Bethenny Frankel Says She 'Initiated' Paul Bernon Split: 'I Wasn't Happy... Something Needed to Change'

Bethenny Frankel is opening up about her split from her former fiancé Paul Bernon.

PEOPLE confirmed in May that the Skinnygirl creator, 53, and Bernon, 45, had called it quits after six years together.

The TV personality addressed the breakup during the July 7 episode of her Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast.

Confirming the split happened after the "really traumatic loss" of her mother, Bernadette Birk, at the end of April, Frankel told the podcast, "I went through a breakup. It was something that I kept to myself. It was something that I mourned on my own, and I did therapy, and I did the work... I just didn't feel like it needed to be shared." 

"It was a breakup that I wanted to process alone privately, and I didn't feel that I owed anybody any explanation," the Real Housewives of New York City alum continued.

Frankel confirmed, "The breakup was something that I initiated. I wasn't happy. Something needed to change. It was certainly mutual. The relationship had its challenges, and nobody dumped anybody." 

"But I went through it. I was scared because of my past and my abandonment issues. I get very scared when there's any sort of change in someone you depend on and someone that you love, but I knew that it was ultimately the right thing," she continued. "And I really made peace with it, and I was happy. I was thriving, and I was surviving."

Frankel later added, "It wasn't a relationship I wanted to be in, and it wasn't a person that I wanted to be with anymore, to be honest, for many reasons that I really had to come to terms with."

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The star admitted it had been "rough" given Bernon's dating life has been hitting headlines recently. "I just [want to] say that I'm okay. I mean, it was rough because I had to experience the same breakup twice, but way worse the second time because I had to hear about all these details," she said, referencing the media attention.

"I am in therapy. I am working on myself," Frankel said, adding, "I am confident. I am single. I am independent. I am happy, and I will survive this."

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While speaking with PEOPLE in 2021, Frankel confirmed she and Bernon "met on a dating app" in 2018.

"I was pretty lucky when I walked in and saw him. He had a twinkle. He came as advertised — better than advertised. He overshot the mark," she said at the time.

The couple briefly separated in October 2020, before rekindling their romance in January 2021. Two months later, PEOPLE confirmed they were engaged after Frankel finalized her contentious divorce from Jason Hoppy.