Bethenny Ever After

Bethenny Ever After

What makes this obscenely wealthy, painfully self-absorbed woman so mesmerising is that she appears to be exactly what reality television was invented to capture: the genuine article. Although her flouncing and moaning, fretting and naval-gazing is extreme, it doesn't seem in the least bit contrived. Her worries may be a world away from those of common folk (should the collar be turned up or down on the frilly white shirt she's wearing to the 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers party? Are she and hubby Jason still emanating a ''newlywed'' vibe after becoming parents to baby Bryn?) but they certainly seem real and pressing to Bethenny. And the pressures of being rich, thin and beautiful are clearly placing her marriage under stress. Chisel-jawed Jason has had ''enough Bethenny today!'' but the show must go on, and on. And that's exactly what this Real Housewives of New York City spin-off is: a polished performance by an old showbiz hand. Before Real Housewives, Bethenny Frankel (pictured) appeared in a couple of B-grade '90s movies. A trained chef specialising in gluten, dairy and wheat-free treats, she was a finalist on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. And she has capitalised on her impossibly tiny waist (almost concave just weeks after delivering Bryn) with a series of diet books for the ''Skinnygirl''. It's fair to say Bethenny knows exactly what she is doing and is most likely driving every ''candid'' moment of her eponymous series. Not that that makes it any less entertaining. Particularly interesting is how an iron-willed woman transforms into an insecure little girl at the slightest criticism by her less-successful husband.

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