Celebrity Mound

The “first ‘Housewives’ of BRAVO,” Vicki, Tamra, Gretchen and Alexis are BACK along with new wife Peggy, a 41-year old former model and now stay-at-home mom with poster girl good looks. And after a tough financial year, the OC ladies are bouncing back and living lavishly once more as the series goes behind the gates for a look at the scandalous truths, mending friendships, rocky marriages, sizzling romances and ever-changing loyalties inside the wealthy Southern California suburb. But right off the bat, it seems that old feuds are still very much brewing as Tamra and Gretchen quickly butt heads – how will this battle-of-the-blondes play out this season? Find out this Sunday 3/6 @ 10/9c on the *Premiere* of BRAVO’s Real Housewives of OC 6

BRAVO’s Bethenny Ever After, Monday 3/7 @ 10/9c: Bethenny’s been in the spotlight for a while now, but the stress and responsibility is still surprising her. Juggling her new family along with press events and her business has Bethenny questioning if pushing herself so hard is worth it. Not only does Bethenny have to deal with a baby and a business, she also has to work her way through a new marriage. Jason and Bethenny hit a few snags along the way, but will small tiffs turn into a bigger issue for the couple?

Bethenny Frankel certainly has a lot on her plate.

From starring in her own reality show, ice skating for hours a day on Skating With The Stars, and running a successful business, she had barely an hour to herself.

Add to the mix a new baby, and its hardly surprising if she is feeling exhausted.

Bethenny Frankel was spotted in New York City this morning, preparing to leave on a cross country trip.

Dressed down in cotton pants, a sweater and no make-up, Bethenny, 40, loaded up the car with her dog Cookie as she headed to California to tape her new reality show ‘Skating With The Stars.’

Bethenny is happily married to Jason Hoppy, who is the father of daughter.

The two starred on another reality show, Bethenny Getting Married, which was a runaway success with record ratings.

The June 10 premiere had over 2 million viewers, which is the highest rated debut for a new Bravo show.

It’s only been three months since she gave birth to her daughter Bryn, but Bethenny Frankel has managed to shed every inch of her extra baby weight.

The Real Housewives of New York star showed off her slim figure and perfectly flat stomach, as she hit a beach in New York state.

Clad in a low cut turquoise bikini, the 39-year-old reality star looked happy and relaxed as she carried her three-month-old baby.

Mother and daughter both wore hats to protect themselves from the sun.

Frankel, who gave birth to Bryn five weeks early on May 8, puts her slim figure down to a low fat diet and an active lifestyle.

‘I’ve really been eating, just not like a crazy person,’ she told Life & Style magazine, adding that she sticks to small portions and works out to her Body by Bethenny yoga DVD.

‘Sometimes it’ll take me the whole day to get through it,’ she told the mag. ‘I do what I can when I can a couple of times a week.’

Frankel has also written two books on dieting: Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl, and The SkinnyGirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life, which were published last year.

Fans of Frankel, who is married to real estate broker Jason Hoppy, will be sad to learn she will not be returning Real Housewives for the next season.

Instead, she will continue with a second series of her own spin-off show after last year’s Bethenny Getting Married? was a ratings triumph.

Bethenny Frankel’s 30-pound weight loss three weeks after giving birth to an underweight baby girl, Bryn, is rubbing some new mothers the wrong way.

“The Real Housewives of New York City” star talks about her “super-fast slim down” — she lost 29 of her 35 pounds of baby weight — in the new US Weekly. Frankel gave birth May 8 via Caesarean section, five weeks prematurely, to Bryn, who was 4 pounds, 11 ounces.

Some wonder if Frankel, owner of the Skinnygirl line of cocktails and cookbooks and a yoga DVD, “Body by Bethenny,” should have eaten more during her pregnancy, and whether she is putting unrealistic pressure on new mothers to lose too much weight too soon.

“This sets a very unattainable standard for the majority of new mothers,” one expectant mom said.

Peg Moline, editor-in-chief of Fit Pregnancy, said, “I’m concerned if she’s taking care of herself, getting enough rest and enough food, and not obsessing about losing the weight so quickly.

“I worry about the message that sends to the rest of us out here, who aren’t invested in that ‘skinny girl’ persona and don’t have trainers,” Moline added.

Also of concern is that Frankel has admitted to struggling with weight and nutrition issues since she was younger.

“Growing up in an extremely dysfunctional and toxic series of households bred me for an obsession with food and diet and weight,” Frankel wrote in a blog post on Bravo.com.

But Frankel, who is breast-feeding, said it was a doctor-advised diet and exercise that helped her lose almost 30 pounds — “most of which was water retention exacerbated by a C-section, which doesn’t allow food for two days.

“My message to women is to be comfortable where you are, to not binge at any point in your life, to eat a balanced diet with indulgences and to go at your own pace.”

The “Real Housewives of New York” star gave birth to little Bryn Hoppy on Saturday, her rep confirmed to People.

“Bethenny and Jason are proud to welcome their new baby girl, Bryn Hoppy, born at 8 a.m. … in New York City,” the rep said. “She is a 4 lb. 12 oz., healthy baby. Bryn, mom, dad and [their dog] Cookie are all very happy.”

According to reports, Frankel had gone into labor early Friday morning, nearly a month before her June due date.

“Thanks so much everyone.your messages were so thoughtful and sweet.I read every one.I love you guys!” she tweeted around noon Friday.

Frankel and her husband Jason Hoppy, who also appears on “Real Housewives,” were married March 28. Bethenny’s engagement and pregnancy have been an ongoing storyline on the reality show’s third season, currently in progress on Bravo.

Husband and wife elected to remain in the dark about the baby’s sex, but Frankel had said she’d been hoping for a girl.