“I was hurt”: Former RHONY stars Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin reunite for the first time after 13 years

Former Real Housewives of New York (RHONY) stars Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin again broke the internet but this time not because of a feud but rather reuniting for the first time in over a decade.

The never expected reconciliation took place during an episode of Frankel's ReWives podcast, where the two opened up about their once-close friendship, the reasons for their falling out, and the role reality TV played in driving them apart.

The OG RHONY stars Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin who have been known for their best friends-to-enemies trope, have finally seemed to reconcile for the first time after 13 years.

The feud started with Bethenny accusing Jill of being jealous of her success to Jill claiming the former was not supportive during her husband's illness, among many other hurling of accusations that have finally been put to rest. As Zarin expressed,

"The reason I was mad at you … is because I was hurt. And maybe I didn’t express it, I didn’t share it."

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Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin's feud started after RHONY season 3

After years of animosity and hurt feelings, the duo finally laid it all on the table, leaving fans both surprised and overjoyed by the unexpected reunion on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In a Just B and ReWives podcast the two finally hashed out all the details that have kept them apart from 2010.

The rift between Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin began to unfold on-screen during the third season of Real Housewives of New York in 2010. Amid accusations of jealousy and unsupportive behavior, their friendship crumbled, and they parted ways as bitter enemies. The once inseparable duo seemed to be caught up in the whirlwind of reality TV drama, driven apart by the ambitions of producers and network executives.

During the "unfiltered and unedited" podcast episode, Jill Zarin admitted her feelings of being left out as Bethenny's meteoric rise to success with her now $100 million empire took center stage. She revealed,

"I wanted to have a real make-up. I couldn’t tell the real truth, the real truth of why I was mad at you. I was hurt that I was losing you and was being left out of everything."

Both Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin acknowledged that the pressures of reality TV, especially under the watchful eye of producer Andy Cohen, exacerbated their issues. They speculated that if certain decisions had been different, their feud might never have escalated to such heights. As Zarin added,

"Had you done season four and not gone on your own, we would’ve made up."

However, both agreed that reconciling while still on the show would have resulted in a highly staged and potentially ugly scenario.

Bethenny Frankel defended herself against accusations of ambushing Jill's husband Bobby Zarin's funeral for the sake of reality TV, claiming it was an idea suggested by Andy Cohen and not her own initiative. This was one of their biggest fallouts.

She further divulges in detail how it ultimately played out,

"Andy Cohen texts me and calls me, I’m in a nail salon in Aspen, says Bobby passed away. Andy said to me that when Bobby was in the hospital, or when he was sick, that you said to [Andy] that [Bobby] would love for you to cover this."

The duo came to the realization that not only did their own personal shortcomings contribute to their fallout, but the producers also played a role in it.

Before the podcast episode's release, they both took to Instagram to announce their highly anticipated reconciliation. In a joint post, they posed with a massive apple sculpture, symbolizing their return to RHONY roots.