Why Did Bethenny Frankel Call Off a $60K Swimwear Launch?

If there’s one thing about Bethenny Frankel, it’s her willingness to say the quiet part out loud—and her recent interview on The Skinny Confidential delivers exactly that. From dissecting the “big dick energy” of insecure men to revealing why she torpedoed a $60,000 swimwear launch because the product sucked, Frankel came ready to share.

The Problem with Men (and Dating When You’re a Powerhouse)

Right out of the gate, Lauryn and Michael Bosstick get Frankel talking about dating as a wildly successful woman—and yes, it’s as tricky as you’d imagine. “They big dick me on podcasts,” Bethenny jokes. “I can out big dick anybody on a podcast… but I would like to be out big dicked on a date. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Frankel, who built her empire from scratch, explains that men start strong—until they realize who she really is. “I start not saying what I’m doing because I feel like it’s going to intimidate them. Or I start watering it down… Like, ‘Yes, what you’re doing is the same exact thing as what I’m doing. We’re the same.’” Spoiler alert: they’re not.

Despite this, she’s figured out her dating formula: “Someone has to be from a different planet but successful on their planet… where they think the stuff that I’m doing is silly.” 

The Chaotic Childhood That Made Her a Mogul

In true Frankel fashion, she describes a childhood that sounds like it was lifted from a 1970s soap opera. Raised around racetracks, jockeys, and gamblers, Frankel says she grew up fast: “I was an adult as a child. I was sort of gambling very young, drinking very young, doing drugs young—not a lot, but… going to nightclubs very young.”

Her mom? Beautiful, brilliant, destructive, and frequently absent. “She was absolutely stunning… she could take over a room. But she had a very mercurial, crazy, dysfunctional, destructive side. Self-destructive, mostly,” Frankel recalls.

And yet, Frankel never spiraled. “I’ve never had a crazy phase. I’ve never had a promiscuous phase. I’ve never had a drug phase. I’ve never had an acting out phase. Oddly, I’m pretty well-adjusted for a person who had a childhood like I did.”

Born with the Hustle 

If you’ve ever wondered where Frankel’s legendary hustle comes from, it wasn’t learned—it’s innate. “I think I might have been born this way. I’ve always been a hustler, but that is probably from the racetrack.”

Before fame, she was Paris and Nicky Hilton’s nanny. She worked for Lorne Michaels and Jerry Bruckheimer. She slung pastries to throw parties she charged people to get into. “We didn’t have these words like ‘entrepreneurial’ or ‘personal brand.’ I didn’t even know I was different than anyone else.”

Reality TV and Out-Playing Everyone

Frankel’s start on reality TV wasn’t Housewives—it was The Apprentice: Martha Stewart Edition, which she describes as a real competition and “good training for just life. Like, you just don’t look to the left or the right. You’re looking at that wall in front of you.”

But Real Housewives of New York? That’s where she built the empire. And that’s where the infamous Bethenny Clause was born, preventing Bravo from profiting off her business success.

“When I did the show, I had no money,” she admits. “I only just saw that clause as a clause that I just was like, why do I need to sign this? What if I do something? But I didn’t think I was going to do something.” LOL.

She did something alright: create Skinnygirl Margarita, the first major success of the Housewives businesses.

Why She Left RHONY (and Cashed In Anyway)

In perhaps her boldest move, Bethenny left RHONY at her peak—and still commanded Forbes covers and successful spinoffs.

“I don’t stay too long at a party. I’m not like you other girlies,” she laughs. “I was at the party, and I thought, this feels gross. So I’m leaving. But I always trust myself. I always trust the driver and the car that I’m in.”

When she returned? Oh, she made sure everyone knew who the real boss was. She negotiated fewer filming days, no filming with her daughter, and a multi-million dollar contract while the other ladies begged her to return. “They accepted their place in society,” she says. Savage.

Business is Not for the Weak

Frankel offers a dose of reality for every Housewife-turned-entrepreneur (and influencer) thinking fame equals success. “Television should not make business look easy. Being on a television show doesn’t mean your business is going to be successful. That’s one little step.”

Case in point: the $60,000 bathing suit disaster. Frankel scrapped an entire HSN launch days before it aired because the product wasn’t good enough. “They said, ‘We’ll sell them somewhere else.’ I go, ‘Oh, so we’re going to sell them cheaper? So poor people get to look like shit?’”

Why She’s the Queen of Reading the Room

Frankel credits her survival in business (and life) to her self-awareness and knowing when to pivot. “You cannot underestimate when the wave is cresting. You gotta press your bets.”

And she’s not afraid to shift the cultural conversation even if it pisses people off. She saw the luxury market’s saturation coming from a mile away. “I’m watching TikTok, and I’m nauseated. I can afford any bag in the world, and I’m shorting the stock.” Enter: Handbag University—her cheeky way of teaching women how to get the look without dropping $20K on a Birkin.

And yes, even the ultra-wealthy are sliding into her DMs asking for links.

Business is Brutal, But So Is Life

Frankel doesn’t sugarcoat a thing—whether it’s her opinion on cottage cheese or Birkins or the fool’s gold of reality TV fame. “You think, okay, great, I’m on a show, I have a brand… but business is insane, and you have to be able to fully back it up all the time.”

And that’s exactly why we love her.