Bethenny Frankel is being slammed by the people she used to work with on The Real Housewives of New York City.
After Bethenny took a dig at the series following its premiere episode last week by mentioning that the series’ ratings had supposedly dropped and suggested it was due to the fact that the show isn’t inspiring, five sources close to production on the Bravo series are clapping back at her shade.
“This season the cast can breathe, everyone shows up and no one is afraid of what mood Bethenny will be in or if she’ll even be filming,” production sources told DailyMailTV on April 10. “This is someone who called her cast members every horrific name under the sun for years and yet she can’t comprehend that they are happy to have her off the show.”
According to the insiders, Bethenny’s comments are nothing more than “a desperate and pathetic attempt to remain in the spotlight” following her exit from RHONY last August.
“Her toxic comments really are a slap in the face for Andy Cohen,” the sources continued. “He made her a star through the Real Housewives and backed her for years and this is how she thanks him, by trashing the show.”
While the ratings for last week’s premiere showed that just over 1 million viewers tuned into RHONY, a rep for Bravo said in a statement to PEOPLE that the show actually performed a lot like it during season 11 before the magazine noted that streaming on the series had seen a 13 percent increase.
“The women know it kills her that this season is going to be a success without her,” the insiders shared. “You’ve got to feel sorry for her really. She lost on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, her talk show bombed, her Sirius radio show failed, and every time Bravo has attempted another show with her – they’ve tanked too.”
Continuing on, the sources alleged that while Bethenny claimed to have recommended new cast member Leah McSweeney to producers, Leah has never actually met her.
“The most outrageous leak was Bethenny taking credit for Leah McSweeney being cast. This mysteriously appeared in PEOPLE just before the season premiered, yet Leah has never even met Bethenny,” they stated. “The two women share a beauty therapist and she recommended her name – a name that Bethenny sent to the network along with a list of other names. Something that all the women do every season.”
“Bethenny even followed Leah on Instagram and when she heard that Leah was working out well and that the other women were enjoying filming with her, Bethenny suddenly unfollowed her,” the sources added.
The Real Housewives of New York City season 12 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
Photos Credit: JOHN NACION/startraksphoto.com, Bravo