Bethenny Frankelis continuing to mourn the death of her late boyfriendDennis Shields.
On Sunday evening, when the season 4 premiere ofBillionspremiered, theReal Housewives of New York Citystar spoke about the impact that Shields — who died in August of a suspected overdose — had on the lives of many.
“Yes. We are all connected and have a long history. He really is missed and touched so many people’s lives,” Frankel, 48, tweeted in response to a fan, who pointed out that the show dedicated its first episode of the new season to Shields.
During the episode,Billionsco-creator and showrunner Brian Koppelman tweeted about Shields.
“Dedicated to Dennis Shields, our brother,” said Koppelman, 52. (Fellow co-creators David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin were also close friends of Shields.)
After news of Shields’ death broke, Koppelmantweeted, “Dennis Shields, who died this morning, was my close friend for 30 years. One of the smartest, most generous, people I ever came across. He was also one of the great storytellers in the world. And understood life’s endless absurdity in his bones. I loved him. And love his family.”
Early Monday, Frankel, who is now datingreal estate developer and film producer Paul Bernon, spoke about the process of mourning.
“Mourning is tricky business. It’s like the weather,” she tweeted. “There can be weeks & weeks of sunshine then one day you get whacked with a storm.”
The Showtime series’ tribute comes seven months after Shields wasfound deadin his Trump Tower apartment on Aug. 10. He was 51.
“It’s been very, very hard, I love him very much,”Frankel told PEOPLE in August about her lossduring the launch of her SkinnyGirl Jeans line. “He’s very much a part of me and he’s very much a part of this [launch]. He was very involved in my endeavors.”
“He would be so excited. I can hear him saying, ‘How many did you sell?’ and ‘I can’t believe you sold out.’ And he would be checking the numbers and checking the website,” she continued. “He’s here and I just know he would be so proud and a cheerleader.”
Alessio Botticelli/GC
Of the grieving process, Frankel said: “It’s like [Hurricane] Florence, it’s a storm and you must go through it. It’s not one of these things you can avoid and you have to go through it and deal with it and hopefully, you come out stronger on the other side.”
Frankel and Shields began dating in 2016, three years after she filed for divorce fromJason Hoppy, with whom she shares 8-year-old daughter Bryn.
Theyfirst met nearly 30 years agowhen he dated (and later married) Jill Shields, one of Frankel’s high school friends. Though Frankel did not stay in touch with her classmate (“We’ve spoken three times in 25 years,” she previously told PEOPLE), Frankel and Shields shared other mutual pals.
Last week, in apreview of this week’s episodeofThe Real Housewives of New York City,Frankel revealedto costarDorinda Medleythat Shields had asked her to marry him.
“He proposed on April 25 … I didn’t tell anybody that,” Frankel told Medley, 54, before showing her the massive ring.
“I didn’t know that,” Medley said in response.
“We had our own private engagement and our own private, like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to do this,’ ” Frankel said back.
Bravo
When asked if her daughter with Hoppy knew, the Skinnygirl mogul said: “He bought Bryn a ring, too.”
The reveal brought both Frankel and Medley, who lost her husband Richard H. Medley in 2011, to tears.
“I loved him so much,” Frankel told Medley, “and we were a family and my daughter was close with him and I knew him for so many years.”
The Real Housewives of New York Cityairs Wednesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
source: people.com
