‘RHONY’ Star Bethenny Frankel Shares Her Final Words To Late Boyfriend Dennis Shields, Were They Engaged?

Bethenny Frankel will be seen opening up about the tragic passing of her former boyfriend, the late Dennis Shields, during tonight’s Season 11 premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City.

In a sneak peek shared by Entertainment Tonight on March 6, Frankel was seen speaking to a couple of her friends about Shields’ death, which occurred after an alleged drug overdose in August of last year.

“Tyler, his daughter, called me, hysterically crying and she said, ‘My dad died this morning.’ And I started screaming into the phone,” Frankel recalled during a cast confessional.

According to Frankel, the reaction of her 8-year-old daughter, Bryn, was a “sucker-punch.” As she explained, Bryn questioned her about whether or not Shields still had a phone after his passing and ultimately asked if she could text him.

“Hi with a hand [emoji], Dennis, how are you doing today? We miss you,” the child wrote.

Bryn shared a second message with Shields as well, and in it, she said she missed him and wished he was with her.

Frankel also shared her final message to Shields.

“I love you, Dennis, and I always will. You’re the most loving, beautiful man in the whole world and I’m sorry you were in so much pain. Now, you can really sleep.”

In her cast confessional, Frankel told cameras she’d never felt the hysteria she experienced after learning of her former partner’s death in her entire life. She also explained that someone had informed her that Shields had fallen off a boat the day before he died and took something to cope with the intense pain he was experiencing.

While Frankel and Shields’ relationship saw plenty of ups and downs during their two years together, Frankel suggested they were actually secretly engaged at the time of his death.

“He wanted to marry me. I had a ring on my finger. He’s dead. He’s gone. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing to say,” she shared.

Two months after Shields’ passing, Frankel went public with her latest love interest, film producer Paul Bernon, and weeks after that, they were seen spending time together as a family with their kids. As for whether or not Bernon will be featured on the 11th season of The Real Housewives of New York City, that has yet to be confirmed.

To see more of Frankel and her co-stars, tune into the Real Housewives of New York City Season 11 premiere tonight, March 6, at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV.