Speaker 1: Hi guys, I'm Jen Fessler from Two Jersey Jays. I'm
Speaker 1: without my partner Jackie today, but guess who I am with,
Speaker 1: the beautiful Kelly Bensmoon and we, by the way, are
Speaker 1: not in Jersey. We are not We are not in Jersey.
Speaker 1: We are in Napa Valley. We're in the Napa Valley.
Speaker 2: Have you been here before? I have been here before,
Speaker 2: but can imagine today? We were at the concert live
Speaker 2: from the vineyard. It was such a vibe. All of
Speaker 2: the wine, all of the country music, so dreamy. Everybody
Speaker 2: was in cowboy boots. You're looking fire, by the way,
Speaker 2: thank you. You're looking fire too, Thank you so much
Speaker 2: like the Feathers. I was like, you know what, let's.
Speaker 1: You caught you well when I text you earlier today
Speaker 1: about like what we bring, what you're wearing, and you
Speaker 1: said to me, I'm just going to bring like go
Speaker 1: whole Coachella, right.
Speaker 2: And I like, yeah, it's like a country I know.
Speaker 1: But then I had to stop and call my daughter
Speaker 1: Rachel and say, so, what would one where to Coachella
Speaker 1: do such a thing? Anyway, said feathers and cowboy boots.
Speaker 1: She didn't say this.
Speaker 2: She didn't say bikinis.
Speaker 1: You know, all right, you guys, but I am so excited,
Speaker 1: first of all, well obviously to be here at NAPA,
Speaker 1: but to be with Kelly, because so Kelly bensimone, I'm
Speaker 1: sure to most of you, but to me is iconic.
Speaker 1: So Kelly goes back on New York Housewives. You know,
Speaker 1: the years where it was I'm sorry, the golden years
Speaker 1: to me, but your seasons on the Housewives were I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: no offense to anyone listening, the best of the best.
Speaker 2: They were.
Speaker 3: They really were, right, they were, you.
Speaker 2: Know, Luena and I talk about it all the time
Speaker 2: and how just the relationships that were nurtured during that
Speaker 2: time were very raw and very real. I mean, do
Speaker 2: you remember too, we didn't have social media, right, so
Speaker 2: like everybody now, Like when I was on Ultimate Girls Ship,
Speaker 2: I was like, You're like, you're in a relationship with
Speaker 2: social media. Yeah right, I'm not just the Housewives so true.
Speaker 1: So it is so.
Speaker 2: Different, so different. And the way that you play or
Speaker 2: the way that I don't play to anybody. I'm just
Speaker 2: like do myself, which is you know, bittersweet. But the
Speaker 2: way that some of the ladies play to the camera
Speaker 2: based on their social media following, it's really strong, and
Speaker 2: I just don't pay attention. I'm like, if you like me,
Speaker 2: you're gonna like me. And if you don't like me,
Speaker 2: maybe you like me someday.
Speaker 1: That's the healthy way to do housewives right there. And
Speaker 1: it's very unusual actually, but it's just you're right. There
Speaker 1: was no the social media of it. There was none
Speaker 1: of that back in the day. So like we would
Speaker 1: watch an episode and whatever, get to work the next
Speaker 1: morning and just go through. Like when Kelly said I'm
Speaker 1: here and you're here, that was the best. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about that whatever. But you know, it was
Speaker 1: like it was such a different thing.
Speaker 2: You know, it's so funny because it was the Brass
Speaker 2: Monkey and i'd been you know, there was like a
Speaker 2: lot of waiting throughout the day of when we were
Speaker 2: supposed to film, and I didn't realize this because I
Speaker 2: did not watch the show. So I made a concerted
Speaker 2: effort because they were like, this is reality TV and
Speaker 2: I had been on I'd done had my own show before,
Speaker 2: so I was like, Okay, I'm just.
Speaker 3: Gonna be wake out what I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: I had a show call behind the hedges where I
Speaker 2: interviewed like the best of the best, and I went
Speaker 2: shark diving. I was so much fun. I know that
Speaker 2: it was great, it was really fun. But what happened
Speaker 2: was as much fun as House was. House Lives is
Speaker 2: a really really fun dynamic. Well, what happened that day
Speaker 2: was that we were supposed to be filming, and what
Speaker 2: I did not realize is that when she was doing interviews,
Speaker 2: she was saying like she was setting me up. She
Speaker 2: was she was not setting me up for me, she
Speaker 2: was setting me up for the viewer. She was saying,
Speaker 2: this is Kelly Bensimone. This is who she is. She
Speaker 2: hates me. She's a you know, she's a bitch. I'm
Speaker 2: just a minion, you know, poor me. She's like the
Speaker 2: cheerleader and things. She's amazing and I'm an awful, awful
Speaker 2: And so she tried to set up this narrative and
Speaker 2: then when I got there and she's like, I'm late.
Speaker 2: I'm just like, you are being so rude. You made
Speaker 2: me wait all day long. You're a child. She just
Speaker 2: acts like a child, and she continues to.
Speaker 1: So I so, Kelly, and I just for the listeners.
Speaker 1: So we now we've become friends. But before, we just
Speaker 1: keep running into each other, right, I guess do iHeart Well.
Speaker 2: We ran into each other on the on the Red
Speaker 2: carpet at iHeart Radio, which was so much fun. But
Speaker 2: then also at the movie premiere Amateur with Ronnie Oh
Speaker 2: my god.
Speaker 3: Yes, so we ran into each other there, and then we.
Speaker 2: Did run into each other. We literally like had like
Speaker 2: a melt down. Who you saw each other. We were
Speaker 2: having so much fun. And by the way, Sonya Morgan,
Speaker 2: who I love so much, She's the most spirited, beautiful human.
Speaker 2: She and I said, Jen, you can't do you can't
Speaker 2: do all that, you can't do all.
Speaker 3: These I yes.
Speaker 1: So I'm like walking the red carpet and there's all
Speaker 1: these paparazzi and I'm like trying to stop and like
Speaker 1: push my way into them like a desperado. And Kelly
Speaker 1: saved me. She's like, because it's like, so I look,
Speaker 1: so whatever, just desperado.
Speaker 2: That is not true. You did not look Janfessler there
Speaker 2: last second, I was on the House size on New.
Speaker 1: Jersey as a friend a two years but meanwhile Sonia
Speaker 1: was working it and Kelly's like, just stand back. If
Speaker 1: they come to you, they come to you. So one
Speaker 1: of the first favors that Kelly did for me. But
Speaker 1: then you introduced me to a photographer and you said, Jen,
Speaker 1: this is why Beth and he hates me. Yes, this guy,
Speaker 1: who I guess was is a photographer, nice guy, very
Speaker 1: new I guess was at the time her boyfriend.
Speaker 2: So he was taking photos of an event at my
Speaker 2: house and she came with him and then I, you know,
Speaker 2: he wanted to see the house and he wanted to
Speaker 2: go through it. So I mean, I know him very well.
Speaker 2: So I was taking him through everything, and she like
Speaker 2: literally got her panties in a wad and thought.
Speaker 1: You were trying to steal her that No, no, no, yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, we haven't like the bethany of it all.
Speaker 1: Put it yeah, I won't put it on ice for
Speaker 1: a few minutes because.
Speaker 2: But you know what let's not put on ice is
Speaker 2: that we were on this red carpet and you were
Speaker 2: and I chatting up a storm. Everyone else is taking
Speaker 2: photos like Laura's fish. Jan goes, I'm gonna eat the photo.
Speaker 2: I'm going a photo so and and your is so
Speaker 2: sweet and he's like, are you into the photo? And
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, I'm like if whatever photo you
Speaker 2: want you get like, you just get whatever phone. Kelly's like,
Speaker 2: not a starker and I am.
Speaker 1: And then I'm like, I am self proclaimed. I'm like,
Speaker 1: are you thinking that I got dressed up? I spent
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty dollars on the makeup and I'm
Speaker 1: not getting a picture next to Laurence Fishburn.
Speaker 2: It was his wife. His wife is so beautiful, and I.
Speaker 1: Felt a little badly. She was a little scared. She's like,
Speaker 1: your house like an animal was, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: And then you look at the photo and you go,
Speaker 2: oh my god, no, oh my god. So the problem
Speaker 2: is with my husband's I was a very star man.
Speaker 2: He's a he's an attorney.
Speaker 1: He's a corporate attorney, securities or something, I don't know,
Speaker 1: something uninteresting, but he like people trust him.
Speaker 2: You don't know, how do you get through the day.
Speaker 1: It was like literally like there was no you couldn't
Speaker 1: even see us in the picture, and he didn't have
Speaker 1: the wherewithal to say, guys whatever, any that's for a
Speaker 1: different episode, but.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm sorry. One thing that I really really
Speaker 2: love about you is that we've had all these funny,
Speaker 2: fun things that have happened. So it's like Laurence Fishburne,
Speaker 2: my carpet, Sonya, all these things. I heart radio. But
Speaker 2: I remember distinctly we're waiting for Lawrence for you to
Speaker 2: get hit the photo and I asked you guys about
Speaker 2: your relationship because I did not know, and you were
Speaker 2: so genuinely open right for that, and I just was
Speaker 2: very taken aback and just like, oh my god, what.
Speaker 2: You're such a beautiful human because you're just so vulnerable.
Speaker 2: And I think that's something, it's the truth, and it's
Speaker 2: something that I've learned from being on this podcast. From
Speaker 2: and I do part two, I've learned to be open
Speaker 2: and I've learned to be more vulnerable and it's helped
Speaker 2: me out so much in my personal life so much.
Speaker 2: But you are just inherently very vulnerable, and it's a
Speaker 2: beautiful thing. You know.
Speaker 3: It used to feel more vulnerable.
Speaker 1: Now it feels like like when you start to share stuff,
Speaker 1: it starts to feel like a strength. Like in other words,
Speaker 1: So if I tell you my shit, and there's lots
Speaker 1: of it, right whoever it is, I find it like
Speaker 1: immediately you'll start opening up then to me, So you
Speaker 1: like connect with people differently.
Speaker 2: But the other piece is you don't do it at
Speaker 2: a time that's strategic. You just are not open, which
Speaker 2: is so disarming, and just like women or not like that.
Speaker 2: Women are just not like that. They don't just jump
Speaker 2: into friendships because they're like, I don't know you, who
Speaker 2: are you? You know, give me your bio. I might say,
Speaker 2: okay for me to friends with you. I mean, you're
Speaker 2: just very disarming. And it really like, that was a
Speaker 2: really fun night. It's the truth. It was a really
Speaker 2: fun night. But I was also like, oh my god.
Speaker 2: And I was also I learned something from that small
Speaker 2: little moment, which most people like, you know, I just
Speaker 2: listen to what you guys were saying, and that how
Speaker 2: you guys had had your differences and how you were
Speaker 2: back together. And I also thought that was incredible because
Speaker 2: most people, most relationships, women or men are just like,
Speaker 2: you're not doing what I like, I'm just gonna get
Speaker 2: rid of you. Yeah, And basically that is what it is.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can say it however you want. You
Speaker 2: can say they were uncoupling, they were doing this whatever.
Speaker 2: But most men and women they're just like, you're just
Speaker 2: not You're not you're not filling this void. You're done
Speaker 2: and you guys.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we definitely, I mean went through so much Mutch Definitely,
Speaker 1: we definitely did go through a lot. And I get
Speaker 1: very also very lucky and I can do you know
Speaker 1: something because you're good Kelly. On.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing. This is how you know she's a person.
Speaker 1: Okay, but here's how you know that Kelly is a host,
Speaker 1: she's not just a guest. On I do part two?
Speaker 1: You have in three minutes you have switched this entire thing.
Speaker 1: This is about you, And all of a sudden, I
Speaker 1: know this is like what No? Like clearly that's why
Speaker 1: they have made you a host. What else do you
Speaker 1: want to know about me?
Speaker 2: Kelly? No, tell me about me.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you anything about my marriage for house.
Speaker 2: What do you want to know about me? Well, I'm
Speaker 2: just thinking, I mean thinking.
Speaker 3: But it's honestly, and by the way, I don't always.
Speaker 2: Maybe you should be on New York maybe if I
Speaker 2: if there is this you do I can't that's the dream.
Speaker 1: But and then I'm going to ask you a question
Speaker 1: that's going to relate directly to my next statement, which
Speaker 1: is that I would want to be on Old New York.
Speaker 1: And now I want to ask you about New New York.
Speaker 1: So tell me what you think in terms of the
Speaker 1: last two seasons.
Speaker 2: And I don't think that this is even insulting.
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty well knowned it has didn't resonate
Speaker 1: the same way that the reboot has not resonated, like
Speaker 1: you know, Old New York, And why do you think
Speaker 1: that is?
Speaker 2: I think one of the reasons that the reboot it
Speaker 2: does not resonated is because women are so focused on
Speaker 2: their brands, and I don't even know what brands are
Speaker 2: talking about. I've never even heard of any of their brands.
Speaker 2: I love Jenna Lyons. I had no idea that she
Speaker 2: had eyelashes. I didn't I didn't even know she before.
Speaker 2: I had no idea. So I've never even heard of
Speaker 2: any of these brands. And that was that also just
Speaker 2: rubbed me wrong because when I went on the show,
Speaker 2: I was recently divorced, I had two young children. I
Speaker 2: was single, very very very single, and I was is
Speaker 2: literally like they were like, don't talk of being single
Speaker 2: because it's not it's not cool. It's not cool to
Speaker 2: be a single parent, Like that's not sexy. I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: I'm not even forty yet, and I'm I think of
Speaker 2: myself as attractive. Yeah, and they were like no, no, no,
Speaker 2: like you need to be a certain way and you
Speaker 2: need to have your hair blown out. I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: sometimes my hair gets blown. Sometimes my hair is dirty
Speaker 2: four days.
Speaker 1: Yeah, welcome, welcome, that's the trick, ladies. So it's so
Speaker 1: funny when you see the brand thing because.
Speaker 2: But it's just weird. I mean, I'm like, brand, what
Speaker 2: are you talking.
Speaker 1: Because some people so I've had me like.
Speaker 3: Like that's not on brand for me, or I don't
Speaker 3: want to.
Speaker 1: Do or like with it, even even endorsements like I
Speaker 1: don't want to do that, it's not on brand. I'm thinking, well,
Speaker 1: my brand is making money, so if you're going to
Speaker 1: pay me, it's going to be on brand. And I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not. I don't not everything is for sale,
Speaker 1: but like the brand, I don't even know what that.
Speaker 2: I don't know what that means either, that does not
Speaker 2: I mean and believe me, I mean I was the
Speaker 2: editor of multiple magazines. I think I know what's a
Speaker 2: brand and what's not a brand. And I can tell
Speaker 2: you that if someone's telling you that they have a brand,
Speaker 2: they don't have a brand.
Speaker 3: So you think that's what happened with the housewives with
Speaker 3: the news.
Speaker 2: I think it was just like they were so they
Speaker 2: were so caught up in what they thought they should
Speaker 2: look like, and then they didn't realize that you're in
Speaker 2: high deff television, right, and every single facial expression, everything
Speaker 2: that you do is like magnified. So even if they
Speaker 2: thought they were being chic and cool, they came off
Speaker 2: cross as like totally douchey.
Speaker 1: So funny because I also feel like they were maybe
Speaker 1: because they were trying to be on brand.
Speaker 2: And I don't think they'll be many mean girls. I
Speaker 2: think I've met them. I've met them. I like a
Speaker 2: lot of them. But I'm interrupt you for one thing.
Speaker 2: We did this thing at page six, and I met
Speaker 2: a few of them. We were doing behind the scenes,
Speaker 2: like some TikTok stuff. We're supposed to be having fun.
Speaker 2: If you were behind the scenes with the core og
Speaker 2: group of housewives, they would be literally clawing each other's
Speaker 2: eyes out to talk to the producer get more time.
Speaker 2: They'd be like asking questions while the person was being
Speaker 2: interviewed by X, Y or Z person. They would be
Speaker 2: doing absolutely anything to get themselves out and about and
Speaker 2: to create as much drama so that they could be
Speaker 2: the talk of whatever. That polet was right. These girls
Speaker 2: are like in the corner. I like, I literally, after
Speaker 2: I did my interview, I went to find them. When
Speaker 2: they're sitting there, They're like, okay bye. I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: bye bye. Guys. Wow, that's so interesting. I was like,
Speaker 2: what are you doing? Like, let's go. Let's like even
Speaker 2: in the TikTok, I'm the I mean, okay, I'm an
Speaker 2: inherently animated human. But I was like, I look like
Speaker 2: I I'm like, I don't know, like I'm the Mickey
Speaker 2: Mouse Club.
Speaker 1: But don't you think that's because they are so And
Speaker 1: I don't blame them. I was on Jersey for two seasons,
Speaker 1: and I was in my head not all the time,
Speaker 1: but a lot of the time. Because it's a different time,
Speaker 1: right there is social media, and we have, as newbies,
Speaker 1: watched those that came before us and seen what they've
Speaker 1: gone through, and we've watched the pain that they've experienced.
Speaker 2: I was never in my head because I'm not in
Speaker 2: my head well, because you can see right now I'm
Speaker 2: not in my head.
Speaker 1: Because also I think that let's take you out of it.
Speaker 1: There's also you didn't know what you were getting into.
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to always keep you in it.
Speaker 3: But I'm talking about OG in New York. They didn't know.
Speaker 1: There was no precedent, so they were just getting fucked
Speaker 1: up and getting drunk and fighting and having fun and
Speaker 1: it was so real. And now I think it's just
Speaker 1: it's a different time because of social media obviously, so
Speaker 1: I think, like, like, maybe personalities are a little more tempered.
Speaker 1: And I am guilty of it as well, right right,
Speaker 1: I think that I did the best that I could
Speaker 1: to be authentic, but there was something about the ogs.
Speaker 2: I don't know. And maybe you're on housewives. You're not
Speaker 2: on Netflix, you're not on Lifetime, You're you're on Housewives
Speaker 2: of New York. You are supposed to be in the
Speaker 2: most glamorous city, doing the most glamorous things and interacting
Speaker 2: in a way that's so raw and real, because that's
Speaker 2: what's sexy about New York, Like when you want sex
Speaker 2: in the city. One of the reasons that we love
Speaker 2: sex and the city outside of the fashion and was
Speaker 2: like that was cute. We loved the rawness, we loved
Speaker 2: the realness. We loved even though it's not that wasn't reality.
Speaker 2: That's what people are, So.
Speaker 3: That's what you think. That's the difference. Think between Old
Speaker 3: New York and New New York.
Speaker 1: Hundred percent there's a rawness and rawness that is not there.
Speaker 3: And do you think that's because of the social media.
Speaker 2: Of it all. I definitely think it's because of the
Speaker 2: social media. But I also think that it's because that
Speaker 2: they these women are seeing so much, so much other programming,
Speaker 2: and they're trying to make themselves brand into a brand,
Speaker 2: and it doesn't happen like that. I mean, people like
Speaker 2: you because they just like you, whether you're the prettiest girl,
Speaker 2: whether you're the ugliest girl, whether you're like whatever. It is.
Speaker 2: People just like people who are real that they could
Speaker 2: be like, you know what, I'm like her, Oh my god,
Speaker 2: I'm like her. Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, I think that's so true.
Speaker 1: I think that's a good, bad or ugly like I
Speaker 1: think about Jersey, and I think about like Jersey was
Speaker 1: has been a success for so many years because good,
Speaker 1: bad or ugly these women were who they are.
Speaker 2: And the dynamic between the families.
Speaker 1: Yes, but everyone seeing the families the families, yes, of course,
Speaker 1: but also these women, it didn't matter like the cameras
Speaker 1: were up or the cameras were down. They loved each
Speaker 1: other or they hated each other, and there was no
Speaker 1: faking it.
Speaker 2: And I mean, you guys are a great cast. So
Speaker 2: when we were at Bravo Khan, hanging out with you
Speaker 2: guys was so much fun. Like, you guys are like
Speaker 2: real and like I remember meeting Joe Gorga at the
Speaker 2: first time on a plane. I didn't even I never
Speaker 2: met him before, and he was like, let me help
Speaker 2: you with your bag. He's a very he's very very
Speaker 2: gentle human, very really really nice guy. And Melissa, like
Speaker 2: I do a lot of stuff with her. Margaret josephs.
Speaker 2: I love her. We have a lot of friends in common.
Speaker 2: She's a baller. I don't know if you like her.
Speaker 2: I love I love her my close friends, and I
Speaker 2: just love how real she is. And then she talks
Speaker 2: about everything that she does, she talks about and I
Speaker 2: think that's really I mean, it's really important, especially when
Speaker 2: you're you know, getting older.
Speaker 1: There's also there's something about these characters, these humans, Dolores, Melissa, Margaret,
Speaker 1: it's these women and all of them, Jackie, Danielle, Rachel, Teresa,
Speaker 1: j God, I'm gonna I forget someone and then who
Speaker 1: am I forgetting? Yelle Teresa? Anyway, But these women are
Speaker 1: all they're all, but they're all individually a little cucka.
Speaker 3: They're all a little crazy, including me.
Speaker 2: Well it's the genesis of the of the of the show.
Speaker 2: And they are. Yes, we can't work with each other,
Speaker 2: you know, every single day and talk to each other
Speaker 2: and be filming to get with each other and talking,
Speaker 2: talking and filming and talking and filming and talking and
Speaker 2: filming and talking and filming, and it's like the worst reality.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but I think that it's there's no like
Speaker 1: at some point Jersey just everybody said, we're completely fucking
Speaker 1: crazy and we're just gonna go with it, like there's
Speaker 1: no more. We can't pretend there's no brand. There's just
Speaker 1: we are all a bunch of hot, fucking messes. And
Speaker 1: but that's I think. I feel like that's what worked
Speaker 1: with New York too, Like there's no I don't know
Speaker 1: what whatever whoever's trying to sell. Whatever they're trying to sell,
Speaker 1: whether it be eyelashes or toaster ovens, I don't know.
Speaker 1: But that's not what's interesting, right, what's interesting is these
Speaker 1: women and the fact that they're messy, and the fact
Speaker 1: that they actually like in the moment, like they hate
Speaker 1: each other or they're laughing at and they adore each other.
Speaker 3: That chemistry is hard to find, and I.
Speaker 1: Think that the ogs of New York did it perfectly
Speaker 1: and very hard to get that back.
Speaker 2: I mean, I wouldn't know perfectly. I just again, I
Speaker 2: think it's also what we have that's different is that
Speaker 2: we get out of a taxi and you open that
Speaker 2: door and the volume of New York and the smell
Speaker 2: and it's just it's very just authentically gritty. And so
Speaker 2: just before you've even walked into you know, into like
Speaker 2: you know, your cocktails or whatever, you have to really
Speaker 2: like kind of you kind of like you, yes, get
Speaker 2: through it, and so like you're like, okay, but yes,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be vulnerable, right, But there has.
Speaker 3: To be commonality between New York. Think about it. So
Speaker 3: New York to Dubai fancy to Beverly Hills, you guys.
Speaker 2: Are fancy, your houses are beautiful. New York, you guys
Speaker 2: are really dressed well like Jersey. Yes, I mean New
Speaker 2: York women are not well dressed. They're not I don't
Speaker 2: come from a lot of money. They don't. I don't
Speaker 2: know what.
Speaker 3: Wait, whoa whoa whoa whoa?
Speaker 1: What don't you just say notorious for being the worst dressed.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. You guys always look great. You guys are
Speaker 2: always that point. Agree, You're always like you guys are
Speaker 2: like the Kardashians of the housewise.
Speaker 1: To Kelly, you are losing me fast. What are you
Speaker 1: talking about?
Speaker 2: You guys are like in your range rovers, your gorgeous houses.
Speaker 2: You're always dressed.
Speaker 1: Hold on, I agree, how on Jersey people have We
Speaker 1: have beautiful homes, and I agree with you. But I
Speaker 1: am telling you you and I are the only ones
Speaker 1: that agree.
Speaker 3: People think that Jersey is the worst dress.
Speaker 1: That tackiest have to just do with the fact that,
Speaker 1: of course, it's like Jerseys don't to be Jersey.
Speaker 2: It's Sopranos country, it's you know. I disagree. I think
Speaker 2: that you guys are all love We're like, I mean,
Speaker 2: New Yorkers are like, guys, hello, do you guys have
Speaker 2: a job, Like, where's the cash? Shit?
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 2: Really? I was like, Oh, I'm rich.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, wow, that is Jersey, New York, California.
Speaker 1: Oh see, no, it's a lot of showmanship and there's
Speaker 1: not always a lot to back that up. So I
Speaker 1: think that's a housewise Housewives that's notorious for that, but.
Speaker 2: Someone like me, that's I mean, that's another reason I
Speaker 2: love Everet Hills is because I love I love that,
Speaker 2: Like the women will go and be like, I'm going
Speaker 2: to get a present for my daughter and they like
Speaker 2: drop like thirty grand on themselves. I think that's amazing, right, Like,
Speaker 2: I mean, I would never do that for my daughters.
Speaker 2: I mean I'm like, you know, I want them to
Speaker 2: have like personal respect and like if they want they
Speaker 2: get a gift, I want them to like, you know,
Speaker 2: be really really excited about it. I don't just like
Speaker 2: throw money at them. But I love that as.
Speaker 1: Like to watch it as I love to watch your kids,
Speaker 1: just not my kids, not for me. Let's just like
Speaker 1: we'll talk about Jersey and New York quickly. What do
Speaker 1: you see is the best scenario.
Speaker 2: Moving forward for both? Is it a mix of old
Speaker 2: and new?
Speaker 3: If so, is there anything specific you would like to suggest?
Speaker 2: Definitely a mix between old and new. I mean I
Speaker 2: know I should go back. I've heard of course, yeah,
Speaker 2: of course, I mean now now not now because people
Speaker 2: have seen that like real is cool, like not real
Speaker 2: is uncool, Like they're finally getting that.
Speaker 3: Would you go back with your old cast?
Speaker 2: Would you go back with Bethany? Ever?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 4: I never.
Speaker 2: I'm like, would you go on? Yes? Would you no? Yeah? No?
Speaker 2: And she can't film anyway she's But you know, it's
Speaker 2: interesting because when when I talked about the list that
Speaker 2: I sent to Andy, one person was like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: she always calls Andy. That is not true. I literally
Speaker 2: I never call him. I don't even have a cell
Speaker 2: phone number. I texted him one time because his daughter
Speaker 2: was so unbelievably adorable, and then his another time I
Speaker 2: sent his I sent them this like really cute teddy
Speaker 2: bear and his son is so cute. So like I
Speaker 2: never text Himbout. Well, by the way, I do know.
Speaker 1: I do know that a lot of housewives do have
Speaker 1: his cell number and do text him. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: not like I don't know what a regular I don't know.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying.
Speaker 3: I do have his cell number, and I text him
Speaker 3: once and never again.
Speaker 2: You don't worry. Do his photo do a photo of him?
Speaker 2: Like what do you mean? Like a not like on
Speaker 2: your mantle? But do you have like a photo of
Speaker 2: you guys together.
Speaker 1: Not framed, not for like it's not like all the
Speaker 1: photos of the people you have like you that's the
Speaker 1: side of all these famous people. Literally what you're talking about,
Speaker 1: because I'm a literally and right I'm telling you my
Speaker 1: friend Shary, my best friend is here right now, I
Speaker 1: was telling Kelly earlier. So Shary used to take me
Speaker 1: and are their best friend from college to the Grammys
Speaker 1: every year because Sharry is Shary and her husband is
Speaker 1: this big studio exect and we used to go to
Speaker 1: the Grammys every year until literally like we were like maybe.
Speaker 3: Three or four years in.
Speaker 1: Remember, and there was a security guy and I guess
Speaker 1: he worked there year after year who and I would
Speaker 1: be and he was like, I'm done. Like he walked
Speaker 1: up to us and he was like, I know your
Speaker 1: game now.
Speaker 2: Like this is like this is after years of us
Speaker 2: going on, You're you're like a gorgeous brunette, which I
Speaker 2: was not obvious.
Speaker 1: I was only eyes because I was so annoying, and
Speaker 1: I would like go over and I would be like
Speaker 1: reading out, like.
Speaker 3: No, you had no choice.
Speaker 2: I'm all right.
Speaker 3: We digressed, We digressed. I have a question for you, Yes.
Speaker 2: If you could get your photo taken with any housewife,
Speaker 2: who would it be?
Speaker 3: I mean, Kelly Bensmo, any housewife? Let me think. No,
Speaker 3: you know, it's like that, if you'd asked me.
Speaker 1: That four years ago. I mean, first of all, I
Speaker 1: would have just been in heaven. I would have just
Speaker 1: started drooling out of the left side of my mouth
Speaker 1: thinking about me getting a photo with I don't know,
Speaker 1: Kyle Richards or you know what. Okay, I know, I
Speaker 1: know because I was gonna say yes. But I've gotten
Speaker 1: a few pictures now, so it's different. But if you
Speaker 1: ask me right now, the one that I haven't gotten
Speaker 1: and that I would give the most, take with, Yes,
Speaker 1: Lisa vander Pump.
Speaker 2: I love me some Lisa van I really I knew it.
Speaker 2: I always die from her.
Speaker 1: I just did the way her hair would just flip back,
Speaker 1: and she was so everything.
Speaker 3: The lipstick was first. I think she's she's Jacqueline Smith.
Speaker 2: I totally agree, right.
Speaker 1: She was the most beautiful and like, maybe a little
Speaker 1: older than the rest of the Jackson people say you that, No,
Speaker 1: she was the least pretty of the angels.
Speaker 2: Take it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's your fair faucet, and you know it. Anyway,
Speaker 1: so thanks, thanks Helene.
Speaker 2: I'm k j.
Speaker 1: J.
Speaker 2: She's hot.
Speaker 1: I thought she's hot. She is, Yeah, she was like
Speaker 1: the brainiac. She wasn't the hot one.
Speaker 2: But whatever. Anyway, all right, so.
Speaker 3: Ultimate Girl's Trip, Which, what did you think?
Speaker 2: Ultimate Girls Trip?
Speaker 3: I loved every second.
Speaker 2: Of it, did I really. It was such a great trip.
Speaker 1: I thought it was so much fun to watch them.
Speaker 2: I kept telling them, you guys, you're missing the narrative.
Speaker 2: I think this guy is going to ask me to
Speaker 2: get married. He's sent me all these love notes with
Speaker 2: photos that I was reading to Derinda, and instead of
Speaker 2: a following my lead, they were like, no, no, we're gonna
Speaker 2: try this to make this into Scary Island. I'm like,
Speaker 2: it didn't. It didn't work. So there was a lot
Speaker 2: of people didn't even know what scary Island was.
Speaker 3: Then they were like, we're not doesn't know what's scary Island?
Speaker 2: Well, because he just they don't. I guess they don't
Speaker 2: want to know him because they're like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: it was such an iconic moment, and they're like, but
Speaker 2: one of my favorite favorite favorite moments on Ultimate Girl's
Speaker 2: Trip is that we go and do this water therapy
Speaker 2: I'm remembering water therapy and they're in like ther bikinis.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm not gonna wear a bikini. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: wear a one piece. I literally it was so warm
Speaker 2: and I was in this velvet blue velvet one piece
Speaker 2: and I'm like looking up with my eyes are closed
Speaker 2: and I see the sun and it's like these lips
Speaker 2: are trying to kiss me. And with the movement of
Speaker 2: the water, I was like, I am so wildly horning.
Speaker 2: I don't know what to do with myself. And I
Speaker 2: get out of the water, and first of all, the
Speaker 2: guy that was moving me around was just like a
Speaker 2: smoke show. I get out of the water, I was like,
Speaker 2: oh my god. I'm like this guy is so hot.
Speaker 2: And like Luanne and durindare like I love my mother.
Speaker 2: I'm like I'm like, no, no, no, no, my mother was
Speaker 2: not in the water. I am so wildly horny. And
Speaker 2: they were looking at me like I had fifteen heads
Speaker 2: that I didn't have a cathartic. I get my own cathartic.
Speaker 1: But I'm trying to wait. But I'm thinking, like you
Speaker 1: just said that, like they missed it. They missed the
Speaker 1: bar where your boyfriend your fiance at the time you
Speaker 1: were reading. I know you, I remember you reading the
Speaker 1: love letters from him, but you already maybe not so
Speaker 1: much into him, and we missed broken up. You were
Speaker 1: about to get married. I thought we were.
Speaker 2: Broken up, and then he was like really really, really pushing,
Speaker 2: and they definitely didn't catch that.
Speaker 1: That was.
Speaker 3: I got you and Kristin Takeman arguing.
Speaker 2: I mean, christ we were arguing. I was actually like,
Speaker 2: tell me what the situation is. Let's talk it through.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can you sit there with her for hours? Hours? Yeah, Christen,
Speaker 2: one thing, please, Okay, I want to ask you. It's
Speaker 2: frustrating to sit with her for hours. You couldn't get it.
Speaker 2: So wait, it's very frustrating on this and she's a
Speaker 2: literally human.
Speaker 1: Yes, but she just just she couldn't make it happen
Speaker 1: with her.
Speaker 2: She'd be like if you and I were in a
Speaker 2: scene talking, she would like leave and run upstairs and
Speaker 2: go talk to the camera. And I'm like, and do
Speaker 2: her own testimonial. I'm like, no, no, no, no. In the middle
Speaker 2: of We're here, this is this is, this is the show.
Speaker 2: We're here.
Speaker 1: I have a question for you very myself.
Speaker 3: Because you're a model and she's a model.
Speaker 1: I'm curious because you and I have touched on this
Speaker 1: a little bit personally, but like the modeling thing on Housewives.
Speaker 1: First of all, going into Housewives as a model, do
Speaker 1: you think that is a helper a hindrance? And also
Speaker 1: I know that modeling is can be tough for a
Speaker 1: lot of reasons, and you and I have spoken a
Speaker 1: little bit about this, but but show me some parallels
Speaker 1: in terms of like.
Speaker 2: Being on Housewives. It's super triggering for me. I don't
Speaker 2: know about for her, but for me it was very
Speaker 2: triggering because you know, I started modeling when I was
Speaker 2: so young, and people were like, you're fat, you're ugly,
Speaker 2: you're too tall, your hair's too short, your boosters too big,
Speaker 2: You're to this, you're to that. It's just a constant, constant, constant,
Speaker 2: every single day. You're just never good enough. And so
Speaker 2: when I went on Housewives and like I'll never forget
Speaker 2: the first air, Mona Center called me a scarecrow and
Speaker 2: I was like a scarecrow and then she's like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you have no brains. I'm like, I'm the most educated
Speaker 2: person here. It's fun. You go to Columbia and I'm
Speaker 2: like okay, but your guys are you know, you're just
Speaker 2: so great and you're so smart. Talk about that now
Speaker 2: that you went to Columbia. It's none of the it's
Speaker 2: not your business, not your business, but they're But when
Speaker 2: I used to do this view, I want to like
Speaker 2: and so the simple intication, but just being berated and
Speaker 2: having them belittle me, you know, as a way of
Speaker 2: making them bigger and listen. You know, for me, I've
Speaker 2: always been the kind of person it's kinetic energy. If
Speaker 2: you're good, I'm good, and then we're going to be better.
Speaker 2: But if you're not good, and then I'm good, and
Speaker 2: I try to make you feel bad or gaslight you
Speaker 2: were doing whatever, whatever they were doing. It's just it's
Speaker 2: very unsettling, and like a lot of the viewers were like,
Speaker 2: I mean, to this day, they're like, we are so sorry.
Speaker 2: I'm like, you don't have to apologize, but they're just like,
Speaker 2: we're so sorry. And you know, it was really, really,
Speaker 2: really hard. That's why for me to even be vulnerable
Speaker 2: in the relationship was almost impossible. I would meet guys
Speaker 2: and go on dates with them, and I'd be like,
Speaker 2: all they want to do is go out with the housewives.
Speaker 2: All they do is want to go out with someone
Speaker 2: that's crazy. All they do is want to go out
Speaker 2: with a model. All they want to do. I never
Speaker 2: ever thought that they wanted to like meet Kelly. I
Speaker 2: just always assumed and always had my think that was
Speaker 2: about them or about you. You think that was about
Speaker 2: you or everything. But I mean I was also conditioned
Speaker 2: for my modeling years coupled with being housewives. I mean,
Speaker 2: just constantly having that reminder really affected me, really affect me.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about it now as you're saying it, like
Speaker 1: walking into a cast, a Housewives cast, And I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about this with Brandy Glanville for whatever reason, But like
Speaker 1: when a woman comes in who is modelesque, I think
Speaker 1: that there's a weird energy, there's a weird flow of energy.
Speaker 1: And I think that it probably happened with Brandy. I
Speaker 1: think it probably happened with you. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you agree with me or not, but I don't know
Speaker 1: if anybody's ever walked onto Jersey that's been model asque.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of some of the other franchises,
Speaker 1: but could it could be intimidating And I think in
Speaker 1: if you put that in a housewife's setting, Like it's
Speaker 1: already like going to spark a bit of jealousy, a
Speaker 1: bit of competition, right, do you feel like that, Like
Speaker 1: just because of the fact that you are you are
Speaker 1: a model, that already put you maybe at a little
Speaker 1: bit of a disadvantage.
Speaker 2: Potentially it did. And I think that they thought that
Speaker 2: because I was a model, I was going to have
Speaker 2: this thick skin. But you know, I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm from Illinois. They're like, yeah, you're from Illinois. I'm like, no, no, No,
Speaker 2: I am from Rockford, Illinois. Like the way you speak
Speaker 2: about people, this way you speak to people, I was
Speaker 2: not raised like that, and I don't understand that. And
Speaker 2: I'm not going to speak that language. I'm going to
Speaker 2: speak my language. And if you don't come to me,
Speaker 2: that's your problem. And then people were starting to be
Speaker 2: like nicer and real and more open and more just real,
Speaker 2: because I was like, I don't know what you're talking about,
Speaker 2: and I just didn't doesn't matter if I work in
Speaker 2: New York, I still don't communicate like that, and I'm not.
Speaker 1: Going to start I think about No, I'm just I
Speaker 1: just think it's so interesting. I think about the other
Speaker 1: franchises and just about how especially when someone knew and
Speaker 1: is even maybe I mean, I think about Jenna Lionce,
Speaker 1: who's her career, but she wasn't new. They all came
Speaker 1: in at the same time. That could have been intimidating
Speaker 1: or but like models, I feel like in particular particularly.
Speaker 2: She also Jenna has and she always has, whether she
Speaker 2: was at you know, Jaye Crew when she first got there,
Speaker 2: when I was at Hampton's before I was l She's
Speaker 2: always been a very striking confident person. We didn't know
Speaker 2: that she had certain things that were going on in
Speaker 2: her life, of course, but the way that she presents herself,
Speaker 2: and we talk about that a lot now, is about
Speaker 2: the way that present she presents herself as a very
Speaker 2: very confident person.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I'm I'm yes, all of that, But people.
Speaker 2: Say that I do like that too. I mean, just
Speaker 2: because I'm wearing heels and like, you know, seven feet tall,
Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily mean that I'm I'm.
Speaker 1: Feeling housewise, I know, but I think that not just
Speaker 1: house housewives is a microcosm, right of, sort of of
Speaker 1: the rest of the world and how we all work
Speaker 1: and we all spin around each other. But I feel
Speaker 1: like there's something about a really tall, beautiful modelesque woman
Speaker 1: that is probably makes it a little more difficult. Not always,
Speaker 1: but I just think sometimes, and I think maybe maybe
Speaker 1: in your case, maybe in Brandy's case, I think that
Speaker 1: the dynamics maybe shift a little bit and maybe it
Speaker 1: makes it harder.
Speaker 4: Do you agree, Well, I think that there's I think
Speaker 4: that there has always been this idea that if you
Speaker 4: are pretty, things are easier for you, and it's not
Speaker 4: necessary true.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can open that someone can open the
Speaker 2: door for you, but you still have to walk through,
Speaker 2: like you know, okay, the door is open, but you
Speaker 2: can't make it through, Like okay, how are you successful? Right?
Speaker 2: You know, you're it's so it's it's really you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's the life that you make. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's really nice that people like the way that I
Speaker 2: look and I appreciate that. And botox makes me even prettier, but.
Speaker 1: I yeah, well both talks makes all of us.
Speaker 2: And looks and me and yeah, but I'm kidding, but
Speaker 2: I really really appreciate that so much, so much.
Speaker 1: And no, I just think it's so interesting, and I
Speaker 1: think that also probably happens with women that come on
Speaker 1: that are let's say, way wealthier than the rest, right
Speaker 1: there is as an audience member.
Speaker 3: Which is what I mainly am.
Speaker 1: Right, and I see if I see a cast and
Speaker 1: someone comes on like Caroline Stansbury, right, do buy what
Speaker 1: I want to although they're all actually ridiculously wealthy, so
Speaker 1: that doesn't even apply.
Speaker 3: I'm trying to think of like Orange County.
Speaker 2: It's just interesting the way that you talk about yourself
Speaker 2: and say that you're like you present, Like we were talking
Speaker 2: about that before. You present as the observer, but you're
Speaker 2: the participant. That is not good. I mean, I present you.
Speaker 2: I have both. You have to allow yourself to be
Speaker 2: the you know I.
Speaker 1: Am, but I always have to also like qualify like
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm a friend of a house I'm a.
Speaker 2: Two year friend in this world. Yes you're on You're.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that that is true, but I am. I
Speaker 1: have been a fan for so long, so it's a
Speaker 1: very weird thing. At age fifty three, that's when I
Speaker 1: went on the Housewives of New Jersey. I love that
Speaker 1: I have watched all of that. You know, I've been
Speaker 1: a crazy Housewives fanatic for so many years, so maybe
Speaker 1: it like the heart of me. That's how I feel.
Speaker 1: I feel both, but that it will always be there,
Speaker 1: you know, like I love that it is what it is.
Speaker 2: But like I was thinking about just now, I appreciate
Speaker 2: that you are open enough to be like I'm I
Speaker 2: was a huge fan. I mean a lot of these
Speaker 2: women who are That's I think. No, I don't get this, No, no, no, no.
Speaker 2: I think that that's actually a really really strong point
Speaker 2: is that a lot of the New York women, they
Speaker 2: were such massive fans and they thought this was going
Speaker 2: to be a launching pad for them, and instead of
Speaker 2: really really like digging deep and really reveling in being
Speaker 2: a housewife, they were on the periphery. And it made
Speaker 2: the fans very uncomfortable.
Speaker 3: No, I think that's probably pretty accurate.
Speaker 2: It's not that they're I mean, it's more than just
Speaker 2: not resonating. It made fans very uncomfortable. Yeah. Instead of
Speaker 2: fans feeling like they're in the conversation, they just felt
Speaker 2: very isolated. Yeah. I could see that. Yeah, and that's
Speaker 2: why they love to watch.
Speaker 1: I mean, I was a fan and when I went
Speaker 1: into it, though, I'm not gonna say that I was
Speaker 1: never in my head, but I don't.
Speaker 2: I know that.
Speaker 1: I really tried not to be. In most moments, I wasn't.
Speaker 1: But there were times because I've been a fanned for
Speaker 1: so long, you know that you were seeing, you're in
Speaker 1: a scene, but you're also there's that little part of
Speaker 1: you that floats above and remembers very like, very specifically,
Speaker 1: what it's like to be a viewer of the scene.
Speaker 1: So it's a little tricky.
Speaker 2: Don't throw a table. So you would go.
Speaker 1: Back to Housewives, you would return. You already gave me
Speaker 1: that answer. You said absolutely, yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I always think it's a good I mean, I
Speaker 2: had never I always said since day one, I would
Speaker 2: never say no. The only reason that I left when
Speaker 2: I left in twenty eleven is because they were bringing
Speaker 2: back someone that I could not film with.
Speaker 3: And I really play coy right now.
Speaker 2: Schenkel, Okay, I was like, no, that's not how happening.
Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not going to be I'm not going
Speaker 2: to have someone be a liability. Yeah, it's not happening.
Speaker 3: So interesting.
Speaker 1: You know what everything that happened with her with Jersey
Speaker 1: and I know what she was talking about Teresa, and
Speaker 1: for whatever reason and said that no one Jersey was
Speaker 1: a train wreck of a show. No one would ever
Speaker 1: go on it if they weren't broke, and once they
Speaker 1: did make money, they would just get off of it.
Speaker 1: And I was like, what, like say what like, so
Speaker 1: all you were on a franchise and I know you
Speaker 1: went on it quote unquote broke.
Speaker 2: She wasn't broke. She went to a very expensive college.
Speaker 2: She wasn't broken. I know. I mean I know more
Speaker 2: about her now because all of the guys I've did
Speaker 2: or went on days told me everything about her, which
Speaker 2: was really fascinating. Can you imagine going in a date
Speaker 2: and some guy being like, oh my god, let me
Speaker 2: tell you about her.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I I met her, I know her.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm like, dinner's over.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, recently who she was dating that dated you
Speaker 1: or something of that.
Speaker 3: Right, it's another episode any.
Speaker 2: Way, But I do think I do. You know, it's
Speaker 2: actually a shame because you know, had I had that,
Speaker 2: had that not have happened, I would have I would
Speaker 2: have continued on Housewives. I would have continued. I would
Speaker 2: Here's a good news. I tell of my favorite trips Leuenna,
Speaker 2: I had the best time ever.
Speaker 1: That was my trip to Ireland. That I had on
Speaker 1: season thirteen was one of the best times.
Speaker 2: I mean, some of the trips are so unbelievable.
Speaker 3: One but here's the good news.
Speaker 1: I don't even don't even say that a scary island
Speaker 1: scary island.
Speaker 2: There are parts of it that are amazing. And then
Speaker 2: there was an issue that happened between between us and
Speaker 2: I just was like I made a choice of the
Speaker 2: wellness of a family versus like I was just I can't.
Speaker 3: Launch, I can't do I'm watch you into anything done.
Speaker 3: But let me just say one thing.
Speaker 2: I don't feel.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like Bethany's coming back, so now would
Speaker 1: be a perfect time. I feel like probably not going
Speaker 1: to be on the Housewives again.
Speaker 2: She can't be.
Speaker 1: Let me just propose this, Andy Cohen, if you're listening,
Speaker 1: Ultimate Trip, uh, Jen Fessler, Kelly or even better.
Speaker 2: Ultimate Girlstrip are the best trips as whatever. Well, first
Speaker 2: of all, because you get to go on trips with
Speaker 2: all these other housewives you never get to meet, and
Speaker 2: it is amazing, so fun. I would love to do
Speaker 2: that and everybody and everyone gets to tell which is
Speaker 2: which was? Which was great for me is that like
Speaker 2: even on Ultimate Girls Trip, I did not film with Gerinda,
Speaker 2: and I got to really know her, and she, you know,
Speaker 2: told me what was happening and all this stuff, and
Speaker 2: you know I had, you know. I mean she's a
Speaker 2: very funny human.
Speaker 1: I mean she I love that woman. Smart and charismatic.
Speaker 1: Talk about the ultimate housewife. All right, Kelly, I love you,
Speaker 1: Love you guys, love me some Kelly, Ben Simone, love you.
Speaker 2: See you next time. Bye, guys,