the door for Jill to come back. Bethenny needs a friend that isn’t her driver and no one will be more loyal to her than Jill who learnt the hard way about crossing Bethenny. It would be great TV and they both know that and now that they are the same person I think it’s bound to happen next season because she’s got nowhere else to go from here. Who would have though Jill would be her only option?
That infomercial crap with Ramona was about as hypocritical as it gets. We all know that. She can’t just say that mentioning her new product in conversation is an infomercial when she has Skinnygirl bottles lined up behind her in every scene AND debuted her jeans in the very next episode even though they don’t go on sale until next September. I don’t care if she walks around naked with Skinnygirl tassels on her tits to sell her product but if she’s allowed to do it then everyone should be allowed to get away with it too. What else? I was mad at her about the nutcracker drama but after seeing flashbacks of her knowing that it was coming, thanking Dorinda and reading their blogs and tweets I think that she actually did thank her for finding the gift. I think at that point the episode had kind of turned into Bethenny Bashing moment and it seemed smart to pile on. But I can never be mad at Dorinda for anything with her cute cheeks and now white hair.
At this point in time, the only people left as Bethenny’s friends are Luann, Sonja and her driver Kevin, which probably aren’t the three you want on your side. I love all three of them but Lu and Sonja with a sexy J will befriend anyone they can, especially Bethenny because they have always had some kind obsession with being near B’s rectum and Kevin is simply on her Skinnygirl payroll. I don’t know how she can fix her selfish and TV hungry ways but it’s not looking good for her right now and although she loves being in front of the cameras and acting like she doesn’t, I think if the fans (and the women) turn on her too hard then we will be B-less for season eleven which I don’t want either because she is essential to the RHONY pie. I just want the vintage Bethenny back but I don’t think we’ll ever get that.