Her new approach is annoying co-stars – especially because many of them took pay cuts so Bravo could afford to bring Frankel back into the fold.
An insider at a party to celebrate “Housewife” Sonja Morgan’s cover of Latino Show magazine at the Vanessa Noel store tells us that Frankel, who Bravo hopes will breathe new life into the struggling franchise, was “standoffish” from the outset.
“It was the first big public event that Bethenny has filmed (since making her comeback). It’s Sonja’s big moment because she’s on the cover of the magazine,” said the source. “In marches Bethenny Frankel, dodging the paparazzi outside, refusing all the interviews, refusing to be photographed.”
“She was even giving the Bravo team problems when they were trying to set up shots, too. The Bravo team’s job is to set up conversations and to direct and create the action to some degree. So Bethenny was trying to stonewall them every chance she’d get,” explained the source.
“For example, when they asked Bethenny to come join Sonja and a group of her friends to leaf through the magazine and “Ooh” and “Ahh,” Bethenny refused, saying, ‘I’m not an actress.’ She basically said, ‘I’m not going to do this; it’s fake.’ She’s a problem on the set.”
The site reports that the producers of the Bravo show are counting on Bethenny’s return to drum up viewers – so much that they scraped together her $250,000-an-episode fee by dipping into the other stars’ Fendi purses.
“Everybody knows that Bethenny grabbed a big chunk of LuAnn's (de Lesseps) paycheck, and LuAnn got demoted; a big chunk of Ramona's (Singer) paycheck, and Ramona got demoted,” said our source. “She basically clawed her way to the top of the salary ladder on the backs of LuAnn, Ramona and the other Housewives who didn’t get the raises that they normally would have gotten.”
“Carole Radziwill and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps are reportedly so upset over it that they’re trying to limit their camera time with Bethenny,” adds the insider.
Photo Credit: Bravo