Barbara Nitke/Bravo; Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImageBethenny Frankel may be long gone from the Real Housewives of New York City, but that doesn't mean we don't want to hear what she has to say about her former costars getting booted from the show.
Especially because two of the departing, Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon, aren't exactly her best friends...
"I'm not surprised only because it's been the same cast for so many years and Bravo...likes to make changes," Frankel told me yesterday while promoting her new True Hollywood Story (premiering tomorrow night on E!). "They probably just felt like it was time for a change. People do that in relationships, they do that in work strategy. I don't think it's personal. I think it's really just business."
Frankel, as you know, didn't wait around long enough not to be asked back. "I did leave on top," she said. "It was all very planned out. I knew this was the type of place you don't want to overstay your welcome. I always say, 'You don't want to be the one in the nightclub at two in the morning where everyone looks pretty scary.'"
Will Zarin, Bensimon, Alex McCord and Cindy Barshop hit the jackpot like Frankel has with her spinoff, the Skinnygirl empire and now possibly a movie about her life? Only time will tell.
"The girls are probably a little nervous and scared, because it's change," Frankel said. "It can be lucrative when you get a lot of attention, but I also think it's very tiring. They'll get to relax a little more and not be scrutinized all the time."
(Originally published Sept. 20, 2011, at 6 p.m. PT)