The RHONY Reveal What It's Really Like To Film Without Bethenny

Bethenny Frankel announced in August 2019 that she wouldn't return for season 12 of The Real Housewives of New York City. Her former castmates including Luann de Lesseps, Tinsley Mortimer, and Ramona Singer spoke out about how they feel filming the series without Frankel.

De Lesseps admitted to People that she was relieved Frankel quit. "The show must go on, and it goes on very well without her," she said. In another interview with E! News, the cabaret singer said, "Bethenny's a big force to be reckoned with and takes up a lot of oxygen in the room. I just feel like there's more room for the other women to breathe."

Singer also seemed happy about Frankel's decision. "I think it was just a lighter, happier show, didn't get dark. And everyone could just truly be themselves more," she told E! News about filming the new season. Singer added, "We'd all walk on eggshells because of her. And this season, we're all lighter and brighter and we had our moments but nothing got dark."

Mortimer took a break in filming season 12 due to her relationship with Scott Kluth who lives in Chicago, Illinois (via People). Unlike Frankel, however, she decided to return. "I think that not having her around in one way, though, I feel like bonded the group better a bit. ... And there were a lot of times I felt like I was like, 'Damn, where's Bethenny?!' Because I know that she would have defended me here," she told E! News.

Frankel departed the series after she found it "very stressful," she told Variety. She added, "People across the franchise will tell you they develop anxiety." The Skinnygirl CEO also voiced her disappointment that she wasn't allowed to talk more about her various business endeavors.

"It no longer became this platform to promote my business, because I had done that, and there was more promoting sort of new and questionable businesses than the legitimate ones at this point, if that makes any sense," she said. Frankel added that the stress of balancing RHONY, her businesses, and being a mom became too taxing. "So it's really hard when we're not covering that what I'm really doing is my career, because I then have to do the show and my real career. So if we're just showing me having lunches and on vacations, then I've got three jobs — because I've got to be a mother too," the former Bravo star said.