Andy Cohen may have been “surprised” to hear that RHONY alum Bethenny Frankel was starting a Housewives-themed podcast – but he won’t turn down free publicity.
Frankel was an original cast member of the Real Housewives of New York when it premiered in 2008. She was an on-and-off presence for most of the show, departing after the third season, but returning in 2015 for the seventh.
In August 2019, right before filming for Season 12 began, Frankel unexpectedly quit the show for good.
Last week, Frankel – an outspoken critic of the Bravo franchise – launched her own Housewives-centric venture, the rewatch podcast ReWives.
“I was a little surprised to hear of the podcast,” Andy Cohen told Page Six last week at a Humane Society gala.
“But again,” he continued, “I was like, ‘Oh, this is good, good for you.’”
Cohen added, “The more Housewives podcasts, the better.”
Bethenny Frankel draws fire from RHONY stars over new podcast
Not all of Frankel’s former costars on the show have been so supportive.
Asked what she thought of the venture, former cast member Carole Radziwill tweeted, “She did build her brand by trashing & mocking women specifically the [Housewives] & [Bethenny] always returns to what she does best.”
“Right out the gate she trash-talks the other [Housewives’] podcasts. Lol. Good luck to her,” Radziwill wrote, adding, “Some things will never change.”
And Countess Luann de Lesseps, never one to mince words, didn’t start with Frankel. Earlier this month, the cabaret singer said of ReWives, “It’s pretty sad and pathetic.”
Speaking with the podcast Everything Iconic, the Countess took Frankel to task for previously “s**tting on” the show.
“She has to resort to Housewives because of all her failed pivots since the Housewives,” de Lesseps said of her former co-star.
“It’s a pretty desperate scenario.”
Bethenny Frankel defends new Housewives podcast
Frankel hasn’t taken these shots lightly.
In an Instagram Story, the Skinnygirl founder clapped back at her critics, saying of her decision to leave RHONY: “For those of you who don’t understand why I did it, because I get that I walked away, I didn’t want to be a part of it, it wasn’t what I thought I should be doing at my life, and I wasn’t proud of it.”
“This is my perspective, my story, my show, my experience,” she continued, “versus a situation where we didn’t control the editing, and we didn’t control the process, and we didn’t control who we surrounded ourselves with.”
Meanwhile, the Real Housewives of New York franchise is currently filming a reboot with a completely new cast. And fan-favorite New York Housewives – including Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon – are awaiting casting developments from the coming Legacy spin-off.