Kristen Teakman Says Bethenny Frankel Is Making It Hard For People To 'Get To Know Her'

NYDailyNews.com:

It remains to be seen whether the latest reshuffle of the “The Real Housewives of New York City” cast will drive ratings back up. But this is certain, says cast member Kristen Taekman: The tinkering has brought a “huge change in the dynamic” on set.

The model, now filming her second season, tells Confidenti@l that returning star Bethenny Frankel is making it hard for newer recruits to “get to know her,” and that an expanded crew of eight Housewives seems “less intimate” than last season’s six.

Mom of two Taekman says she was “ecstatic” that original cast member Frankel was returning after a three-season hiatus from the Bravo show, and was “really looking forward to getting to know her.”

“I thought that with Bethenny, it’s like you can’t judge a book by its cover. But I think my tune is changing a little bit,” she told us before hosting her recent winter white party at Shrine nightclub at Foxwoods Resort Casino. “I felt that way a minute ago and now I don’t know. I can’t read the cover of the book anymore. I guess I don’t speak that language.”

“I feel like I was looking forward to really getting to know her,” explained Taekman, “and at this point I feel like that hasn’t really happened in a way that I wanted to.”

It’s no surprise to Confidenti@l. We reported last month that insiders think that while Frankel was brought in to shake things up, she has been “standoffish” in filming, in part, some say, because the SkinnyGirl founder has a lucrative personal brand to protect.

“I think you hit it on the nose,” said Taekman. But in spite of the chilly vibe, she says, “I think it’s great that she’s back.”

Yeah, great for ratings.

The Connecticut native, who’s working on her own nail polish line, Pop of Color, with Ricky’s NYC, also says that upping the number of Housewives has unsettled the relationships on set.

“I remember a couple of years ago that some casts, I think it was (‘Real Housewives of) Orange County,’ were only like four or five women, so it’s more intimate. ... If you’re a small family of four you can all sit down to dinner together and find out about your days,” said the reality star. “When you have a family of eight, you’re sitting down to dinner and you might not get down to the other end to find out what they did.”

Taekman says the cast, which is still filming, is not spending as much time together as they once did, because there’s “so many of us.”

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