Business partners and BFFs? Ellen DeGeneres made a special appearance on Bethenny Frankel's talk show, Bethenny, on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to set the record straight regarding rumors that the two are feuding. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host insisted that, contrary to reports, she's proud of Frankel's show, on which she serves as co-producer and co-creator.
"I was just telling my audience how much I love you and how amazing you've been to me," Frankel, 42, told DeGeneres, 55, when they got connected via satellite. "A lot of people like to make a lot of comments in the press about different relationships — whether it's someone gives someone a show and it's just a business relationship — and I try to explain to people that you and I are really friends. We actually go to dinner, I hang out with you and Portia [De Rossi], I've been to your house. I genuinely love you and look up to you and I call you when things are rough or when I need advice and that's just the nature of this relationship."
"It is," DeGeneres agreed, jokingly adding, "I mean you have not invited me to your house but I've invited you to mine so that has happened but someday maybe, I don't know."
"My ex-husband lives in my house, Ellen," Frankel explained of not extending an invite. (The former Bravo reality star is still going through a brutal divorce from Jason Hoppy, after ending their two-year marriage in December 2012. They continue to live together in their Tribeca loft in New York City as they work on their settlement and custody of daughter Bryn, 3.)
"Well, then I am not going there," DeGeneres replied. "Let me say this — because I only hear about this stuff I don't really pay attention to what's in the press — but I did hear that there was a story that I was distancing myself from you and from the show and I wanted my name off of the show. I think people think, as Andy Cohen said on your show the other day, that there is always a tiny bit of truth to any rumor that you read . . . There is absolutely not one crumb of truth in that at all," she said. "I am not distancing myself from your show, I love you. I am so proud of you. I am proud to have my name on it and I think that you are amazing and we are friends."
Frankel then got a little emotional as DeGeneres continued to pay her compliments.
"There is no one doing what you are doing on television right now. You really represent women and talk to women and give women advice in a way that nobody is doing and I love listening to your advice," DeGeneres added. "You can't really talk about what's going on in your life right now and I know that. I know what's really going on, and I know that's really hard for you to not share how difficult a time this is for you. That's weird because you do share everything with your audience but you are not allowed to talk about your divorce, so I'll just leave it at that."
