Bethenny Frankel.Photo: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Bethenny Frankelis returning to theReal Housewivesfranchise — well, sort of.
TitledReWives, the podcast — the first installment of which premieres Nov. 14 — will see Frankel watching iconic episodes throughout theBravofranchise’s history, like “Scary Island” fromRHONY, the “Dinner Party from Hell” fromThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the “Who Gon' Check Me Boo?” episode ofThe Real Housewives of Atlantaand the iconic “Table Flip” season 1 finale ofThe Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Launching aHousewives-focused podcast might be a move that surprises fans of Frankel, who will surely recall that she has been vocal about her desire to not return to the show sincewalking away from it, sayingthat it’s “devolved.“She’s even been critical about projects that look back on the show, saying they focus on"women trashing women"and are only about"capitalizing on our weaknesses.”
But speaking with PEOPLE aboutReWivesnow, Frankel, 52, says the show isn’t a typical rewatch podcast and won’t be about rehashing the drama.
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Bethenny Frankel’s podcastReWives.WesAndAlex for iHeartRadio
According to a release for the podcast,ReWiveswill “explore real-life issues including family, fame, finances and friendship, through the lens of theHousewivesseries.” Many of those are topics Frankel herself says she didn’t notice were being exposed on the show until she went back and rewatched the episodes.
“I never realized how many interesting dynamics are underlying that you don’t really discuss because the media only discusses what’s splashy about it and that’s what gets the headlines,” she notes to PEOPLE. “So watching it back, I’m finding different things that were never talked about before. I’m not justpicking up on the big, shiny items. It’s really about narrowing in on what’s insightful and talking about the whole themes in a way that somebody who has never seen the show would be as wildly entertained as someone who’s obsessed.”
One conversation with Springer, 78, aboutRHONJ’s season 3 premiere — which featured an epic battle betweenTeresa Giudiceand her brother,Joe Gorga, at his son’s christening — turned into a deep discussion about “the actual meaning of family,” Frankel says.
“We were talking about how their father had two heart surgeries before that argument happened, and that led to this conversation between Jerry and myself about what does family mean and how do you define family?” she reveals. “And how does that change when you get married and have kids of your own? Really deep, meaningful stuff.”
Bethenny Frankel and the season 1 cast ofThe Real Housewives of New York City.Jay Sullivan/NBC/Getty
“I’m not really interested in a table flipping over, but what are the dynamics surrounding that? What does it mean?” she continues. “It’s not talking about whether or notShereé [Whitfield]got a seven-figure settlement in her divorce. It’s about, is she actually going to get that? And how do you mandate that?”
“It’s asking, ‘What does Elisabeth Moss have to say about comparing acting to being a reality star?’ " Frankel says. " ‘What does it mean that there are actual actresses on these shows?’ And talking about what it means to feel the pressure to be rich because everybody else is? Or what does it mean to get married and think it’s all going to be great and then find out that you didn’t know anything about your husband, who [has] a briefcase filled with receipts? What that would feel like?”
According to the star, “There’s just a thousand dynamics no one’s thinking about and they just come out,” she tells PEOPLE.
“Like, Suze Orman, we had a fullfinancial breakdown conversation of theHousewives,” Frankel recalls. “I didn’t suggest that — it’s just what she pulled from this episode that she watched. And it was fascinating because I hadn’t thought of a lot of what she said. So it’s just really different, really amazing conversations.”
Bethenny Frankel.Charles Sykes/Getty
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Many of her guests had never seen the show before, while others — like Moss, 40 — areHousewivessuperfans (though Moss told Frankel she “studied for this harder than any role I’ve ever studied for”).
Frankel first got the idea to doReWivesfrom her fiancéPaul Bernon, who suggested she do a rewatch podcast.
“I still have never listened to a podcast besides when I’m editing my own, so I didn’t even know what rewatches were,” Frankel tells PEOPLE. “And then he told me about all these different rewatches that breaking down shows, which to me doesn’t sound that interesting. … But he said, ‘You’re theTom BradyofHousewives, so you should be breaking down the game.’ "
She’s been enjoying watching the episodes back herself. “It’s so fun to go back and there are a lot of parts of the beginning that I like even better than what I see now,” Frankel says. “So it’s very nostalgic. And it’s shocking to see what people looked like back then, what they wore. I mean, there’s an episode inRHOBHwhereCamille [Grammer]calls someone to invite them to a party and leaves a message on their answering machine. Who has an answering machine anymore? It’s really funny to notice those things.”
Bethenny Frankel and Luann de Lesseps onThe Real Housewives of New York City.Paul Cheney/Bravo
“And I think it will make people go back and watch shows again,” Frankel adds. “That’s why Bravo’s going to love [my podcast] too — because it’s going to make people go back and watch.”
Ultimately,Housewives, Frankel says, will always be something she discusses — be it on this podcast, her other iHeartMedia showJust B with Bethenny Frankelor in one of her many Instagram and TikTok videos.
“You can’t forget where you came from, so I always reference it,” Frankel says to PEOPLE. “I mean, it led to such tremendous success for me. This is where it started for me. I don’t want to be there in the same way that I was. But it’s such a larger-than-life concept that you can’t help but indulge in it.”
Most episodes from theReal Housewivesfranchise are now streaming on Peacock.
source: people.com
