Working together in business saw a friendship blossom between Real Housewives fan-favourite Bethenny Frankel and Million Dollar Listing New York star Fredrik Eklund, and now the two have turned their chemistry into an exciting new reality series, aptly titled Bethenny & Fredrik. Renovating and flipping property, they’ll be putting their money and reputations on the line in one of the highest-stakes reality shows there has ever been! So what does Bethenny think of the whole thing? Find out in our exclusive quickfire Q&A below!
Tell me about your new show! What can audiences expect?
This show is Will & Grace with real estate as a backdrop.
Whose idea was it to collaborate on a show like this?
I created, pitched and sold this show but Fredrik and I were very aware that our dynamic would be great television. We kept saying, “We need to turn the cameras on.”
Did you always know that Fredrik was the one you wanted to do the show with?
I fortunately have the opportunity to do shows with many people. He and I were working together already. I was set to start another show about business and switched lanes and brought him in because this was low hanging fruit and Bravo loved it instantly.
Were you nervous about becoming business partners? Afraid it would affect the friendship?
Our relationship was business first. It has always been business based. We got to know each other afterwards.
What were the hardest parts about making the show? Renovating, or maintaining your friendship with Fredrik?
We have different approaches to managing a budget. We had a very dramatic blowout that rivals any Housewives argument. I didn’t think we would survive it.
Tensions seem to run high throughout the renovation, was there ever a moment you wanted to quit?
I don’t quit in business but I wanted to quit Fredrik.
What was your budget for the property? An even 50/50 split between you both?
It was even. The budget was initially 300. Watch what happens…
How many properties do you own in total?
I own 4.5 properties in Manhattan and the Hamptons.
Do you plan to continue buying and flipping?
I can’t help myself!
How long have you been friends with Fredrik? We’d love to get some insight into who he really is – what’s he like as a friend?
I have known him five years. We really started out in business. He is fun and sensitive and also an absolute clown. He is very devoted to his husband and family.
What’s something we don’t know about him?
He is a klutz and totally awkward. He always is starving and needs to pee. It’s like being with a pregnant woman.
What’s one of Fredrik’s best traits?
He is a good person to play off of humour-wise.
Juggling all that you do, run us through an average day in the life of Bethenny…
There is no average day. Every day is literally different than the next.
How was filming this different to filming Real Housewives of New York?
This was a more liberating experience, so more freeing yet this was investing millions of dollars of my own money in an industry that I don’t specialise in, in a show that doesn’t market any of my businesses. I laughed non-stop on this show. I pitched and sold this show as Will & Grace with real estate as a backdrop. The humour was my primary goal with takeaway for the audience about real estate.
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Bethenny & Fredrik streams in the UK on hayu each Wednesday. Catch up now on the reality TV streaming service!
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