Bethenny Frankel Reveals How Her Dating Style Evolved After Parting Ways with Paul Bernon

Bethenny Frankel is altering her approach to dating following her separation from ex-fiancé Paul Bernon.

The Skinnygirl entrepreneur, 54, disclosed during the latest installment of the Hot Mess podcast that she aims to keep her romantic life out of the limelight.

“I’ve been seeing people,” she conveyed to host Alix Earle. “I’m not sure what it was like for you when you began dating publicly. People tend to assume that just because you are photographed with one individual, you are suddenly married again or engaged.”

“And I’ve attempted to keep things under the radar because of Miami, where the paparazzi situation is worse than elsewhere,” she elaborated.

While Frankel is quietly re-entering the dating scene, she has experienced a shift in perspective regarding rushing to define relationships.

“I’ve always somewhat wanted to know exactly what everything is, and I’m trying to let the situation develop more naturally rather than needing to label it,” she mentioned.

“Like, where do you stand with someone maybe?” Earle, 24, inquired, while the Real Housewives of New York City alum clarified, “Like, what the designation is or whether I’m getting married.”

Nevertheless, the former reality television personality remarked that it is challenging to find a companion who isn’t envious of her accomplishments.

“What I encounter is exceedingly successful men who, by anyone’s standards, are quite affluent, very accomplished, and highly intelligent,” she elaborated. “Then they meet someone like me, and they begin to doubt their own careers. How successful they are. Regardless, it can be intimidating. It inevitably will be on some level.”

“I’ve had numerous men express to me, ‘Wow, you’re accomplishing all of this. I feel like I’m not achieving anything,’” she continued.

This conduct can be problematic for Frankel as it leads her to “downplay myself, not disclosing certain things because I don’t want to make them feel inferior, and I’m suggesting that their endeavors mirror mine, and it creates this dynamic.”

“It’s refreshing to be with someone who is not even in the same industry so it doesn’t feel related or competitive,” she added.

PEOPLE disclosed in May 2024 that the former Bravo star and Bernon parted ways after six years together.

The television personality discussed the separation during the July 7 episode of her Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast.

Confirming that the breakup occurred after the “truly distressing loss” of her mother, Bernadette Birk, at the end of April 2024, Frankel shared, “I experienced a separation. It was something I kept private. It was something I grieved alone, and I sought therapy and did the necessary work… I just didn’t believe it needed to be publicly shared.”

“It was a breakup that I wanted to navigate privately, and I didn’t feel that I owed anyone an explanation,” she added.