Bethenny Frankel traded in the bright lights of New York City for the big waves of Miami.
The Real Housewives of New York City alum, 54, announced her plans to move from New York to Florida back in April. “I am moving to Florida for personal and professional reasons,” she explained in an Instagram video. “Something has arisen that made this the best and healthiest for myself and my daughter.”
She went on to clarify that she and her 15-year-old daughter, Bryn, would retain their homes in NYC and the Hamptons but would be making Florida their “primary and permanent residence.”
Frankel reportedly purchased her Miami condo for around $1.7 million in June 2024. On a May episode of her “Just B” podcast, the Bravolebrity explained that Bryn once “cried” to her about wanting to move to the Sunshine State after “something very personal transpired.”
After initially dismissing her teen’s request, she eventually caved. “She meant it, and she begged me. She didn’t have to beg me, like, she was like, ‘I really want this,’” Frankel noted. “I know my kid and I knew that once this was presented … that she’d want to move. I was just like, ‘F***ing f*** it, OK.’”
Scroll down to see everything we know about Frankel’s Florida lifestyle:
When Did Bethenny Frankel Move to Florida?
Frankel broke down her move timeline in a May 2 TikTok video, revealing she and Bryn decided to change their home base two months prior. “Within five weeks, [we] had sold and bought a home in both places,” she explained. “We’ll keep this apartment, but [I] sold my home, bought a place in Florida and unbraided everything.”
Frankel quietly placed her Connecticut home up for sale for $8 million in April. She alluded to the listing in her TikTok video, noting she felt like the home was “drowning” her and was better suited for a large family.
“I wanted to simplify,” the Skinnygirl mogul shared, saying she originally planned to move after Bryn went to college. “My simplification is someone else’s complication ’cause I’m still going to be in a beautiful home, but I just took on too much and the idea of something was different than the reality of it.”
Why Did Bethenny Frankel Move to Florida?
“Bryn is Bethenny’s top priority, and the decision to move to Florida was all about supporting her,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in April. “The move reflects Bryn’s academic and athletic goals, and was made with her physical and emotional well-being front and center.”
One month later, Frankel admitted via TikTok that she hadn’t “been totally honest” about the reason behind her move. In addition to moving for her daughter, the reality star said she wanted to move because she’s been “pretty lonely for the past five or six years.”
“It started with the pandemic, which gave me license to be the introvert and insular person that everyone is surprised that I am,” she told her followers in the May 11 upload. “My friends know it very well because I look like a social person, but I’m not! I could be home for days without leaving the house, and the pandemic gave me license to do that.”
Frankel stated that she thinks her Florida move will help “reinvigorate” her relationship with NYC. In terms of what she likes most about the Southern state, she said, “I walk outside and I go take a walk on the beach and I’m just existing, like, with other human life.”
Her mother Bernadette Birk’s death in April 2024 also played a role in the decision to move. “I don’t want to just rot at home and feel like I’m wasting, like, years of my life,” Frankel stated. “All I’ve done in the last five or six years is reflect. I’ve done my reflecting. I’ve done my therapy. My mom died. I had, you know, a lot going on, and I’m ready to live.”
Will Bethenny Frankel Continue to Work in Florida?
Frankel noted in her original April move post that she was relocating for “personal and professional reasons.” However, she recently shared what it would take for her to wrap up her career.
“I would definitely retire — like, if I end up with some billionaire on some big boat,” she told Ad Week in an interview published on May 13. “I would end up doing social media on the boat.”
Given her proximity to the beach, perhaps Frankel may find her ideal man in Miami.
Frankel first gave fans a glimpse inside her beachfront Miami condo via TikTok back in December 2024. In addition to an open kitchen, living room and dining room, the residence features two bedrooms, a newly renovated bathroom, a separate bathroom just for Bryn, in-unit laundry and a spacious deck with a view of the coastline.
The only downside? “I really have to, like, ask a lot out of this closet,” Frankel said as she showed fans the inside of her small closet. To improve her clothing storage, Frankel shared her plans to remove her bathroom’s bidet and build another closet in its place.
Frankel has continued to show off her new place via Instagram. “The transition and journey has been rough but in a few weeks we will be settled into our Florida home before we head to the Hamptons for an endless summer,” she wrote alongside pics and clips of her time in Miami so far on May 23. “Let the adventure era continue.”
