Bethenny Frankel is best known for starring on the original Real Housewives of New York City, though she had less than kind words to say about the show’s reboot and called it a “piece of trash.”
The Bravo alum, 54, took to TikTok on Saturday, November 16, to share her thoughts on the RHONY reboot, which includes a completely new cast. The clip has since been deleted, though several fans were able to save it and circulate it on X.
After she deemed the RHONY reboot as “unwatchable,” Bethenny referenced the original cast by stating, “Justice for Sonja [Morgan], Dorinda [Medley], Luann [de Lesseps], Ramona [Singer].”
“They were ride or die. That show was on their back and all of a sudden they all got replaced,” Bethenny said about the original cast. “They were all sitting on the shelf like Toy Story, hoping someone was gonna come play with them.”
While Bethenny left the show for good in 2019, several of the old cast members were dropped from the series in 2022 after 13 seasons.
Bethenny went on to claim that “a lot more money was spent on the new cast.” The reboot – which premiered in July 2023 – stars Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank, Brynn Whitfield, Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy and Ubah Hassan.
“[The original cast] have always been like the stepchildren,” she continued in the clip. “They’ve always been discarded. I know the money they’ve gotten paid, I know the demotions, the budgets, the premiere budgets. They know. I know. We know. You know.”
Bethenny added, “The new girls, I’m sure they’re lovely. I haven’t seen the show. I am actually sure they are lovely. But these women, as they got older, just got dropped off at the side of the road.”
As the video continued, Bethenny alleged that RHONY’s viewership has declined since the reboot premiered. She then advised Bravo to rehire some of the old cast in an attempt to get viewers to start watching again.
“You got like 200,000 viewers watching this piece of trash. So, go get the old girls and dust them off and mix them in. Humble pie is coming in hot,” she claimed.
Life & Style has reached out to Bravo for comment and did not immediately hear back.
Bethenny’s negative comments about the RHONY reboot likely won’t surprise fans, as she’s been an outspoken critic of the franchise since exiting the show at the end of season 11.
In July 2022, Bethenny got candid while revealing the real reason that she left the show. While addressing rumors that she “left the Housewives because of money,” Bethenny explained, “If I stayed, it would have been because of the money. I left because I wanted to leave. I was ready to leave, and I used a technicality deal point as my excuse.”
“I had just lost someone very close to me, and I went to work when the show came back,” she continued in a video posted via TikTok. “I didn’t want to. Pros play hurt. I’m a professional. I show up on time, I deliver. That’s my reputation in business.”
While looking over the show’s contract, Bethenny said that she found a “new point” that stated that the stars “won’t be paid” if they failed to appear in an episode. “The production company said that they ‘would never air an episode without you,’” she said, claiming that the rule didn’t apply to her. “They told me that directly, I have receipts.”
“I already knew that I’m a professional and there would just be no situation where I wouldn’t show up for work,” she continued. “But sometimes, these little things, if you’re thinking of leaving and you don’t want to be there, you know I’m the type of person where that one thing would give me an excuse. So I said no. And the reason for that term was because Housewives in other cities who weren’t filming, they just decided not to film. That was just my excuse.”
