Luann de Lesseps clearly isn’t afraid to speak her mind about Bethenny Frankel’s departure from Real Housewives of New York!
The 54-year-old had zero filter while chatting with Jenny McCarthy for an episode of her podcast on Monday about Frankel’s exit from the Bravo series, even sharing that while she was initially “shocked” by the unexpected news, the cast is now “relieved.”
Related: Andy Cohen Is Hopeful Bethenny Frankel Will Return To ‘RHONY’
De Lesseps referred to her costar’s choice to announce her divergence from the Big Apple installment via Instagram as a “helluva way to leave a show, especially one that’s been so good to her. ‘Cause let me tell you, when her talk show tanked and she came back with her tail between her legs to Housewives.”
But personally, she wasn’t totally taken aback by the August announcement. The longtime Bravolebrity explained:
“I was shocked … I was, you know, surprised and not surprised in a way because I think that she is in a relationship that I don’t think she wants to bring around on the show.”
The RHONY personality joked (below) as Jenny laughed:
“If I had a dime for every Skinny Girl party I had to promote, and then she can’t even promote my cabaret show and be happy about it!”
https://giphy.com/gifs/rhony-countess-luann-the-PsiyF8W3w9JPq
Despite any shade about a lack of cross-promotion on the 48-year-old’s part, Luann does admit she’ll miss the “challenge” Frankel brought to the cast:
“Bethenny is, I always say, she’s a lot of fun, she can be really nasty … she’s very funny. Those are the people you kind of get up for in the morning ’cause they challenge you.”
The Class With The Countess author continued, sharing with McCarthy:
“I just feel like that part I’ll kind of miss because it’s kind of — you know, it’s challenging. And I found kind of fun in it … I’ll miss her, but at the same time when you’re around her it’s like walking on egg shells.”
So now that we know how the Countess feels, what about the rest of the cast? Well, she says their group text “blew up” once the news broke, but the general consensus was a feeling of relief. She continued:
“I think the whole cast is relieved in a way, and it also leaves breathing room for other women to shine and show their personalities. Because a lot was Bethenny coming in and kind of stealing the show.”
Related: Bethenny Frankel Leads The Charge To Put Out The Amazon Rainforest Fires!
As for who’s joining for season 12 as the replacement, the momma of two teased about the upcoming season (below):
“But guess what? She can’t steal our show. This season is amazing, and I can’t wait for everyone to see the new season.”
Luann joked that anyone joining the cast would have to “have balls,” but the new addition is making the new season “better than ever.”
“Our new housewife is really great. I can’t talk much about her except that she’s a great addition to the cast. She’s got backstory. She’s an interesting woman, she’s smart. She’s successful.”
Ch-ch-check out more from Luann and Jenny (below):
What do U think about what the cabaret star had to say, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF (below) in the comments with your thoughts!!
[Image via Jason Mendez/Nicky Nelson/WENN.]
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