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Dorinda Medley Opens Up About Her RHONY Exit for the First Time

Hear an exclusive sneak peek of Dorinda Medley's conversation with Bethenny Frankel on her Just B podcast about her departure from The Real Housewives of New York City.

By Allison Crist Oct 05, 2020 9:26 PMTags

Telling her side of the story.

Dorinda Medley is speaking out about her departure from The Real Housewives of New York City for the first time since she announced she was leaving the show in August. 

How? With help from someone who's been in her position before: Bethenny Frankel.

More specifically, Dorinda is set to appear on Tuesday, Oct. 6's all-new episode of Bethenny's podcast Just B—and lucky for Housewives fanatics, we've got an exclusive sneak peek of their revealing conversation.

In the above clip, Dorinda begins by acknowledging that she "did not have a good season this year."

"...so I'm not gonna make excuses for it," she says. "But I was doing real. You know, that's where I was at that time."

The 55-year-old star continues, noting that things could've been much different if she would've taken a year off from RHONY like Bethenny once did.

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"I'll be honest with you, I felt very, very scared going into the season because not only was my life very intense with all the things...the house, my father, [I] broke a rib, breaking up with John..." Dorinda says before Bethenny cuts her off to provide context for those who might not have watched season 12 of the Bravo show: "She broke up with her boyfriend, her father got sick and her house flooded."

"Yeah, and then I broke my rib," Dorinda adds. "So it was like, wow...I was sort of a toothpick in an ocean. I didn't get my voice out correctly."

Bethenny agrees, explaining that on the show, "You get in over your skeeze."

"You drink, something happens, you say something, and then you're in your head about what you just said, but the show must go on," Bethenny says.

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The Skinnygirl founder continues, "You're still filming, there's still cameras. So that's what is challenging and that's where I do feel you."

Bethenny then describes what she says comes after a Housewife has a bad season: "Everybody always gets their resurrection season. So the next season, the person is super cautious."

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"Listen, I had a rough season. But that's what we do as Housewives," Dorinda responds. "We have good seasons. We have bad seasons. We come back and we change it up."

And for a while, Dorinda thought she'd be able to do just that on season 13 of RHONY.

"I was looking forward to coming back this year. I was looking forward to having that moment," she tells Bethenny. "I mean, when I found out when this thing all went down, I was just getting off the phone with this woman who's doing a Blue Stone Manor gingerbread house. And I'm thinking, 'It's gonna be great for the show! Oh my god, this is gonna be my season. I'm gonna come back 'cause everything's done, I'm in a good place.'"

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Dorinda continues, "So it really was...you know, no one likes rejection."

Bethenny agrees, comparing the situation to a bad first date: "You hope the guy calls and then you get to go again to just, like, make it nice. You wanted to make it nice! That's the truth." 

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As the preview clip comes to a close, Dorinda lays it all out there.

"I didn't talk because I didn't want to talk," she explains. "I was ready to go back. I was excited about going back. I was planning on going back. And I thought I would have a great year. I wasn't given that option. So do with that as you want."

"They're calling it a pause, which I don't really...for me, I'm an old-fashioned girl," Dorinda adds. "If you're not waitressing and getting paid, you're not waitressing...At the end of the day, it was a mutual 'no.' This is pretty much the first time I've spoken as honestly outside of you and I talking that I've done."

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To hear the full sit-down with Dorinda, listen to Just B with Bethenny Frankel, airing tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also catch up with past seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City on Peacock.

(E!, Bravo and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Peacock is live now! Check out NBCU's streaming service here.