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Bethenny Frankel addressed Paul Bernon‘s relationship with Aurora Culpo on Sunday’s episode of her podcast.
Days after Paul, 45, and Aurora, 35, were first spotted together in Rhode Island ahead of Aurora’s sister Olivia Culpo‘s wedding to Christian McCaffrey, 28, the 53-year-old Real Housewives of New York City alum opened up about her and Paul’s breakup before admitting to feeling shocked and embarrassed by his new romance and suggesting they’ve already called it quits.
“Yes, I went through a breakup. It was something that I kept to myself. It was something that I mourned on my own and I did therapy and I did the work and I just didn’t feel like it needed to be shared. It was a breakup that I wanted to process alone,” Bethenny began on the July 7 episode of Just B With Bethenny.
“The breakup was something that I initiated. I wasn’t happy, something needed to change. It was certainly mutual. The relationship had its challenges, and nobody dumped anybody,” she continued. “It wasn’t a relationship I wanted to be in, and it wasn’t a person that I wanted to be with anymore, to be honest, for many reasons that I really had to come to terms with.”
According to Bethenny, she was “scared” to split from Paul due to her “abandonment” issues, but she knew that, ultimately, it was the right thing.
“I really made peace with it and I was happy, I was thriving and I was surviving. I was looking good, feeling good. I was in therapy. I wasn’t medicating with men. I wasn’t distracting. I was comfortable being alone,” she shared.
Then, earlier this month, Bethenny was hit with an onslaught of articles about her ex that portrayed her as the “jilted ex” who Paul upgraded “with a younger woman” from. The RHONY alum also felt that the press was painting a narrative that he was an under-the-radar guy while she was an over-the-radar girl — and that he “couldn’t handle the relationship.”
“The media presented me as some sort of spinster that’s just home crying, suffering a breakup, and watching this new transition when in fact I was really happy,” she explained.
In addition to articles noting that Paul had moved on from her “very quickly” and that they’d met one another’s families, some shared details about their sex life and made claims that Paul and Aurora committed to each other on the first date.
There were also comments from Aurora herself.
“This woman is talking about this very publicly, so she’s sharing all the details of their brand new relationship that has been happening for six weeks right after a six-year relationship … It was definitely shocking, and it’s embarrassing,” Bethenny stated. “Hearing about your ex-fiance committing to another woman shortly thereafter on their first date, and then being inside their relationship, hearing about their sex and their gifts and meeting each other’s kids, and the level of commitment was gutting. It was brutal.”
One thing that was particularly difficult for Bethenny was constantly reading about Paul being an under-the-radar guy, which she felt made her out to be the villain.
“It was rough because I had to experience the same breakup twice, but way worse the second time because I had to hear about all these details,” Bethenny noted.
As hurtful as it was to hear about Paul’s relationship with Aurora, Bethenny said she “learned a lot during [the] experience.”
“I’m sure this woman has learned a lot. I didn’t take the bait. I stayed quiet. I just let it play out and it was really, really rough, and I’m proud of myself and I’m proud of the way I handled it, and I think this woman has learned a lot too,” she revealed.
Bethenny then hinted that Paul and Aurora are no longer together, saying, “I think everybody lost in this situation because their actions cost them their relationship, which was brand-new, and who knows what would’ve happened?”
Also on the podcast, Bethenny dished on a conversation she had with Olivia, 32.
“I have messaged with Olivia Culpo. I reached out to her before this media spectacle got out of hand, and she responded to me, which is sweet because she just got married, and she was really nice and said she’s a fan, and she has all my books and she really looks up to me, and that was really kind. It was actually a nice warm blanket during this whole crazy thing, so maybe she’ll come on the podcast,” Bethenny stated.
