Former “Real Housewives of New York” star Bethenny Frankel is speaking out about her split from Paul Bernon. The mother-of-one’s split from Bernon was confirmed by People magazine in May.
However, Bernon, 45, didn’t waste much time putting himself back out there. Weeks later, Us Weekly confirmed that Bernon was dating Aurora Culpo, 35. The new relationship caught Frankel by surprise.
“Hearing about your ex-fiancé committing to another woman shortly thereafter on their first date, and then being inside their relationship hearing about their sex and their gifts and meeting each other’s kids and the level of commitment,” Frankel, 53, said on the July 7 episode of her “Just B” podcast. “It was gutting. It was brutal,” she added.
Bernon and Frankel dated for six years before getting engaged in May 2021. Frankel, for her part, didn’t want to get remarried.
“I don’t want to build a wedding,” she told E! News in July 2023. “I love my life. I love my fiancé. He’s an amazing life partner and I don’t want to sign a contract with someone I love. I don’t want to plan a massive wedding for everybody else and not [do] what we want. I like doing what you want, not what society wants you to do,” she added.
Bethenny Frankel Felt Embarrassed by Paul Bernon’s New Relationship
Also on her podcast, Frankel explained why she felt embarrassed after Bernon’s new romance went public.
“It’s embarrassing,” Frankel said. “Being portrayed as the jilted ex who had been upgraded from — that my ex had moved on from me with a younger woman — and that it regurgitated the continuous narrative that he is a very under-the-radar person who had now gotten serious with someone. When, ironically, I was the very-under-the-radar person,” she continued.
She also took a moment to share her feelings on Culpo’s role in the whole thing.
“If you’re the new woman in a relationship you need to tread lightly and be cautious about whoever the woman before you was because we’ve all been in both positions,” Frankel said. “I think by sharing all the details of your new relationship, you’re disrespecting the last relationship,” she added.
