Jill Zarin To Bethenny Frankel: Let's Make Up

"Real Housewives of New York" star Jill Zarin stopped by "Extra" to dish about her new book -- and her public feud with fellow housewife Bethenny Frankel.

"I think it's just gotten way out of control and I think we should talk and make up," Zarin told "Extra's" Mario Lopez.

Check out what else the reality star had to say about her book, "Secrets of a Jewish Mother" and catch the anticipated "Housewives" season finale Thursday on Bravo!

Credit: Extra TV

Jill to Bethenny: What the Hell Happened to Us?

On Thursday's finale of The Real Housewives of New York, Jill Zarin decides to phone Bethenny Frankel because, she says, their fight has become "totally beserk."

"What the hell happened to us?" she asks her pal over lunch (see video, above). "I feel like we were married and then we separated, and I don't want to be separated."

As her eyes fill with tears, Frankel, 39, tells her: "Well, divorce can be ugly."

Zarin, 46, apologizes, adding that she feels "really bad" for refusing to reconcile with Frankel, whom publicly shunned after Frankel famously told her to get "a hobby."

Frankel tells her that a lot of monumental events occurred in her life - she got engaged, pregnant, lost her father -- and it hurt that Zarin, her pal of two years, wasn't there. She tells Zarin that she's been "disloyal" and that she's been "killed by this."

"I don't know how to build a relationship in the future because I am so damaged by this relationship," she says. "It's like a divorce."

Can the two become BFFs again?
Yes
No

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Credit: Us Weekly

Will Bethenny Leave ‘Real Housewives Of NY’?

        

Bethenny Frankel chats with Access’ Billy Bush about the reunion show for “The Real Housewives of New York,” but would she return for another season? Also, she discusses her new Bravo reality series, “Bethenny Getting Married.”

            

Credit: Access Hollywood

Bethenny Frankel Size-4 Just 3 Wks After Baby

Just three weeks after giving birth to daughter Bryn, Real Housewives of New York's Bethenny Frankel is back to a size-4 swimsuit!

In the new issue of Us Weekly, Frankel, 39, reveals how she's already lost 29 of the 35 pounds she gained while pregnant with Bryn, born May 8.

"I don't believe in diets," says the chef and author of Naturally Thin, who wed Bryn's dad Jason Hoppy March 28.

Frankel stayed active while carrying Bryn, alternating yoga with 45-minute walks three times a week, and practiced portion control with a vegetarian diet.

Still healing since Bryn's C-section birth, the 122-pound star has decreased her walks to 30 minutes and continues to eat low-fat fare. A sample day's menu: a muffin and fruit for breakfast, a veggie sandwich and soup at lunch and BBQ chicken and a half a sweet potato for dinner.

Frankel admits to Us, "I'm still wearing maternity clothes, because they're comfortable." Still, she says, "I"m excited to get into my Louboutins again. No more swollen feet!"

Credit: Us Weekly

Jill Zarin: Cried for 3 Days After Party Crashing

Jill Zarin tells UsMagazine.com she still can't get over the frosty reception she received surprising Ramona Singer, Alex McCord and Bethenny Frankel on vacation in the Virgin Islands.

"It was such a Mean Girls moment that I literally cried for like two or three days," she tells Us. "They didn't offer me a glass of water or a bathroom! We had just traveled nine hours, and they knew it. I had to pee! You have no idea what a schlep it was. Schlep doesn't even describe it!"

Zarin, 46, originally told Singer, 53, she wouldn't go on the trip -- which was to celebrate Singer's marriage vow renewal -- because of her feuds with Frankel, 39, and McCord, 36. But she tells Us she decided to swing by on her way to St. Bart's to declare: "'I'm here to make up with everybody!'"

Zarin says Singer and McCord refused to give her a chance to explain.

"Alex was the one to really throw me out," she tells Us. "If she said, 'I don't care‚' then Ramona would have had me stay. [And] why didn't Ramona say to Alex, 'Jill is my friend. She should have called, but I'm not throwing her out'?"

Says Zarin, "It was the most hurtful thing that's ever happened to me."

Credit: Us Weekly

Bethenny Frankel Works Into The Weekend

Just over two months removed from welcoming a baby daughter, Bethenny Frankel was back in work mode in New York City on Friday (May 28).

With film crews from "The Real Housewives of New York City" in tow, the reality star laughed up a storm while chatting on her cell phone after jegetting her nails done at a local salon.

Credit: Celebrity Gossip

Kelly Bensimon's "Out-of-Body Experience"

On Thursday's The Real Housewives of New York City, Kelly Bensimon attempts to explain her infamous May 20 show meltdown -- but only leaves her pals even more confused.

Sitting with Jill Zarin, LuAnn de Lesseps and Jennifer Gilbert, Bensimon, 42, says she lashed out at costars Ramona Singer, Alex McCord, Sonja Morgan and foe Bethenny Frankel during a trip to the Virgin Islands because they were gossiping too much.

"From the minute we were together, it was everything that I hate – talking badly about people," she begins.

(Oddly, she then starts gossiping about Frankel, 39: "She’s, like, a cook and everything like that, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘I mean, not one person that I know has ever hired her as a cook.'")

Bensimon says she was "so over tired" and "feeling sick" when she snapped (among her quips: She called Frankel a "ho bag"). "I was drinking this wine – I never drink wine – and I was sitting in this room with these women. I just wanted to get out of there," she says. "... It was an out-of-body experience."

In the end, the ladies still had no clarity about what actually went down.

Says de Lesseps, 45: "By the end of Kelly’s story about the trip, I was so confused. I mean, I just didn’t get it. I had to hear the other side of the story."

Credit: Us Weekly

Alex McCord: Kelly "Much Crazier" in Real Life

You call that crazy?

According to Real Housewives of New York star Alex McCord, fellow castmate Kelly Bensimon's erratic behavior documented on Thursday's episode was nothing compared to unseen footage left on the cutting room floor.

"It was much more [crazy] in real life," McCord tells Usmagazine.com of Bensimon's freakouts during a group vacation on St. John's. "Much more crazy!" McCord claims that the editing actually made Bensimon look "better."

On the instantly-infamous episode, Bensimon called McCord a "vampire," accused Bethenny Frankel of trying to stab her to death in a dream, and randomly burst into tears.

"I remember the first time that Kelly mentioned that she thought I was channeling the devil. It was in the middle of the soup course!" McCord tells Us. "That wasn't the first time that had happened. Throughout the trip, it just came out of the blue."

Although McCord and pals Sonja Morgan, Frankel and Ramona Singer initially found Bensimon's outbursts amusing, they quickly realized her tantrums were no laughing matter.

"Sonja was the one who pegged it at one point, saying, 'Wow. We're dealing with someone who is not being rational. We have to stop,'" McCord explains. "There was definitely a moment when we all clicked into realizing we had to stop picking part all the insane things being said because there's a reason beyond anyone's control, beyond her control."

Bensimon, 42, sees the situation a bit differently. On Friday, she told New York magazine's Vulture: "Some people are like, 'You had a breakdown,' and I'm like, no, I had a breakthrough!"

And even though the trip took place back in November, McCord and her castmates remain mystified by Bensimon's disturbing behavior.

"We've all talked after we saw the episode," McCord recalls. "We just said, 'Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Are we on the same planet?' When things that happen that are that irrational, you think it's you. We thought maybe our memories had distorted. But when [my husband] Simon saw it he said, 'Okay. Now I understand what you were talking about!"

Credit: Us Weekly

Meet Bethenny Frankel’s New Baby Bryn!

Even though her daughter is only 2½ weeks old, Bethenny Frankel can already see one similarity between her newborn and herself.

“She has my E.T. toes,” says Frankel, pointing to Bryn Casey Hoppy‘s little pink feet. “They are so long!” Frankel, the star of Real Housewives of New York City, always tells it like it is — even when discussing her baby’s early on Saturday, May 8.

Waking Jason Hoppy up around 6 a.m. some five weeks before their first child was due to tell him her water broke, Frankel immediately called the doctor and told her husband to pack their bags.

In his excitement, Hoppy instead started ringing up a few friends.

“Her water broke — we’re having a baby!” he announced. Frankel countered: “We don’t have a baby. We have a puddle.” Looking back, she laughs, “I told him to get a pen and paper and get organized!”

The couple rushed to the hospital. “All I wanted was a bagel and the doctor [told me] I couldn’t eat,” she recalls. “And for two days, I couldn’t.”

After some 30 hours of labor, doctors recommended a c-section to deliver baby Bryn. “She came out like a little doll,” Frankel, 39, says of seeing her daughter for the first time. “It was amazing.”

The couple chose their daughter’s name to honor Hoppy’s brother Bryan, who was killed in a car accident 19 years ago.

“They used to call him Bryn as a nickname,” she explains. “When Jason told me, I thought that would be a great name.”

Having kept mum until Hoppy’s parents arrived at the hospital to meet their new grandchild, revealing Bryn’s name in person was a special moment for the family.

“Jason’s mom was hysterical, crying,” Frankel recalls. “They couldn’t believe we kept it secret.”

At a tiny 4 lbs., 11 oz., Bryn stayed in the NICU for four days until she was strong enough to come home to the family’s apartment in downtown Manhattan.

“We were in this dark little room with our baby. It was almost like Survivor — where we were fending for ourselves,” notes Frankel. “We couldn’t stop starting at her and looking at her.”

Now settled in at home, Frankel is up every three hours to nurse Bryn — who’s been “such a good baby” — and divides the rest of the parenting duties with Hoppy.

“Jason is the burper and diaper changer,” Frankel laughs. “He loves it when she goes to the bathroom because he has a project!”

All joking aside, “We’re so thankful and lucky to have a healthy baby,” says Frankel, who adds that she’s looking forward to strolling around the Big Apple with Bryn. “This is the new me now.”

Credit: People

Bethenny Frankel Flaunts Post-Baby Body

Showing off her post-pregnancy curves, Bethenny Frankel was spotted out in Manhattan, NYC on Monday afternoon (May 24).

Showing off a big smile and offering a wave to paparazzi, the "Real Housewives of New York City" star strolled around in the Meatpacking District while chatting it up on her cell phone.

Tweeting during the day's outing, Miss Frankel excitedly wrote, "I'm wearing normal shoes again.no more swollen pregnancy feet!?! Woohoo!"

As previously reported by Gossip Center, Bethenny went into an early labor on May 7th, and gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Bryn.

Credit: Celebrity Gossip

Kelly Bensimon: I Was “Bullied” By Housewives

Kelly Bensimon is continuing the damage control after her disastrous blow-up on The Real Housewives of New York City led to speculation that she’s crazy. The former model told People that she’s “not proud” of the way she acted, but then ultimately placed the blame on the other housewives.

Claiming she was the victim of “systemic bullying” while vacationing in the Virgin Islands with the other housewives, Bensimon claims that the real problem was in being stuck on a boat with women who didn’t like her.

“It was four people against one. I go on this trip, I’m trying to be open. I have no expectations. I’m trying to be nice to these women who clearly don’t like me,” Bensimon told People. “But the minute I got on the trip, they went after me. It was constant.”Well, it’s hard to argue with her about the other women not liking her—they certainly don’t seem to. (Although Jill Zarin should be sending her flowers for taking the attention off her and her ill behavior surrounding Bethenny Frankel’s giving birth.)

She added that being away from her daughters, Sea, and Teddy, made a bad situation that much worse.

Who knows? But one thing’s for sure: The Real Housewives of New York City has gone from being that show you happen to catch because its on Bravo fifteen times a week to one you set the DVR for.

Credit: Babble

Bethenny Frankel & Jason Hoppy Out In NYC

Bethenny Frankel, from "The Real Housewives of New York City", and husband Jason Hoppy spotted taking their dog for a stroll in Soho, New York City.

Credit: Zimbio

Photo by PacificCoastNews.com

Bethenny Vs. Kelly: Which Team Are You?

Bethenny Frankel and Kelly Bensimon have had it out for each other ever since Kelly joined the cast of the Real Housewives of NYC. Or does Kelly just have it out for Bethenny and every other housewife?  Kelly's breakdown on this week's episode surely seemed to take the cake.

Kelly Bensimon claims that she had a "breakthrough"during this week's episode rather than a breakdown, but in my opinon that's coming from the mouth of someone who is C-R-A-Z-Y. Not sure how much merritt her statement has. Bethenny took dig after dig from Kelly and Kelly didn't leave out the other girls. Ramona, Sonja, and Alex all received their daily doses of criticism and banter. But all the ladies remained calm and wanted to help Kelly because as Sonja explained, Kelly has a problem and is not normal.

Bethenny is definitely Kelly's most-hated housewife and we really don't get a clear read as to why. Bethenny kept her cool for the most part-everyone has a breaking point. I have had my moments where I wasn't the biggest fan of Bethenny, but compared to Kelly she's like a breath of fresh air.

Which team are you on?
Team Bethenny
Team Kelly

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Credit: Gather Entertainment

Kelly: I Had A "Breakthrough, Not A "Breakdown"

Real Housewives of New York star Kelly Killoren Bensimon doesn't regret her bizarre behavior on Thursday's explosive episode of her hit Bravo show.

"Some people are like, 'You had a breakdown,' and I'm like, no, I had a breakthrough," Bensimon told New York magazine's Vulture of her histrionics on a yacht in St. John's.

Among other outbursts in the episode, Bensimon called fellow housewife Alex McCord a "vampire," threatened to "claw" the eyes out of those interrupting a phone call with her kids, and claimed a dream in which nemesis Bethenny Frankel tries to stab her to death.

The model and writer explains that she was "very anxious" about traveling to St. John's with the other housewives. "I was asked by women who don't like me at all. I always have positive expectations of people, and I always think the best, and you know, that’s my Achilles' heel, is that I'm positive and feel like people are going to be nice. But the nature of the show isn't that."

She claims that her rival housewives are "not happy I'm on the show, they're just not...I'm very sensitive, and if someone says something very rude to me over and over again, I'm human. Shoot me."

"I'm completely honest, I have a ton of integrity," Bensimon continued. "The minute I walk into the room, I create...this stagnant frenetic energy."

On last week's episode, she chided Frankel and housewife Sonja Morgan for crying, getting emotional and sharing their "feelings." She explained: "In some ways, I'm almost too real. I have two girls, and we talk about feelings 24 hours a day. But those are real-life feelings."

"Let's be honest," she added of her outbursts, "It makes for awesome TV...if they're not hating on you, you're not doing something right."

Credit: Us Weekly

Sarah Jessica Parker Sides With Bethenny

Sarah Jessica Parker was the guest-of-honor on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live last night, airing right after The Real Housewives of New York. And boy was it an explosive episode (it could have been subtitled: “Is Kelly Bensimon crazy?”). Host Andy Cohen put SJP on the spot, asking her tough, probing questions about the women of RHONY. Parker hemmed and hawed — she doesn’t like to publicly pick favorites — but in the end, she took sides. And she took them hard.  

A little recap of last night’s RHONY: Relations between Kelly Bensimon and Bethenny Frankel got especially heated, with Kelly claiming that she was worried Bethenny was going to kill her in her sleep (really? really?). It appeared that Kelly had some sort of mental break, teetering close to the edge of insanity. Is Kelly Bensimon crazy? So far, the evidence points to yes.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s take? She said she can’t be sure what actually went down, since we (and she) only get to see the editors’ version of events, but, from what she saw, she sided with Bethenny: “I strongly believe that Bethenny is not threatening in general, or specifically to Kelly.” Point: Bethenny.

Cohen also asked Parker to pick sides in the Bethenny/Jill feud. Again, she sided with Bethenny. Then she joked, with an embarassed laugh, “I’m so scared of Jill.” Aren’t we all? Point: Bethenny.

That’s a lot of Bethenny solidarity. SJP seems to get the warm fuzzies when discussing Frankel, and I wonder if it’s due to the two of them have something in common: Parker has new baby girls (hello, twins!), and Frankel just gave birth to her own baby girl, Bryn. Remember when your kids were infants? Remember how you gravitated to other new moms at parties, over lunch, in line at the bank? New motherhood is a form of magnetism.

Parker also admitted to admiring the newest Real Housewife of New York, Sonja Morgan, a.k.a. the sane one. Sonja has a daughter as well, but hers is 9 years old (there’s a lot of estrogen on the show: Kelly, Ramona, and Jill are moms of girls-only, too). “I really like Sonja, she’s like a little bit of helium…she’s been good for the show,” says Parker. Aye, we agree.  Final Tally: Two Points Bethenny, One Point Sonja

Credit: Babble

Bethenny Frankel: What's In A Name?

No, Bethenny Frankel of the Real Housewives of New York City did not name her child after hills, the MTV type or otherwise. The alternative spelling of the name Brynn means “hill” in Welsh but that was not the inspiration for the name. Bethenny was a guest on the fourth hour of the Today Show with Hoda and Kathy Lee via Skyppe and discussed her new baby Bryn and why they picked out that name. And it’s actually pretty darn touching…

Bryn was named in honor of Bethenny’s husband Jason Hoppy’s deceased brother Bryan, who passed away nineteen years ago. The family called Bryan by the nickname Bryn. Jason took Bethenny to his grave site and introduced them saying, “Byrn, meet Bethenny.” She thought then it would make a great name. She stated that naming their daughter Bryn was all her idea and that Jason’s family is thrilled with the choice. A nice tribute don’t you think?

Credit: Babble

VIDEO: Bethenny Frankel On The Today Show

There's A New 'Skinny' Housewife In Town

Bethenny Frankel isn't the only housewife with a penchant for healthy entertaining. Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice spent the weekend signing copies of her book, Skinny Italian ($12), at a bookstore in, of all places, New Jersey. Teresa, who's better known for flipping tables at dinner than serving it, shares all the classics — pesto and puttanesca sauces, veal piccata, and fettucine alfredo — but with a healthy twist.

I love Italian-American food but it's often carb-heavy with lots of cheese, butter, and beef. Teresa's recipes cut down on the fat but not flavor — there's less cheese, leaner meats, and a reduction of fats. Instead, flavors are boosted with herbs, garlic, olive oil, and peppers. Besides the recipes, Teresa offers lessons on making fresh pizza, canning your own tomatoes, and general cooking tips. Her mantra? "Eat spaghetti and still fit into your skinny jeans."

Credit: Fit Sugar

LuAnn de Lesseps To Co-Host Charity Gala

Bravo senior vice president of original programming and development (and Media Beat guest) Andy Cohen and Real Housewife of New York Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, are hosting a Memorial Day Weekend gala to benefit Miracle House, a charity that helps caregivers and patients who come to New York in search of medical treatment.

The May 29 event takes place at the Bridgehampton Tennis and Surf Club. Grammy-winning Motown singer Thelma Houston ("Don't Leave Me This Way") will perform. Celbrity chef Bethenny Frankel, talk show host and children's author Kathie Lee Gifford and designer Tommy Hillfiger will also be in attendance.

For more from Andy Cohen, check out mediabistro.com's Media Beat interview.

Bethenny Frankel Tweets About New Baby

Reality star and author Bethenny Frankel loves dishing about her new life as a mom, courtesy of Twitter.

Just a week since giving birth to daughter Bryn,  Bethenny Tweets, "Taking this time (when baby sleeps) to edit my 3rd book..."

The Real Housewives of New York star also jokes about weird food cravings -- pink M&Ms and Indian food -- leading her to jokingly ask if she's is possibly pregnant again.

Bethenny delivered almost a full month early. Fortunately her baby was able to leave the hospital after just four days and all is going well at home with dad Jason Hoppy in charge of swaddling duty.

Credit: Radar Online