Bethenny Frankel life and biography

Bethenny Frankel is a natural foods chef, television personality and author. She was first introduced to television audiences in the 2005 series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, where she placed second. From 2008 to 2010, she was one of the original five housewives featured on the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of New York City. In 2010, she starred in her own companion series, Bethenny Getting Married?

A rare reality TV star with a career rooted in the real world, Bethenny Frankel was born in New York City in 1970. She became intimately involved in the show business community as a large-scale event planner, helping produce movie premieres and award shows, but a love of food and a need to promote a natural lifestyle led her to change gears. She attended Natural Gourmet Cooking Institute, and soon started a company called Bethennybakes, providing gourmet, holistic, all-natural foods for high-end clientele designed to promote weight loss while enhancing health and adhering to customized restrictions like dairy-free and wheat-free lifestyles.

In 2005, Frankel brought her business to the small screen, joining the cast of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. She made it to the series finale, and though she came in second place, her notoriety increased tremendously. Frankel began writing a column for Hamptons Magazine, authored books on healthy weight loss, and became a well-known advocate for weight loss through healthy and accessible lifestyle choices.

In 2008, Frankel joined the cast of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, a reality show profiling the lives of high-powered, successful Manhattan women. It was an ironic title for Frankel, who was not married, but the show boosted her celebrity even more, and she took on a number of endorsement deals for companies like Pepperidge Farm and Diets.com.

Personal:

Frankel's first marriage was to her former best friend, Peter Sussman, in 1996. She says they "...were best friends for five years and he always wanted to be more. I loved him because of how much he loved me. I got married too young. I didn't wait for the great love of my life."

Frankel married Jason Hoppy on March 28, 2010, at The Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City. On May 8, 2010, Frankel gave birth to their first child, Bryn Casey Hoppy, named for Jason's brother Bryan who died in a car accident when he was 19 years old. Just three weeks after giving birth Frankel posed in a size-4 swimsuit for Us Magazine.

Frankel posed nude for animal rights group PETA in September 2009. The photo was featured on a billboard in Times Square as part of PETA's campaign against the wearing of furs .

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