Bethenny Frankel Opens Up About "Excruciating" Divorce From Jason Hoppy: "I Really Never Expected It to Be Like This"

USmagazine.com:

The struggle continues. Bethenny Frankel opened up about her "excruciating" divorce from Jason Hoppy during part one of the Real Housewives of New York City reunion on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Host Andy Cohen asked the Skinnygirl founder, 44, whether she and her estranged husband had finalized their divorce. The parents to Bryn, now 5, were married for two and a half years before splitting in December 2012.

"There's no way for people to realize what's really going on," Frankel told Cohen. "I really never expected it to be like this. I've had a pretty colorful past that hasn't been the easiest, and this is, by far, the most excruciating thing I've ever even come close to being in."

Frankel, who hasn't been able to discuss the divorce in detail due to legal threats from her estranged husband, received some support from her fellow castmates on Tuesday. "I've witnessed what Bethenny goes through in terms of this custody, child care thing," Carole Radziwill noted. "And if it was me, I would not be able to handle it as well as you handle it. I understand what some of the crying is."

Radziwill gave one heartbreaking example. "She calls her daughter twice a day, it's court appointed, and lots of times, her ex-husband won't answer the phone," the author revealed. "I've seen her call six, seven, eight, nine times, and she wants to talk to her daughter. She wants to say hi. She's 4. There's so many head games being played."

Original RHONY cast members Ramona Singer and Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, who witnessed Frankel and Hoppy's relationship from start to finish, also chimed in on whether they were surprised by the contentious divorce battle. Singer, who split from her husband Mario Singer last year, noted that there was so much happening in the beginning stages of their marriage — "the book, the baby, the show."

"I don't think that would've changed a lot of things that happened," Frankel replied, hinting that there was much more to the story than people could see. "That we could not ever ever discuss... There's a lot of stuff that's insane."

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