Weighty matters. Carole Radziwill opened up to Us Weekly about the criticism her new Real Housewives of New York City costar Julianne “Jules” Wainstein received for her thin frame at the start of the Bravo series’ latest season.
“You know, I let her talk about it when she felt comfortable talking about it, and she’s pretty open about her weight issues, and it’s a very complicated issue and when you’re navigating new friendships,” Radziwill told Us exclusively at a B Floral event at Studio Arte on Thursday, April 7, in NYC.
“I can’t say it was a smooth road, talking about all that,” the Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating author, 52, added. “It was a bumpy road, but we go down the road and talk about it.”
As RHONY fans will recall, show spitfire Bethenny Frankel voiced her unapologetically honest opinion of 35-year-old Wainstein’s slim physique on the April 6 season 8 premiere episode.
“She looks like a really thin girl — like, she looks like there is an issue,” the Skinnygirl mogul, 45, told the camera after meeting Wainstein for lunch. “I wrote a book called Naturally Thin. This is not naturally thin. It’s the kind of thin that makes people around you uncomfortable. I never had an eating disorder. I had a mother who had an eating disorder, and I’ve been around it, and I understand it.”
Although Wainstein didn’t receive a warm welcome from Frankel, the reality TV rookie told Us that she has enjoyed becoming one of the ‘wives.
“This season, not just because I’m on it, I’m even excited to watch it, and I know what happens! It is really crazy, like, are people going to die? The fans might die because of how insane it is,” she explained to Us at the launch of the Real Housewives of New York City Bus Tour on Wednesday, April 6. “It’s not scary walking into this group — it was just like meeting a brand new group of friends.”
The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.