Bethenny Frankel is getting candid about how unhappy she felt living in Connecticut.
“Connecticut was a prison. That’s the honest truth. I could say it another way, but for my personality, at the point of my life, Connecticut was a burden. It was a trap,” Frankel, 54, said during the Wednesday, October 1, episode of her “Just B” podcast. “It was stifling, depressing, soul-crushing.”
The Real Housewives of New York City alum clarified that she didn’t feel this way because of the state of Connecticut itself, “which is beautiful,” but because of “[her] life there.”
“Because I am older, I spend a lot of time alone, I work a lot. I want to feel every day like I’m connected to some version of nature. And while I would walk in Connecticut and go on nature walks, and it was nice, now every day I jump in the ocean. I am in the salt water. I walk on the sand. I feel the sand in my feet,” she continued. “I can’t believe this gets to be my life. This is what connects me to the earth. Some people love the mountains, some people love a lake, some people love a desert, some people love a cactus, some people love an open field. Love what you want. Some people love the concrete jungle. I like the ocean and jumping in the water.”
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Frankel added that she “could not be happier” now because all she needs is to be able to “connect to the ocean.”
The reality TV personality also said she’s happy having roots in multiple places instead of having to stay in hotels.
“So my life is, now that I have a better relationship with New York, I have a place in Miami. I have another place in Florida. I have created the greatest life for myself, where I don’t stay in hotels in New York or in Miami. I have a beautiful home there if I want to go there to do work, or to go on a date, or to have fun, or to go out and dance, or to drink. I’ve worked so hard and I still work so hard to get to live this life,” she continued.
Frankel concluded that she struggles to believe this part of her life is real.
“It feels a little bit like I’ve never felt imposter syndrome in what I have and in what I’ve earned and what I’ve created and how much money I have or fame or any of that stuff. I have some cousin of imposter syndrome where I can’t believe that this is my life,” she said.
Frankel announced in April that she was leaving the Northeast and moving to Florida for “personal and professional” reasons.
“Something has arisen that made this the best and healthiest for myself and my daughter,” she said via an Instagram video at the time. “We will maintain residences in the Hamptons and New York City because we love New York. This will be our primary and permanent residence.”
Turning the camera to the ocean, Frankel gushed, “This will be my backyard.”
In the caption, she added, “Excited to share this with you … It’s been a concept for a while, but personal & private circumstances have made this the healthiest life choice.”
A source told Us Weekly at the time that the decision was “all about supporting” Frankel’s daughter, Bryn, 15, whom she shares with ex-husband Jason Hoppy.
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“The move reflects Bryn’s academic and athletic goals, and was made with her physical and emotional well-being front and center,” the insider added.
Frankel sold her Greenwich, Connecticut home, also known as Applejack Farm, for more than $7.8 million in June. She exclusively told Us that she felt like the house was “bogging her down.”
“I hadn’t even thought about all the expenses and all the maintenance and all the things I didn’t do, and it made me feel guilty about the things I didn’t do,” she said, adding that she had an “idea of this life in my mind and the property reflected that,” but it wasn’t who she really was.
“I felt like a loser,” she added.
