The B may firmly be back, but when The Real Housewives of New York City returns for season eight, don't expect to see as much of Bethenny Frankel as you'd like.
After going public with a mysterious health scare via the trailer for the upcoming season of the Bravo reality hit, which revealed a need for surgery and Bethenny's emotional request to look into whether she had a living will, the reality star is opening up about how her struggle impacted her ability to participate this time around.
Speaking with E! News from her Skinnygirl offices in New York City Tuesday, the day before the big premiere, Bethenny admitted that her filming will unwell wasn't an attempt at bringing awareness to a cause. "I didn't decide to talk about my health issues on the show. I was on the show and something happened to me, and it just sort of took over," she said. "When you're filming, it's pretty all-intensive and when something hits you, it's not really something you can avoid. It's something that physically affected a lot of the season, and I almost couldn't—well, I actually did. There's some of the season where I had to bow out and stay in bed."
While Bethenny admitted she's a bit uncomfortable with all the attention about her health scare and assured us "I'm going to be OK," she's also hopeful that her on-camera experience may help women watching at home. "I'm actually glad that it's on the show because it's something that many women can relate to. It's a couple different things going on with me that are all converged to create a bigger problem, and I think many women will relate," she added. "When I had a miscarriage years ago, I didn't really realize how many women have had miscarriages, so this is probably another female issue that many people are quiet about and it will become a little bit more out there and open."
It won't be all scary moments for Bethenny in season eight, a season she considers to be "a really amazing, relateable, real, raw season about just women and what we go through," however. "I'm dating a little bit. It's happens to be in the first episode that I go on a date," she revealed. "I'm flirting a lot bit. I'ma little bit of all show and no go because there's really not that much action."
That said, the idea of growing close to a man who's open to being on reality TV gives Bethenny pause. "I don't believe I would be attracted to somebody who would want to be on my show," she said. "I have been there and done that, and it hasn't been a very successful proposition for me."
For more on Bethenny Frankel and Real Housewives of New York City (returning Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Bravo), watch E! News tonight at 7 and 11, only on E!
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)