Bethenny Had A Good Reason For Leaving Real Housewives Of New York

Another OG has left us behind. This one, for the second time. Bethenny Frankel left The Real Housewives of New York City ahead of season 12, marking her second exit from the series. (She previously left following season 3 and returned in season 7.) In the Housewives world someone "leaving" the show generally leaves fans to assume they were secretly fired, but that's not the case when it comes to Bethenny. She really does have a lot going on that would making filming pretty difficult.

Bethenny announced her departure from RHONY in August 2019. "I have decided to leave the Housewives franchise to explore my next chapter,” Bethenny told Variety in a statement. “It’s time to move on and focus on my daughter, my philanthropy and my production partnership with Mark Burnett, producing and starring in shows which represent a shift in the conversation for women." The 49-year-old entrepreneur also wrote a "personal note" to fans on Instagram about the announcement (below). What she didn't do was tell all of her co-stars ahead of time, which Ramona Singer wasn't so happy about.

As fans of RHONY have seen on the show, Bethenny has a disaster relief initiative called BStrong that provides assistance, including supplies and cash cards, to people in need following natural disasters. Currently, BStrong is also helping out when it comes to the Coronavirus pandemic, particularly with organizing the delivery of protective gear to healthcare workers.

As for her production work, Bethenny's deal with MGM Television was announced in March 2019. As reported by Deadline, it involves Frankel producing shows, including some in which she star. The first show is called The Big Shot with Bethenny, which is an Apprentice-like series in which contestants will compete to work for her. It will stream on HBOMax, but a premiere date has not yet been announced. Bethenny told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview that while the casting notice is ready, the middle of a pandemic is not the right time to deal with that.

Clearly, Bethenny is very busy, so if she wants to focus on developing TV shows and the massively important task of helping out during disasters like Coronavirus, continuing with RHONY sounds like it would have been stressful. Plus, she's raising her 9-year-old daughter and has a relationship with her boyfriend, Paul Bernon, that's going strong. While fans will miss seeing Bethenny on Bravo this year, it's hard to argue with the reasons she left.