The same day Real Housewives of New York City star Carole Radziwill announced she would not be returning for another season, fans watched her broken relationship with Bethenny Frankel come to a head.
Wednesday’s all-new episode of the Bravo series picked up after last week’s Cartagena breakdown. While Dorinda Medley stayed back with Frankel to calm down, the rest of the women were happy shopping, only to be joined soon after by a clearly still distraught Frankel.
Videos by PopCulture.com
But Radziwill wasn’t biting. “All the crying, it not that it doesn’t affect me, but I can’t engage with someone who’s crying in every conversation,” she said.
To cameras, she continued: “Bethenny has her health, she has a great daughter, she has a career, she has a lovely home. There’s no apparent reason for any of Bethenny’s breakdowns, so when you see it, it’s just like unnerving.”
Frankel knew she was bringing the vacation down, but couldn’t help but feel unwelcome in the group.
“I want to have fun, I love to have fun! I don’t want to be dragging everyone down, but I can see and feel the eye rolls and the ‘Ugh, enough with this one,’” she said. “Half this group, they’re just not that into me.”
Later, calling for a plane to take her home early in a momentary decision to leave the vacation early, she said, “I have no relationship with Carole whatsoever. I’m not welcome here!”
The relationship between Radziwill and Frankel has been the elephant in the room all season, but the award-winning journalist confided to Sonja Morgan privately that she’s not sure what is making her former friend implode over their relationship.
“She feels you don’t want anything to do with her, that you’re just not that into her,” Morgan replied.
Radziwill said of their friendship, “It was a lot of Bethenny, and it wasn’t a lot of Carole, and I’m busier now.”
But Morgan wasn’t taking Radziwill’s excuse. “Everyone knows that Bethenny can be a nightmare,” she said. “So what? She’s your friend!”
Later, at dinner, Radziwill asks Frankel straight up what is going on with the two of them, to which the Skinnygirl mogul says she thinks “it’s like an erosion” that started over the summer with other people gossiping about them.
That quickly devolved into a spat, in which Frankel called her friend “too cool” for not showing her emotions and not coming to her aid when she was crying. It all ended with the two agreeing that they would never reach a “final answer” when it comes to their friendship, and Radziwill reassuring her friend that she still loved her.
“This is like the worst vacation I’ve ever been on in my entire life,” Frankel cried.
Wednesday’s episode came just hours after Radziwill announced she would not be returning for another season of RHONY to Bravo’s The Daily Dish.
“After six seasons on Bravo’s RHONY, I have decided to return to what I do best โ journalism and producing,” Radziwill wrote.
“I am sure this does not come as a surprise to any of the viewers, all of whom have been supportive, encouraging, and kind,” she added. “My original curiosity about reality television has waned over the years and I am focusing on TV and writing projects that better suit my more steady temperament.”
She continued: “I have worked with amazing producers, made great friends, and I’m thrilled to leave frenemies behind. I will remember this entire experience with delight, humor, and a veracious accuracy. Next.”
The Real Housewives of New York City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.