NeNe Leakes “Forced” To Appear On Bethenny?
October 4, 2013 by Ricky Guo
Since the debut of Bethenny Frankel’s daytime talk show, it has been tanking in the ratings. Ratings are not her only issue, though, she is also having trouble booking guests.
As reported earlier, her former New York Housewives co-stars Alex McCord and Jill Zarin both turned down offers to appear on the show. The bookers called “both ladies to explore the possibility of Jill and Alex appearing as part of a reunion from the Real Housewives of New York City Season 1 or 2.”
The show is now “forcing” people to go on, allegedly. According to RadarOnline, NeNe Leakes was “forced” to go on Bethenny if she ever wanted to appear on Ellen in the future (Ellen DeGeneres produces Bethenny’s talk show).
A source told the site, “If NeNe wanted to go on Ellen [in the future,] she had to agree to appear on Bethenny’s talk show. NeNe wasn’t happy that she was being forced to go on Bethenny’s talk show.The booker for Bethenny’s show used to work for Ellen, and this was made clear to NeNe that this order was coming directly from Ellen.”
It looks like the tactic worked because NeNe Leakes appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show to promote her spin-off show, I Dream of NeNe, and a few days later she appeared on Bethenny. It seems like because producers are worried about the show being cancelled, they are trying to book as many relevant guests as possible. The producers aren’t the only one worried about the show’s future, Bethenny is worried also.
A source said, “Bethenny is feeling pressure from network executives because ratings from her talk show have been less than stellar. Both ladies turned down the invitation to appear on the talk show. She didn’t want to invite Jill and Alex to come on, but she really needs a ratings boost, and thought having them come on would generate a ton of publicity.”
If the show does get cancelled, Bethenny always has her Skinnygirl money to fall back on.