Luann De Lesseps ‘knew what she was doing’ by claiming the cast of ‘RHONY’ was ‘relieved’ to see Bethenny Frankel go, a source tells HollywoodLife. Here’s how the ladies really feel about Bethenny’s departure.
Speak for yourself! While chatting on the Oct. 28 episode of SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show, Luann de Lesseps, 54, claimed that “the whole cast is relieved in a way” after Bethenny Frankel, 48, left The Real Housewives of New York City. But not everyone’s breathing a sigh of relief, we’re hearing! “Bethenny Frankel and Luann haven’t spoken in quite some time so for Luann to be talking about Bethenny like this is questionable to some. To say the entire cast is relieved Bethenny quit the show isn’t true,” a source close to production EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife.
Yes, “Lu and Bethenny did not get along,” our source points out, but adds that “Bethenny had real friendships with Sonja [Morgan], Dorinda [Medley] and Tinsley [Mortimer].” That’s three friendships — “so it’s not right nor fair for Luann to speak on behalf of the entire cast like that,” our source adds. However, Bethenny — nor anyone — was blindsided by Luann’s shade, apparently.
“Lu definitely knew what she was doing by making those comments, though. She knew they’d get everyone’s attention and that’s Lu, so nobody is really surprised she did that,” our source tells us. Furthermore, “Lu is happy Bethenny is done with the show. They clearly were not the best of friends.” But those feelings don’t apply to all the NYC “Housewives,” because our source reiterates, “Of course [Luann] prefers having her not around, but not everyone feels that way. Some of the ladies do miss having Bethenny around.”
Regardless, “both [Luann and Bethenny] do deep down respect one another as women and former colleagues,” our source clarifies. In a way, Luann’s diss towards Bethenny could’ve been interpreted as respect. The Bravo star basically said Bethenny was hogging the spotlight!
In addition to claiming the cast was “relieved” to say farewell to Bethenny, Luann told Jenny McCarthy on her SiriusXM show, “It also leaves breathing room for other women to shine and show their personalities because a lot was Bethenny coming in and stealing the show.” Bethenny certainly had a lot of time to showcase her many accomplishments on the show, from running her Skinnygirl empire to leading her BStrong charity. The mother of one starred on the show for Seasons 1-3 and returned for Seasons 7-11. Meanwhile, Luann starred on Seasons 1-5, returned as a friend in Season 6, and resumed her status as a main cast member for Seasons 7-11.
Bethenny shocked fans with her sudden plans to leave the show, which she announced on Aug. 21. She later clarified money wasn’t a factor in this decision while speaking at Yahoo! Finance’s All Markets Summit on Oct. 10.