‘Real Housewives Of New York City’ Season 9 Casting Rumors: Bethenny Frankel ‘Distancing’ Herself After Reunion Blowout

If you thought Season 8 of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York City” was explosive, you’re in for a real treat when the reunion rolls around. Taping for the Bravo special was so explosive that one member of the cast is considering taking a break from filming.

Bethenny Frankel, who returned to “RHONY” in Season 7, recently opened up to Entertainment Tonight about her future on the show. The Skinny Girl Cocktails CEO revealed that following filming for the reunion, she has gone out of her way to distance herself from the show. Bethenny said that the reunion wasn’t the only issue, but definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back. She told the publication “it was a long year” filming “RHONY,” and it has made her hesitant to return for a potential Season 9.

“I’m glad the audience is enjoying it, but I’ve left it behind,” she said.

Bethenny’s qualms with the reunion special stem from a line of questioning related to her business. As Sonja Morgan learned the hard way during Season 8, you don’t mess with Bethenny’s baby. The momtrepreneur told ET her reunion experience was “very, very negative” as a result, adding that she does not take questions about her work or her “integrity” lightly.

“It was very, very negative and I didn’t enjoy it at all. Something very dramatic happened… that questioned my integrity. If someone questions my business or my integrity I take it really seriously — I don’t just gloss over it,” she said. “So I think that maybe the fun and light Bethenny that people expect, with the quips and the comebacks weren’t there.”

Season 8 hasn’t been easy on Bethenny. In addition to drama that played out on camera between her and Sonja and her and Luann de Lesseps, Bethenny was forced to deal with the fallout from her ugly divorce from husband Jason Hoppy which, at the time, was still pending. Rather than involve daughter Bryn in any of that, Bethenny made the decision to keep her daughter off camera.

“I do feel like it is — it’s work. It takes away from running my business and it’s definitely a job. There are press responsibilities, there are Twitter and press arguments that you would never otherwise be involved in. And it’s, you know, it’s a rose that has petals and thorns,” she told ET in June. “So, I don’t think it’s really a place for a child — I don’t. I mean, when my daughter was a baby, she didn’t really know what was even going on. But what? You put a microphone on a 6-year-old?”

Although Bravo was not able to capture that aspect of Bethenny’s private life, she remained an open book for much of the season. Early in Season 8, she allowed the cameras to follow her as she attempted to get to the bottom of a mysterious health issue that left her bleeding profusely. During episode 8, she revealed to her co-stars that she wasn’t feeling like herself. This struggle continued for several days before she visited a doctor and learned that surgery was her only option. Fearful, Bethenny got a second opinion, but found that her new doctors method didn’t work. She agreed to go under the knife, although that meant leaving her daughter for a short time. As People magazine reported, it was not an easy choice for the devoted CEO and mother.

“RHONY” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo.