New Details Surface About How Leah McSweeney Was Cast On ‘RHONY,’ And Bethenny Frankel Was Involved

Leah McSweeney may not have ever met Bethenny Frankel but when it comes to her position on The Real Housewives of New York City, she would have never gotten cast if it weren’t for the Skinnygirl mogul.

During an interview with Hollywood Life last week, McSweeney, who founded the Married to the Mob streetwear line, confirmed that while she and Frankel never crossed paths, they had a mutual friend.

“An esthetician of mine contacted me and said, ‘Bethenny is one of my clients. She wants to know if you would ever be on the show because she follows you on Instagram,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, sure,’ and that was literally it,” McSweeney recalled of the moments that led up to her being added to the Real Housewives of New York City cast last August.

Even after McSweeney was added to the cast of the Bravo reality series, she never came in contact with Frankel due to the fact that Frankel decided to quit her long-running position on the series just days before filming began on the currently airing 12th season. That said, McSweeney did offer a “thank you” to Frankel by sending her flowers.

Although McSweeney did her best to offer her thanks to Frankel for the full-time position she landed, Frankel has since unfollowed her on Instagram, likely in an effort to distance herself from the show.

“But I’m so grateful she gave my name, of course,” McSweeney said.

Frankel previously starred on the show for eight of its past 12 seasons.

Following McSweeney’s addition to the show, cast member Luann de Lesseps told Hollywood Life she thinks McSweeney is “great” for the show.

“She’s great, she’s downtown and she’s not afraid,” de Lesseps said. “She gets in there, and it’s not an easy group to come into. I think she holds her own, and at the same time she’s vulnerable.”

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Dorinda Medley spoke to People TV‘s Daryn Carp earlier this month, noting that she was quickly caught off-guard when she learned that Frankel had decided to leave the Real Housewives of New York City cast just moments before the start of production on Season 12.

According to Medley, she leaned of Frankel’s exit from the show just one day before she and her co-stars assembled to begin filming the 12th season last summer. She then said, via YouTube, that she and Frankel had been discussing their filming schedules with one another just three days prior.