The Scary Island drama between Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel during Season 3 of Real Housewives of New York is nothing short of iconic.
The longtime fans of the show will never forget Bethenny yelling “go to sleep” and Kelly ranting about jelly beans, Al Sharpton, her “friend” Gwyneth (as in Paltrow), and her insistence that Bethenny wasn’t a “real chef.” That cast trip truly went off the rails and it will hold a place in the hearts of the dedicated viewers forever and ever.
During an interview for the Everything Iconic With Danny Pellegrino podcast, Kelly shared some behind the scenes scoop about the Scary Island tension. She claimed, “The biggest issue was that they decided to have a show with Bethenny. All of the cast mates were up in arms because they weren’t getting their own show.”
Kelly explained, “They had a choice: be on Bethenny’s team and hopefully be on her show or be on their own team and just beat to their own drummer. I just didn’t want to beat to Bethenny’s drum. I didn’t want to be a part of that. I didn’t like the image that she was portraying and I didn’t want to be that kind of girl. I didn’t want my fans to think that when women were behaving badly that I was a part of that.” A part of what, though?
Kelly even referenced her infamous “I’m up here and you’re down here” confrontation with Bethenny and it seems like she still has no regret about her choice of words. She admitted, “I always wanted them to know that I’m up here and you’re down there because I’m an adult and I am educated. I am raising kids of my own and you are acting like a child, being rude, name calling, and making me feel like shit when you don’t know me.”
In a move that makes very little to no sense, Kelly revealed, “I never watched the show. I would watch my scenes. I would never watch anyone else’s scenes because I felt like I wasn’t privy to it and it would be so inauthentic to comment on something I didn’t see. Going into a reunion, nothing I would say would be valid because I wasn’t there.”
Even though Kelly claims she has never watched the show, she is open to returning- just like almost every former Housewife. She explained, “Never say never. I had so many great scenes and great times.”
Nevertheless, Kelly is not happy what what was shown- even though she supposedly never watched Real Housewives of New York. Kelly shared, “I just felt there was a strange take away from the show. They never wanted to film my real life. I don’t know why, but the show never wanted to show that it’s OK to be a single mother raising two daughters on your own. Sometimes my life has been really, really hard and the show did not want to show or celebrate me being a single mother. I think they really wanted me to be a cheerleader who’s supposed to be a super bitch and a lady who lunches. They never wanted to show the things that I was really doing.”
Kelly was asked “Why do you think Luann [de Lesseps] and Ramona [Singer] have been able to stick around so long?” Kelly answered, “Ramona is just amazing. I think the reason she has such longevity is because she has a playfulness and youthfulness about her that’s incredibly engaging and infectious. She also just is having a great time. She has a good business. She has an amazing daughter. She could be on the show or not and she still has money and still has homes. Luann is the same way. She still has money and she still has homes. A lot of the women on the show, if they weren’t on the show, they wouldn’t have money.”
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