Bethenny Frankel thinks “Real Housewives of New York City” star Jessel Taank called her the “most overrated ‘Housewife'” just to stay relevant.
“If you have someone who’s on the New York ‘Housewives’ now in a post-successful era, they’re gonna wanna squeeze that sponge for any of amount of liquid they can squeeze it for,” the “RHONY” alum said on her “ReWives” podcast Tuesday.
“And you can never blame them. You cannot blame the talent because they need the relevance, the fame — it’s why they went on the show.”
Frankel, 52, claimed Taank, 43, chose her as the “most overrated” on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” because the question was “planted and produced.”
“The way it works on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ is in the dressing room, Andy comes in and talks about what he wants to talk about,” she said.
However, a source close to production vehemently denies this, telling Pvnew exclusively, “This is absolutely false.”
A Bravo spokesperson also tells us that there are “no pre-interviews” — just Cohen greeting his guests like other talk show hosts.
“‘WWHL’ does not conduct pre-interviews. Naturally, Andy stops by the green rooms to greet his guests before the show, but he does not discuss specific questions or topics in advance, unless the guest initiates a topic that is personally sensitive to them. And certainly Andy nor any ‘WWHL’ producer is feeding answers to questions,” a Bravo spokesperson explained.
On her podcast, Frankel continued shading Taank and the “RHONY” reboot by saying the show “doesn’t do well” anymore and only gets a “couple hundred thousand” viewers each week.
According to the Twitter account @RatingsBravo, the Sept. 27 episode of “RHONY” garnered over half a million viewers.
“[The show] really needs the press,” Frankel continued. “A woman on that show who’s not relevant yet — well, who’s new, so by definition you’re not that relevant, and you’re on a show that has arced and is on the back end.”
However, a production source tells us that they believe the opposite is true, and Taank has actually “become a breakout.”
“Jessel, in particular, has recently been on the cover of Vogue India, done interviews with PvNew and CNN, has been a guest on ‘Access Hollywood’ and Crooked Media’s ‘Keep It!’ podcast, among several others. She also just wrapped Pvnew’s very own ‘Virtual Reali-Tea’ podcast,” they point out.
Frankel also doubled down on her previous assertion that Cohen, 55, asks “provocative questions” that are “designed just to get someone to trash someone else.”
“I really don’t blame the person sitting in the chair,” she shared, calling “WWHL” a “clickbait environment.”
Reps for Bravo didn’t immediately return Pvnew’s request for comment.
Frankel’s remarks came two days after Taank appeared on “WWHL” and dubbed the Skinnygirl founder the “most overrated ‘Housewife'” of all time.
“I think Bethenny Frankel is going off the rails,” she opined.
The former Bravolebrity has been making headlines over the last few months for her reality TV reckoning and accusations against the network.
Most recently, Frankel slammed Cohen — her former close friend — for asking “gross” questions on his late-night talk show.
“The last time I went on that show, I was with my daughter, and … he’s asking these questions like, ‘Who’s the ugliest “Housewife”?’ And you’re like, ‘Oh, let me think,’” she said in an episode of her podcast last week.
But the production source emphasizes to Pvnew that “WWHL” was “created to for the fans and has continued to lead with the interest of the Bravo audience and the cultural conversations around Bravo shows.”
“Questions are mainly fan-generated with viewers calling in nightly and sending in through social media,” the insider continues. “The entirety of the show is designed/produced to dive deeper into pop culture conversation and satisfy our Bravo enthusiasts.”
Cohen has stayed tight-lipped about Frankel’s comments about both him and “WWHL.”
