37 Facts About Bethenny Frankel

Bethenny Frankel was the runner-up on the NBC reality competition series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart in 2005.

Bethenny Frankel headlined the Fox daytime talk show Bethenny and the HBO Max reality competition series The Big Shot with Bethenny.

Outside of her work in television, Bethenny Frankel is the founder of Skinnygirl, a lifestyle brand, and BStrong, a philanthropic organization that has provided disaster relief.

Bethenny Frankel is the author of four self-help books, the host of two podcasts and a YouTuber.

Bethenny Frankel's father was German-Jewish, whereas her mother was a Roman Catholic of Italian descent who converted to Judaism.

Bethenny Frankel was raised Roman Catholic, and completed all of her sacraments including communion and confirmation.

Bethenny Frankel's parents divorced when Frankel was four years old.

Bethenny Frankel says her mother "was always drinking" and often argued violently with her stepfather.

Bethenny Frankel originally grew up in Forest Hills, New York but moved many times and attended multiple schools before attending boarding school.

Bethenny Frankel went to St Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre, New York and Holy Child Academy in Old Westbury, New York but graduated in 1988 from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bethenny Frankel attended Boston University for two years, and graduated with a degree in psychology and communications from New York University.

Bethenny Frankel later attended the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City.

In 1992, Bethenny Frankel moved to Los Angeles with hopes of being an actress.

Bethenny Frankel was a personal assistant to Jerry Bruckheimer and Linda Bruckheimer.

Bethenny Frankel used these connections to start her first company, called "In Any Event", a party-planning business, which was short-lived.

In 2003, Frankel started BethennyBakes, a baking business that made egg-free, wheat-free and dairy-free cookies and meal delivery in New York City.

Bethenny Frankel became a spokesperson for Pepperidge Farms low-calorie line of bread.

In 2008, Bethenny Frankel began starring in the reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City, which premiered in March on Bravo.

In September 2010, Bethenny Frankel announced her exit from The Real Housewives of New York City following its third season.

Bethenny Frankel rejoined The Real Housewives of New York City for its seventh season, which premiered in April 2015.

In March 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported Bethenny Frankel had signed a deal with MGM Television and its chairman, Mark Burnett, to produce and star in future unscripted television projects.

In 2011, Bethenny Frankel published A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life.

Bethenny Frankel created a pre-packaged margarita line named Skinnygirl Margarita in 2009.

The cocktail line was sold to Beam Global for a reported $120 million in 2011, but Bethenny Frankel kept the Skinnygirl brand name to sell a variety of foods including dips, shakes, candy, deli meat, sweeteners, jellies, popcorn, and salad dressings.

Bethenny Frankel sells Skinnygirl shapewear, apparel, and accessories on the Home Shopping Network.

Bethenny Frankel developed a Skinnygirl cookware line sold at TJMaxx and Marshalls stores, which premiered in 2021.

In one of her earliest activities in philanthropy, Bethenny Frankel posed nude for a PETA billboard in September 2009 for its "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign, which used celebrities and other personalities.

Bethenny Frankel is the founder of BStrong, a philanthropic arm originally formed to assist women, which has increasingly participated in disaster relief around the world.

In 2017, the organization raised $300,000 in donations and supplies for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, after which Bethenny Frankel visited Houston, Texas to distribute these items.

Also in the same year, Bethenny Frankel chartered four planes to Puerto Rico and distributed medical supplies, food, water, and hygiene products in assisting with Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

Bethenny Frankel stated that reality television personalities are subject to exploitation and intense scrutiny and deserve increased protection and worker's rights.

Bethenny Frankel has enlisted attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos to investigate the problematic treatment of reality television personalities.

Bethenny Frankel was married to entertainment executive Peter Sussman from 1996 to 1997.

Bethenny Frankel dated banker Dennis Shields from 2016 to August 2018, when Shields was found dead of an apparent accidental overdose of pain medication after back surgery.

Bethenny Frankel met film producer and commercial real estate developer Paul Bernon on a dating app in 2018 and they were engaged in 2021, but Frankel said she ended the relationship after nearly six years because she was not happy.

Bethenny Frankel has a severe fish allergy and was hospitalized in December 2018 after consuming soup that contained fish.

Bethenny Frankel has since advocated airlines stop serving fish, stating that it is a hazard to passengers with fish allergies to be in the presence of cooked seafood in an enclosed commercial airline jet.