Sometimes, a shift in life doesn’t start with a grand plan—it begins with a moment. For Bethenny Frankel, that moment came during a recent trip to Florida with her daughter, Bryn. What started as a casual getaway turned into the beginning of a major life change, one rooted in emotion, reflection, and the evolving needs of her family.
On the May 6 episode of her podcast Just B with Bethenny Frankel, the former Real Housewives of New York star opened up about her decision to relocate full-time to Florida—a move largely influenced by her 14-year-old daughter.
“So we were down in Florida and something very personal transpired,” Frankel revealed. “And I went to school in Florida. And I don’t want to get into all the details of this now, but something happened.”
While Bethenny Frankel kept the specifics private, it was clear that the moment brought clarity. Her daughter, Bryn, had expressed a desire to live in Florida in the past, but the timing hadn’t been right. “She cried to me one time. I’m like, ‘We can’t,’” Frankel recalled. “There were a set of circumstances. We can’t and I can’t.”
That changed recently.
“So she said, ‘I want to move to Florida this trip.’ And I was like, something had happened. And I was like, maybe this is a silver lining that this thing happened. And Florida became a real concept,” she said.
Though it had once seemed out of reach, the possibility of starting over in the Sunshine State suddenly made sense. “Like she had years ago said it. We dropped it because she has great friends and a great life. And she just said it and she meant it and she begged me, but she didn’t have to beg me,” Frankel explained. “She was like, ‘I really want this.’ I’m like, ‘Are you sure?’”
The transition has been anything but passive. Bethenny Frankel has taken decisive steps to prepare for the move, starting with decluttering her life—literally.
“I have gotten rid of, this is not an exaggeration, 70% of my stuff,” she said. “Not a day goes by that there are not 10 things… and we haven’t gotten to furniture yet. I’m leaving every single f—— thing.”
She continued: “There has not been a day that I haven’t said, ‘Dump it, dump it, dump it, goodbye, donate it, get rid of it,’ to 10 things. I want to not feel that I need all this space. I want to feel free. I want to date. I want to enjoy. I want to live. I want to have fun. I want to travel.”
This move, while rooted in her daughter’s wishes, also reflects Frankel’s own craving for freedom and simplicity. But perhaps most importantly, it was a choice made with her daughter, not for her.
“We can tell our kids what they have to do and where they have to go, and they have to switch schools the last year of high school if we want because we’re about to get a job or we’re gonna do something or we get married or we could do whatever we want,” she said. “I didn’t do that. My kid’s been through a lot, and she wanted it. And I just feel so happy that it’s all coming together.”
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