Longtime Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel on Wednesday told fans she was “grateful” for their support in a note on Instagram that announced her departure from the Bravo show.
“I am so grateful to you for sticking with me through everything. You started this journey with me in my tiny apartment in my late 30s, wondering what would happen to me. I was broke, single, had no family and no idea what the future held,” she wrote. “I had big dreams and I never stopped, but I honestly didn’t know if I would ever get here.”
After a stint on 2005’s The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Frankel joined the RHONY cast. After three seasons, she left the show in 2010 and returned in 2014. During her hiatus from the series, Frankel starred in the spinoffs Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After and launched the line of Skinnygirl cocktails. She sold the cocktail brand later to the tune of $100 million.
The most recent cycle (season 11) that wrapped in late July was particularly tough on the star. Frankel was grieving over the unexpected death of her former fiance Dennis Shields and survived a near-death experience after a severe allergic reaction.
“Thank you so much for your love and support. And stay tuned, you haven’t seen the last of me. There are many amazing things to come,” Frankel added in her post.
New York has been one of the more troublesome productions in the Real Housewives franchise. In 2013, the cast (sans Frankel) held up production during a protracted salary renegotiation that almost led to the series’ cancellation.
A Bravo rep declined to comment.
Read Frankel’s full post below.
