Bernadette Birk Was 'Tough' & 'Vulnerable' – Facts about Bethenny Frankel's Mother

Bernadette Birk is the mother of "The Real Housewives of New York City" alum Bethenny Frankel. According to her daughter, she has led a colorful life and has a mercurial yet endearing personality.

With the help of Eve Adamson, television personality Bethenny Frankel co-wrote the book "A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life." In the book, she opened up about her childhood experience and relationship with her mother, Bernadette Birk.

She wrote about her mother being too young to have her and that her mother was a specifically attractive woman. Bethenny Frankel also noted that her mother had a strong personality and was unafraid to speak her mind.

Bernadette Birk's Life and Struggles

In Frankel's book, she claimed that her mother was volatile, self-involved, and struggling with an eating disorder. She expressed:

"My mother was so tough but also vulnerable. The bottom line is that she didn't protect me, and to this day she won't admit it. She refuses to see it."

Knowing Birk's hardships growing up, the TV personality felt compassion for her mother. She wrote about how her mom had run away as a teenager to escape a toxic household.

According to the reality star, her grandfather was a horse trainer, and Birk also married two men, who were both horse trainers. One was Frankel's dad, Robert Frankel, while the other was her stepfather, John Parisella.

Bernadette Birk's Relationship with Her Daughter

The mother and daughter duo have not had the best of relationships. In 2010, Frankel claimed that her mother had no desire to meet her grandchild. She said:

"My mother hasn't expressed any interest in meeting Bryn, which was shocking to my husband. Life is hopefully long, so I don't know what the future will bring."

However, at the time, she stated that she would not be open to introducing her daughter to her mother either, saying she didn't want negative energy around her child.

In 2017, Birk publicly blasted her daughter for appearing as a guest judge on "Shark Tank'" ninth season. The mother, who is not impressed with her daughter's business skills, expressed:

"She is a moron. She got very lucky, and she just knows how to surround herself with people who are intelligent. Bethenny is a liar and a shark. She ran through my guts. She will get along with the other sharks."

Past and Possible Future Relationships

However, in the same period, Frankel reached out to Birk after her daughter asked to meet her grandmother. She revealed that it had been fifteen years since she last spoke to her mom. She said:

"I don't know. I don't know how it made me feel. There's so many things that have happened recently..."

In 2015, Frankel also spoke about her deceased dad, stating that they weren't close and he wasn't really there. She assumed that maybe she reminded him too much of her mother.

Her stepfather Parisella, she once claimed, was much more involved in her life. As a horse trainer for celebrities, he purportedly met and interacted with many stars such as Frank Sinatra, Hugh Hefner, and Bono.