Is Bethenny Frankel Still Dating Dennis Shields? ‘RHONY’ Star Recently Faced Rumors Claiming She’s Engaged
Bethenny Frankel was dating Dennis Shields when fans last saw her on The Real Housewives of New York City, but are they still together today?
Although the reality star and Skinnygirl mogul’s current relationship status is unclear, she and Shields appeared quite happy together last year and even sparked rumors of an engagement after Frankel shared a photo of herself wearing a stunning diamond ring on social media.
As fans will recall, Bethenny Frankel and Dennis Shields went public with their romance last year and were immediately targeted with harsh statements from LuAnn D’Agostino, formerly LuAnn De Lesseps, who called her co-star out for dating a married man.
“[Bethenny Frankel] calls me a hypocrite, but really she’s the hypocrite. I’m the one getting married, I’m engaged, and Bethenny’s still trying to get a divorce,” D’Agostino said during an interview with E! News last year.
“You know, it was in the Daily Mail…she’s dating married men, not me,” she added.
According to a Daily Mail report at the time, Bethenny Frankel and Dennis Shields began dating in 2016 after several years of friendship. The outlet also noted that Shields and his wife Jill were separated and claimed she and Bethenny Frankel had a “long history.”
In response to D’Agostino’s comments, Bethenny Frankel responded on Twitter by pointing out that she too was legally married, despite having split from Jason Hoppy in late 2012 (the divorce was ultimately finalized the following month).
“She’s correct. I’m dating a legally married separated man-so perfect because I’m legally married too!” she wrote.
Bethenny Frankel and Dennis Shields have been fairly public with their romance and attended a Skinnygirl event together months ago. As for a possible engagement, however, the rumors regarding Frankel’s stunning ring were not true.
In August of last year, just a couple of months after going public with her romance with Shields, Bethenny Frankel posted a photo of herself hugging the head of Shields as she showed off a gigantic diamond ring. Right away, fans of the Real Housewives of New York City star assumed she was engaged to be married. A short time later, the engagement rumors were denied, and months after that, Bethenny Frankel claimed she was pulling back from dating during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
While Bethenny Frankel appeared to confirm she had split from Dennis Shields after jut months of dating, she later confirmed that they were still in touch.
“Dennis is in my life,” Bethenny Frankel explained to Us Weekly in December of last year. “He is an amazing person who I love and care about very much.”
The outlet pointed out that during her interview with Entertainment Tonight, the reality star claimed she was in “purgatory” and had “pulled back” from her romance with Shields.
“I want my message to be about women’s independence versus being defined by relationships, which is exactly the opposite of the message of B Strong. Men can be wonderful partners, but they don’t define us,” she told the magazine. “For the first time, I realized that I have to save myself and then help save others. That is my priority.”
During another interview with People Magazine in February of this year, Bethenny Frankel confirmed that she is simply not ready to settle down with anyone after her messy split from Hoppy.
To see more of Bethenny Frankel and her co-stars, tune into the premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City Season 9 tonight, Wednesday, April 5, at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV.
[Featured Image by Charles Sykes/Bravo]
