Real Housewives of New York alums Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel might not have shared gummy bears on Scary Island all those years ago. However, there’s a chance that they briefly shared a man recently.
Bethenny has been dating businessman Tom Villante for a few months now. According to Kelly, she and Tom were chatting on the celebrity dating app Raya this summer and were planning to meet. Kelly says it was only later that she discovered that Tom and Bethenny were already an item.
Kelly Bensimon on chatting with Tom Villante on a dating app: “He’s like, ‘Let’s talk. Let’s meet.’”
Yesterday, Kelly told her version of the Tom tale on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea live show. After calling off her June 2024 nuptials to Scott Litner only four days beforehand, Kelly says her daughter initially encouraged her to set up a Raya profile. Once it was up and running, she began scrolling through her prospects.
Kelly explained, “I see this one guy, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s kinda cute!’ He lives in California, and I was like, ‘Wow, what is he doing here?’ He’s like, ‘Let’s talk…Let’s meet.’”
Kelly says she and the man, who turned out to be Tom, were “texting” regularly. She says he was enthusiastic about meeting for a date, but her busy schedule prevented them from ever setting anything up. However, they did run into each other momentarily outside NYC restaurant, Le Bilboquet.
They then separately spent some of the summer in The Hamptons. Because of spotty cell service, they weren’t able to catch up with each other in time to meet there. When Kelly returned to the city, a friend sent her an article with a shocking revelation.
“It says Bethenny Frankel is dating this guy,” Kelly revealed.
This must not be the first time that mortal enemies Kelly and Bethenny – who broke off her engagement with Paul Bernon back in May – fished in the same sea. Kelly’s reaction to finding out that she and Bethenny were courting the same guy was, “Wait, what?! Again?!”
Keep an eye out for Bethenny to post a rant about this TikTok. Who knew that Tom Villante was such a classic RHONY fan?
The Real Housewives of New York reboot continues tonight at 9/8c on Bravo. Classic episodes stream on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON KELLY’S STORY ABOUT TOM VILLANTE? DO YOU THINK THERE WAS OVERLAP BETWEEN HER AND BETHENNY DATING HIM?
