Bethenny Frankel Explains Why Her Marriage Fell Apart

Charles Sykes/Bravo(LOS ANGELES) — Bethenny Frankel has had huge success in business, but that success does not necessarily translate into a great relationship, she said.

The Skinnygirl founder and Real Housewives of New York star opened up on Watch What Happens Live over the weekend about her failed marriage to Jason Hoppy.

“The power struggle between men and women [exists],” Frankel told host Andy Cohen. “And [it is hard] when the woman is the breadwinner. I think fame, attention, and money does not bring out the best in everybody. I think that money, in many ways, is the root of all evil.”

While Frankel acknowledged that many factors led to the breakdown of her marriage after two years, she said the biggest thing missing was respect.

“I write about mutual respect,” she said, referring to her new book, I Suck at Relationships So You Don’t Have To. “People should be in relationships with people that really accept them and understand them.”

Looking back, Frankel said there were warning signs that she ignored in her relationship with Hoppy.

“We brushed them under the rug,” she said. “Cracks become craters. Little things that you see in your relationships and your friendships. …I feel like in our personal lives, we [women] don’t [acknowledge them]. I think men are just better about that than women.”

That’s just one of the lessons Frankel has learned through her failed marriage. “I’ve learned that you need to go with your gut,” she told Cohen. “Women have this biological clock. You want things to be a certain way and you have this idea of how things are supposed to be.”

But, she added, the reality is that “relationships are really hard, and you have to go with your gut. It’s the best shot you have.”

Frankel and Hoppy, who have a 4-year-old daughter, Bryn, split in 2012 and have been locked in a contentious divorce ever since the former talk show host filed in early 2013. Though they settled the custody part of the divorce last June, Frankel told Cohen the divorce isn’t yet final and she still shares an apartment with Hoppy.

An attorney for Hoppy did not immediately return a call for comment.


Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.