Aurora Culpo was not pleased that Bethenny Frankel was the one to break the news of Culpo’s breakup from Paul Bernon.
“Bethenny comes out on her podcast saying, ‘My actions cost me my relationship’ and announces that her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend have broken up,” Culpo, 35, said during the Wednesday, July 17, episode of her “Barely Filtered”podcast. “PSA guys: It’s not a good look to announce the breakup of your ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. It’s not your story to tell, but she did.”
Frankel, 53, and Bernon, 45, were together between 2018 and 2024, getting engaged in 2021. Us Weekly broke the news in May that the pair had gone their separate ways. Bernon then started seeing Culpo after connecting via social media about the chance to cohost a relationship podcast.
Bernon ultimately dumped Culpo on July 4, one day after the “Barely Filtered” episode where her sister Olivia Culpo called him a “flavor of the month” dropped.
“He was not the flavor of the month. He was the flavor of two months,” Aurora explained on Wednesday. “I would have preferred it to go longer, but unfortunately he dumped me. The next day, he called me and said ‘It’s not working.’ There were things, like, he doesn’t want any more kids [and] I probably do want more kids.”
She added, “Our communication style was so different. I’m not someone who can give space when someone feels hurt. Like, I need to talk about things right away. … We’re not compatible and I would have known that had I let the relationship move at a logical pace, but that’s not how I operate.”
Aurora, who shares two children with ex-husband Michael Bortone, admitted that she and Bernon quickly jumped into a romantic relationship. At the time, they had no bad blood toward Frankel.
“Am I sorry that my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend listened to my podcast episodes from weeks ago where I was gloating about being happy with this guy and in a new relationship?” Aurora said. “I can’t be sorry for that. Am I sorry that she felt bad and it hurt her feelings? Sure. I never want to make anyone feel bad.”
In fact, Aurora initially thought it was “cool” that Bernon previously was in a relationship with the Real Housewives of New York City alum.
“When I first found out that [Bethenny] was his ex-girlfriend, and I found out because I, obviously, looked at his Instagram and there were all photos of her, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’” she recalled. “When I went to Fairfield University, I actually remember one time passing out her Skinnygirl margarita at a Whole Foods and I [thought that] she’s such a hustler. … I always really liked her.”
According to Aurora, Bernon also “only had nice things to say” about Frankel and she “never thought” the Bravo star would be listening to “Barely Filtered.”
