Marc Malkin

Bravo Photo: Andrew Eccles

Note to Bethenny Frankel: Your nemesis, Kelly Bensimon, has every intention of coming back for another season of The Real Housewives of New York City.

She has not yet been asked to return, but producers are no fools. Kelly's many dramas this season makes her a shoo-in for season 3.

"Bethenny was smart," Kelly says. "She fought with the new girl. She got press and she got airtime. She was smart. She did what she sought out to do."

Unfortunately, Kelly says, she didn't get to do what she "sought" out to do: to show us the real Kelly...

"I wish I had been more open, and I wish I hadn't been so guarded, because me being guarded comes across as not nice," explains Kelly.

So who is the real Kelly? A fun-loving single working mom, she says, who loves adventure like shark diving and race-car driving: "I want people to come and enjoy the awesome life that I've created."

Most recently, fellow Housewife Jill Zarin complained to People magazine that Kelly failed to deliver on a charity donation.

Kelly's ex-husband, celebrity photographer Gilles Bensimon, agreed to donate a photo shoot to the highest bidder at one of Jill's benefits. Jill says she had to return the money because the shoot never happened.

"He's a busy guy," Kelly says. "And Jill wanted it on Jill time, like right now. I was like, 'That's great, but Gilles is busy and he will do it for you when he can do it.' "

So why all the drama? "My dad said it best," she says. "He said, 'Kelly, you have a contagious energy. You're always smiling, you're always happy and you're always excited to be wherever you are. People are just going to constantly try and bring you down and take that away from you. You just have to keep smiling.' And that's what I do."

(What keeps us smiling here at E! Online is all the Housewives dramarama. Bravo's latest installment, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, debuts May 12 after the New York reunion show. I'm going to start posting some of my bada-bing-licious scoopage about these Garden State gals this weekend. Make sure to come on back.)

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