Bethenny Frankel shocked her loyal listeners on Monday when she released an episode of her podcast featuring her old friend-turned-nemesis Jill Zarin.
The 52-year-old reality star and entrepreneur emphasized to her listeners that she and her 59-year-old former Real Housewives Of New York City costar were reuniting for the first time in 13 years.
The estranged friends ran into each other on a plane back in June of 2022, which Bethenny posted about at the time, but she considered their conversation for her Just B podcast their first reunion without being surrounded by others in 13 years.
Within seconds the two seemed to have resurrected their friendship after seemingly leaving it for dead for more than a decade.
But they also got into their years-long feuds, and Jill even did her best to explain how Bethenny's conduct at the funeral of her late husband Bobby Zarin led her to swear off their friendship for good, until she eventually warmed up to the idea of a reunion.
Reunited and it feels so good! Bethenny Frankel, 52, shocked her loyal listeners on Monday when she released an episode of her podcast featuring her old friend-turned-nemesis Jill Zarin, 59
In the lead-up to the release, Bethenny posted a humorous TikTok of her lip syncing and looking disheveled in her podcast studio.
'Girl don't do it, it's not worth it,' she mouthed, adding, 'I'm not gonna do it girl, I was just thinking about it.'
But then the messy-haired Bethenny was suddenly made up in a lovely white dress and standing outside with Jill with their arms resting on a large apple statue.
'I did it,' she joked via lip sync before the clip ended.
Over on Instagram, she shared a photo the two together.
'Tonight, Jill and I reunite for the first time alone since 2010,' she wrote. 'Stay tuned — the podcast episode drops later this evening (unfiltered and unedited)!'
She noted that the episode was airing as is, without edits or redone sections at Jill's request, as she worried about her words being manipulated.
That ease made Jill feel at home despite having a difficult conversation about the end of their friendship.
‘The reason I was mad at you was because I was hurt that I was losing you and I was being left out of everything,' Jill said during a moment of emotional openness.
'I remember when you got invited for a free trip, and I wanted not to come for the free trip, but to be with you,' she said sweetly and somberly. ‘I felt I lost you and I couldn’t really say that I was hurt by things that you had said.'
She and Bethenny reminisced about how they had first met, and though their recollections were hazy, Jill and Bethenny both agreed that RHONY had already begun filming its first season with Jill as part of the cast, but producers were still searching for a 'fifth housewife.'
After Jill ran into Bethenny a few years after her stint as the runner-up on the Martha Stewart–hosted spinoff season of The Apprentice from 2005, she encouraged her to join the fledgling show.
Bethenny even credited Jill with partially inspiring the name of her massively successful cocktail line Skinnygirl, which she sold for $120 million in 2011, by calling her — seemingly approvingly — a skinny b**** during their first meeting in the Hamptons.
They delved into how their relationship fell apart before Bethenny's departure at the end of season three.
Dazed: In the lead-up to the release, Bethenny posted a humorous TikTok of her lip syncing and looking disheveled in her podcast studio
Doesn't need it: 'Girl don't do it, it's not worth it,' she mouthed, adding, 'I'm not gonna do it girl, I was just thinking about it'
Whoa! But then the messy-haired Bethenny was suddenly made up in a lovely white dress and standing outside with Jill with their arms resting on a large apple statue. 'I did it,' she joked via lip sync before the clip ended
Jill recounted how she was hurt by Bethenny not reaching out to her when her husband Bobby was sick prior to his death in 2018 after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Bethenny even applauded Jill's ruthlessness after Jill admitted that she had been upset for some time, but didn't bring up her feeling of being abandoned by her friend until shooting had resumed on RHONY.
But Jill said she hoped to fix her issues with Bethenny, and she believed the two of them might have been able to work through things if the businesswoman had stayed on for the fourth season of RHONY, instead of leaving then for a spinoff reality series and later a short-lived talk show, though she later returned to RHONY following Jill's season four departure.
According to Zarin, once the housewives weren't filming together and regularly in each other's company, they drifted further away while their issues with each other were allowed to fester.
Elsewhere, Jill admitted that she didn't 'do well with surprises,' which is what made her such a popular housewives.
'Anytime you surprised me, I couldn't handle it!' she said, which made for great TV, but once she finally planned out a confrontation of her own, she no longer had time on screen with Bethenny to apologize.
'The point is, I definitely made mistakes, and I wanted to be there for you, when you got pregnant and all that stuff, but you just didn't let me back in,' Jill said.
Bethenny said she wouldn't let Jill back into her life because she thought that Jill would leak their private communications afterward.
The biggest issue that affected their friendship during Bethenny's second stint on RHONY was when she attended the funeral of Jill's late husband Bobby with cameras filming her.
She claimed that she didn't know what the cameras were for, though they were filming Bethenny for the series and capture the two having a heart-to-heart conversation.
Hurt: Jill said the reason they stopped being friends was because Bethenny filmed her visit to Jill's late husband Bobby's funeral for RHONY without telling her
In the dark: Jill claimed she had no idea, and she said that Bravo new she had never signed a release for the scene, but that the network assumed she would not sue it over the breach; still from RHONY
'I saw you, my heart dropped, you looked drop dead with this black hat and black suit, and I thought, “Oh God,"' Jill said of seeing Bethenny at the funeral, before clarifying that she was 'so happy' to see her estranged friend again.
Later, Bethenny spoke with her privately to make up in a conversation that was filmed, though Jill claimed not to have known it was being taped for RHONY.
As proof, she claimed that a producer on the series later confirmed that she had not signed a release for her voice to be used, which would have indicated advance knowledge.
Instead, Bravo allegedly 'counted on you not suing' and opted to use the footage without her permission.
‘That’s literally the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard,' Bethenny said of the situation, though she wasn't angry with Jill and instead sounded quite sympathetic.
'I apologize, because it was a spectacle and a circus,' she said later.
Bethenny also thought it was funny after Jill later said that the other housewives on the show at the time of Bobby's funeral were mad that they didn't get to be featured in footage from it, though Bethenny did.
The episode instantly drew strong reactions from Bethenny's loyal fans, many of whom commented on her Instagram post announcing the meeting of the minds.
Shocked: The episode instantly drew strong reactions from Bethenny's loyal fans, many of whom commented on her Instagram post announcing the meeting of the minds
Kumbaya moment: 'Has hell officially frozen over?' joked one fan, while another joked that 'the world is healing'
After one fan was shocked that she would appear 'alone' with Jill, she humorously clarified in a reply: 'Well she brought her husband, daughter and dog.'
'Has hell officially frozen over?' joked another fan.
Another person said they could 'just cry' after seeing the two old friends reunited after so much time apart.
'This makes me happy!' added another fan. 'The past is meant to stay in the past and the future is to show how we have learned and grown from it. I love seeing y'all together. I think this shows us all the power of friendship and forgiveness.'
Another listener joked that 'the world is healing' following Bethenny and Jill's reunion.
One fan wrote that they hoped the same reunion happened with Carole Radziwill, but Bethenny said during the podcast that she had no interest in that.
Jill asked her if she would invite Carole on for the same experience, but Bethenny said she wasn't interested in that.
One fan gushed that Bethenny and Jill were the 'two OGs' of RHONY, while 'everyone else is just a copy.'
Others said it was a 'miracle' and a 'dream come true' to see the two women bury the hatchet.
What are the odds? Others said it was a 'miracle' and a 'dream come true' to see the two women bury the hatchet. Another person joked that the unlikely reunion was their 'sign to buy a powerball ticket'
'First jordyn and kylie and now THIS????? nature is healing,' one person wrote, referencing Kylie Jenner's shocking meeting with her former friend Jordyn Woods
Family affair: Jill Zarin's daughter Ally Shapiro accompanied her to the taping, along with Jill's partner Gary Brody (R). 'Stay tuned... it's happening...' she wrote
Taking their time: She showed her mother sitting on a sofa late into the night
Loving it: She seemed to be in a great mood despite the occasionally tense conversation
Success! The whole gang showed off infectious smiles after wrapping up the podcast interview
Another person joked that the unlikely reunion was their 'sign to buy a powerball ticket.'
One fan referenced Kylie Jenner's recent reunion with her former friend Jordyn Woods, who was excommunicated from the Kardashian–Jenner clan despite being a friend of the family after Khloé Kardashian's then-partner Tristan Thompson kissed her.
They were seen together in photos exclusively obtained on Sunday by DailyMail.com.
'First jordyn and kylie and now THIS????? nature is healing,' they said.
