Bethenny 'Laying Low' After Emotional Season

The season finale of Bethenny Ever After was Monday night – and now Bethenny Frankel says it's time to take it easy.

"I love the show, I'm proud of it," Frankel told PEOPLE at the National Magazine Awards on Monday. "It's been a very emotional, intense season. But we're starting filming in July for season 3, and I need the hiatus."

She recouped with husband Jason Hoppy at the Viceroy Anguilla for two weeks after filming, she said, and since then has been trying to slow down. "I have really checked out of my own life a lot," the reality star, 40, said. "I'm laying low. I really hit the wall going 90 miles an hour."

Frankel celebrated her daughter Bryn Casey's first birthday a day early at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York Saturday with "a big celebration." Then she had a relaxing Mother's Day, which was exactly what she wanted.

Despite rumors that they might be moving to L.A,, Frankel says her family is staying put for now. "It's an ongoing conversation but I have a business opportunity that will keep me in New York, so I don't think that I can move to L.A."

She and Hoppy plan on spending a relaxing summer in New York exploring their neighborhood.

"We've only lived downtown for a year, so we keep finding new pockets," she said. "Jason and I like to walk around, find new restaurants, sit outside, have sangria or SkinnyGirl margaritas. We just like to venture out. New York is such an amazing place so we like to find new little outdoor cafes to hang out."

Credit: PEOPLE (Asher Fogel)

Bethenny Used Reality TV to Make $120 Million

For a Skinnygirl, Bethenny Frankel has a fat wallet!

The 40-year-old entrepreneur was hesitant to participate in reality TV when Bravo executives approached her in 2007; now, the natural-foods-chef turned mogul tells the Hollywood Reporter it was her screen-time that provided her the platform to launch a $120 million empire.

"I was worried [joining the cast of Real Housewives of New York] would ruin what I had going," says Frankel, who at the time was a Pepperidge Farm spokesperson and appeared on NBC's Today for a cooking segment. "I went on the show single-handedly and exclusively for business… When I went on the show, no one was going on for business, no one had done anything."

Throughout three seasons of Real Housewives, Frankel maximized her screen time and promoted her now-famous Skinnygirl product line. In 2010, she got her own reality show: Bethenny Ever After.

Under her own personal business umbrella, she's launched a successful publishing franchise, a Body by Bethenny workout DVD and her scored one of the most lucrative liquor deals in the industry with her calorie-conscious mixes.

Before her success on reality TV, Frankel's pitches to liquor companies for a low-calorie margarita went unheeded. "Now, every company I pitched this idea to has either tried to buy Skinnygirl or has copied it," she relishes. "I created a sub-category that never existed. I wasn't an expert--I was just another person bothered by a 700-calorie margarita."

Credit: Us Magazine

Bethenny Frankel Gets Her Own Talk Show

In February, Bethenny Frankel told the press that she wanted her own talk show. Now, RumorFix is reporting exclusively that her dream is coming true.

Our staff has learned the star of Bethenny Ever After has just signed a deal with Telepictures, which is the production company behind The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Tyra, Lopez Tonight and Anderson.

Bethenny gained fame as one of the Real Housewives of New York, and quickly became a media darling by starring in her own spinoff TV show, Celebrity Apprentice and Skating with the Stars.

Bethenny's show is currently in development; two months ago, the reality star told Popeater why she wanted a talk show:

"I would like a daytime talk show because my conversation with my fans right now is through social networking, and my TV show communicates what I'm doing, but it isn't really a dialogue or a conversation."

And then she said something very prophetic, "Most of my business wishes come true."

Credit: Rumor Fix

Bethenny Ever After Renewed for Third Season

That was fast: Barely a month after season two of Bethenny Ever After bowed on Bravo, the network is readying another cycle of the series starring Bethenny Frankel.

Vulture has learned a season-three pickup will be announced later today, just in time for the network's upfront presentations to advertisers in New York, Chicago, and L.A.

This makes sense given that the Monday-night series has averaged a healthy 1.4 million viewers since returning February 28 and continues to do well with Bravo's key demo of rich folks under 50 (we're not kidding about the rich part, either; the network even has a name for its target — "affluencers").

No word yet on when season three will air, but the timing of the renewal couldn't be better for Frankel and hubby Jason Hoppy: The duo celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary Monday, an event she told Access Hollywood would be "an all-out sexfest." Awww! How sweet!

Credit: New York Magazine (Vulture)

Bethenny Frankel: I Knew I’d Get My Own Show

Former Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel had a plan to get her own reality show from the very beginning. So when Jill Zarin introduced Bethenny to the producers at Bravo and they asked her to join the cast of RHONY, Bethenny saw this as the opportunity that she needed. “It was definitely a plan,” Bethenny told Hollywood Life exclusively. “It was definitely something I knew was going to happen. I could see it.”

So when Bethenny joined the cast, she made it a point to “separate from the pack” as she puts it in her new book, A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life. “I separated in a sense that Season One — everybody was being frivolous,” Bethenny explains to us. “I was just trying to build a career and I was already working on all the projects.”

“Bravo is very much a network that is known for and relishes big drama, diamonds, glam, money and luxury,” Bethenny says. “I was not that. I had no money, I lived in 700 square-foot apartment. I had no idea what was going on in my life emotionally or career-wise. I separated in the sense that I wasn’t going to pretend I was somebody I wasn’t. I had to separate from the pack and be truthful.”

And when Bethenny found out she was getting her own show, not one of her fellow cast members — Ramona Singer, Alex McCord, Jill, Countess LuAnn de Lesseps or Kelly Bensimon — congratulated her. Were they jealous?

Now, Bethenny’s in the second season of her own show Bethenny Ever After — and she’s happier than ever that she’s no longer a housewife. “I don’t regret not being on that show at all,” she tells us. “I don’t miss a minute of it.”

In Bethenny Ever After, “no one is doing anything violent or outlandish for television,” Bethenny says. “I just love the natural way about this show because it’s true.”

Credit: Hollywood Life (Lindsey DiMattina)

Bethenny: My Reality Days Are Numbered

Always outspoken reality star Bethenny Frankel stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Friday and, as usual, no topics were off limits with the hilarious "SkinnyGirl" pioneer.

Following a clip from Bethenny's show, Bethenny Ever After, in which Bethenny was seen trying on bras, Billy Bush jumped right into the good stuff asking, "Is there anything that you won't show on the show?"

"Full vagina," Bethenny deadpanned.

"But half is OK?" Billy asked, laughing.

"Yeah. Like, quarters," Bethenny told Billy and Kit Hoover. "Upper and lower quadrants. I have standards!"

Bethenny, who got her reality TV start on Bravo's Real Housewives of New York, then branched off to a solo show with Bethenny Getting Married?, now stars in Bethenny Ever After, which follows her life as a wife and new mom to 10-month-old daughter Bryn.

"Little Bryn is the best – she stands on her own now," Bethenny told Billy and Kit of her daughter with husband Jason Hoppy. "Her little thing is to clap – 'If you're happy and you know it' — and she's happy and she's knows it, so she's clapping."

Adding, "She travels with me everywhere. I just love it so much. She's such a doll baby!"

"Let's say she's three or four years old — do you still have her on TV? Are you trying to wrestle with that?" Billy asked.

"No, I'm not trying to wrestle with that. There will be a very immediate future end to my reality television career – it can't go on forever," Bethenny revealed. "It will go on, but not for that long… I would probably say a couple more [seasons] but this isn't going on forever. We really want our private life back."

Credit: Access Hollywood

Bethenny Talks Motherhood, Inlaws, Her Book

It didn't take long for Bethenny Frankel to become the fan favorite on Bravo's "Real Housewives of New York City."

The reality star, natural foods chef and best-selling author soon scored her own spin-off, "Bethenny Getting Married?" -- in which she wed love Jason Hoppy and delivered their daughter, Bryn -- and currently stars in "Bethenny Ever After."

In her latest book, "A Place of Yes," Frankel, 40, lists 10 rules "for getting everything you want out of life."

ParentDish recently spoke with Frankel about her latest book, motherhood and dealing with her inlaws. An edited version of the interview follows.

ParentDish: What does the title "A Place of Yes" mean?

Bethenny Frankel: It does not mean a way to the power of positive thinking. It means a way to get there. You don't have to want what I want. It's about how to plow through and get there. It's how I got to where I am from coming from a place of yes. So many people told me no and how it couldn't happen. I kind of just knew in my gut that I could make things happen.

PD: There are 10 rules in the book. What do you think is the most important one?

BF: I would say maybe all roads lead to Rome, because people worry about the right job and it has to be the perfect situation. And all roads lead to Rome is kind of about getting on the road; it doesn't matter if you get derailed or have to stop, as long as you are moving forward, you can get to your destination one way or another.

PD: You don't speak to Jill from "Real Housewives" at all anymore, right?

BF: No, we don't speak at all. Listen, I have boyfriends that I lived with that I broke up with that I don't speak to, you know. We met briefly before the show, but ultimately our friendship began and ended on reality TV. The way it went down was extremely difficult because my father passed away, I was in a new relationship and being pregnant. The way it went down was really not ideal.

PD: How has motherhood changed you?

BF: My priorities totally changed. I wake up in the morning and the minute I hear her I want to run to her. If I go to L.A. for work, I'll take a red-eye and not stay overnight so I can come back and see her. I just want to be with her every single minute. I've been listening to every woman who says it flies by, and it really does. That will be problematic for me; I can already see that being my issue. I'm going to have a really hard time letting go.

PD: You also write that women should have sex with their husbands even when they're not in the mood.

BF: You just don't want to be the girl five years in, always saying no and in a raggedy robe. You want to try and come from a place of yes.

PD: So, do the producers want you to do goofy things on your show?

BF: Not on my show. That's why Max got fired (recently), to be perfectly honest. I didn't want someone who wanted to be funny and come up with quips. It actually really annoyed me. In reality, he'd be two hours late and he'd want to take a cab instead of the subway and I'm big on work ethic. You think this is a TV show -- this is my life. I get in wicked fights with my producers. There will not be a word out of place. If it's not something I said or did, it will not be on the show or I'll never do the show again. I have a serious foot down mantra.

PD: I hope you're not offended, but I'm on Team Jason regarding issues with his parents. Your daughter is so lucky to have grandparents who adore her.

BF: I'm not offended. I do understand and I love them and they're wonderful. I don't need them to be here every two weeks staying over and vice versa. It's a 50/50 split as to what people think. Guilt shouldn't be a reason for doing things. I want my family and I have to have quality time, too. We need to have our own life. We need to have our own moments together and then share them with other people. I totally get where you're coming from, but it's a balance. Jason and his parents are very talkative and, on a TV show, that's really nice for an hour, but when you've been together for three days in a row you can imagine. That's fine if it's occasional, every week it's too much.

Credit: Parent Dish (Nicki Gostin )

Bethenny Frankel: Not Happy With Co-Workers

Bethenny Frankel has become very good at marketing herself. However, this kind of around-the-clock self-promotion can lead to problems, as revealed on Bethenny Ever After (Mon., 10PM ET on Bravo).

She sat down with husband Jason Hoppy to talk about why her business isn't producing product as quickly as she'd hoped and wasn't at all happy with what she was hearing.

"Everyone's freaking out because they can't get the product," she said. "And we're not producing it fast enough."

Jason explained to her that there wasn't sufficient demand during the early stages of production, and when demand peaked, they couldn't keep up.

Bethenny believed the demand would come all along, as she reminded him. "I told everyone this would happen," she reminded him. "Why can't everybody produce as fast as I can market?"

Credit: TV Squad ()

Bethenny Frankel Touches Down In Los Angeles

Bethenny Frankel, star of Bethenny Ever After, was spotted arriving to LAX Airport in Los Angeles looking happy to be there!

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by Photo Agency

Ramona Singer Disses Bethenny’s Actions

Although it seemed like Real Housewives of New York City star Ramona Singer was friends with Bethenny Frankel, she is now dissing her for her actions on her own reality TV show.

Singer admits that she is impressed with Frankel’s ability to handle all she is doing right now, but she doesn’t agree with her treatment of some others, states The Miami Herald.

“How could she not embrace her child’s grandparents?” Singer said about Frankel having a hard time spending a lot of time with her in-laws, “That was shocking to me.”

Credit: Hollywood News (Molly Sullivan)

Bethenny Frankel Doesn't Want To Talk RHONY

Bethenny Frankel isn’t the woman she was when America was introduced to her on the Real Housewives of New York three years ago. Back then, she was 37, single, always cracking wise about her cast-mates’ quirks and working as a chef. Now starring in Season 2 of her own show, Frankel is married with a baby and the kingpin of her SkinnyGirl brand.

Since she became a star and began touring the country giving talks, Frankel has been sought out as a sort of famous best girlfriend that fans will ask about anything.

“Everything from ‘I’m trying to find my way in college and I’m not sure what path I should take’ to ‘I’m single and 30 and my friends are pressuring me, but you’re an inspiration because I feel like I don’t have to do anything on any timeline.’ It’s every range of every women’s question and issue,” Frankel says.

On this season of Bethenny Ever After, we can expect to see her struggling to get the right work-life balance and adjusting to her new in-laws.

As for her past with the Real Housewives, we were curious if Frankel thought any of the other ladies in the franchise had the potential to do what she has accomplished.

“I’d rather talk about me than the other Housewives if that’s OK,” she suddenly snipped. “Thank you.”

Credit: Metro (HEIDI PATALANO)

Jill Zarin Doubts Her Friendship With Bethenny

Jill Zarin is having serious doubts her long-defunct friendship with former Real Housewives of New York City co-star Bethenny Frankel was ever real and tells Rob Shuter it was just a "TV romance" that went bad. Real bad.

"The truth is, I don't even remember being friends with her anymore," Jill tells him on his HDNet show. "You know, when I see her picture and when I see her on TV, I don't even remember our relationship. Which kinda says something."

The pair's friendship went down in flames during the third season of the hit show, with numerous on-air blowups leading to a full scale feud between the two. It probably didn't help that Jill accidentally broke the news of the birth of Bethenny's baby last year on Twitter.

But after many attempts to patch things up, it's pretty clear things are kaput for good for these ex-BFF's and Jill tells me she's fine with it because they didn't exactly have long history. "People thought we came into the show with that romance," she said. "We didn't. We fell in love on TV and we got a divorce on TV."

Now a year later, she's not even sure she and the Bethenny Ever After star were chums to begin with! "It was real! Well, I thought the friendship was real. Clearly, it was not."

Credit: Pop Eater (Rob Shuter)