Credit: Media Punch/INSTARimages, Instagram
Aurora Culpo didn’t appreciate Bethenny Frankel taking it upon herself to publicly confirm her split from Paul Bernon.
Days after the 53-year-old Real Housewives of New York City alum revealed news of the breakup on her podcast, Aurora, 35, took to her own podcast to shade Bethenny for sharing the story as she revealed that Paul, 45, dumped her just one day after sister Olivia Culpo, 32, suggested he was her “flavor of the month.”
“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,” Aurora said on the July 17 episode of Barely Filtered, via Us Weekly. “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.”
As RHONY fans may recall, Bethenny began dating Paul in 2018 and split earlier this year after a 2021 engagement.
Months after Bethenny and Paul called it quits, Paul reached out to Aurora on social media about doing a dating podcast, and they immediately “hit it off” and shared their feelings for one another “right off the bat.” From there, the couple decided to do the podcast and move in together before Paul suddenly broke up with Aurora on the Fourth of July following Olivia’s diss.
“He was not the flavor of the month. He was the flavor of two months,” Aurora clarified. “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.”
“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,” she added.
Continuing on about her drama with Bethenny, Aurora, who shares two kids with her ex-husband, Michael Bortone, 50, who she split from in September 2023, said she had no regrets about gushing over her past romance with Paul, which Bethenny was openly critical of.
“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? I can’t be sorry for that,” she stated. “Am I sorry that she felt bad and it hurt her feelings? Sure. I never want to make anyone feel bad.”
According to Aurora, who “never thought” the former reality star would be listening to her podcast, found it “cool” that Paul had dated Bethenny.
“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.”
During another segment of Barely Filtered, Aurora admitted her and Paul’s romance was “too much too soon.”
“During the week before my sister’s wedding, I was having feelings like, ‘This relationship probably isn’t for me. He doesn’t want to have kids.’ I didn’t want that door to be closed,” Aurora shared, via Us Weekly.
Although Aurora felt “overwhelmed” ahead of Olivia and Christian McCaffrey‘s wedding, she still invited Bernon to Rhode Island, where they were photographed on a boat ride together. However, they didn’t attend the nuptials together since their relationship “was new.”
“She just didn’t know him yet and also [Paul] didn’t want to come,” Aurora said. “We were joking and doing our banter thing and she said he was [my] flavor of the month. I said, ‘Don’t say that. That’s not fair [and] he’s gonna listen to that.’ She’s like, ‘That has nothing to do with him and everything to do with you.’ She was joking and I asked my producers if we could cut it.”
