Bethenny Frankel cracks her tough exterior and it makes her much less annoying

Bethenny Frankel is really excellent at letting her opinion be known. Whether she loves you or hates you, you’re never in the dark about how she feels. I’ve always found her abrasive and lacking basic tact, but in last night’s episode of Real Housewives of New York, she finally cracked her tough exterior and she became a real person to me.

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Frankel went to lunch with Jules Wainstein, and the two ended up bonding over the topic of eating disorders. Wainstein admitted that she suffered from one in college, and Frankel was brought to tears by her honesty and vulnerability. Because Frankel’s mother suffered from an eating disorder as well, it hit home for her and made her emotional.

Watching her have such an intense reaction made her less of a bulldozer and more of an actual human being capable of compassion and empathy. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that was in her at all, so it was a pleasant surprise.

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One thing that I did learn while watching her break down over Wainstein’s confession is that Frankel doesn’t respond well to lies or niceties. For whatever reason, she can only deal in the absolute truth, as ugly as it may be. It’s probably the reason she reacts so intensely to the rest of the Housewives. The other women (besides Carole, who I love) are basically allergic to the truth and bend reality to fit whatever story they’re telling at the time. Frankel, who values the truth above anything else, can’t handle them for that reason and becomes increasingly frustrated every time she sees them.

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But when Wainstein finally spoke about her past honestly, suddenly Bethenny was a different person. She was open and honest and careful. It was refreshing and also made me feel bad for judging the way she reacted to the other women. I definitely learned my lesson in being more patient with people — even if they are characters on a reality show I definitely don’t need to waste all my time watching!