Bethenny Frankel Gives Fans a Scary Update About Her Health

Fans of Bethenny Frankel may know her for her time on Real Housewives of New York, where the reality star super charged her fame, going on to found the company SkinnyGirl, that makes boozy beverages that her followers just can't get enough of. However, after her time on the RHONY series, Frankel has also become a bit of a social media influencer, and she frequently shares updates about her life and her family with her millions and millions of followers.

That's why it's no surprise that she used social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to issue a major announcement about her health on Jan. 22, 2026, when Bethenny Frankel shared that she had just been diagnosed with kidney disease.

Now, Frankel says she's using her platform to share her story and spread awareness so that her followers can also get checked to make sure they don't have this scary sounding condition, which Frankel isn't even sure how she came to develop. Here's what we know.

At the end of January, Frankel posted a video on Instagram, captioning the clip of herself with the words "medical cautionary tale." She began the video by saying that she had a "medical announcement" to make, and that she was scaring the news, to make fans worry, but so that they could be proactive if they found themselves in a similar situation.

Then Frankel revealed that her annual bloodwork had been showing that her kidney function wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Her doctor referred her to a specialist, which is where she learned that she had stage II kidney disease. The Mayo Clinic says that people with stage II kidney disease experience a loss of kidney function, which can progress without treatment.

While she doesn't know exactly what caused the disease — she thinks it could've been from an allergic reaction when she was younger, or an autoimmune response — she revealed that she would need to make lifestyle changes to manage it.

They include drinking more water. “I don't drink a lot of water," she revealed in the clip. "I'm holding a bottle, but I'm not usually drinking it." Her doctor told her she needs to start viewing water as "medicine" and that she should start drinking something like 1.5 gallons of it a day.

Additionally, she'll need to cut out a few things, like certain medications and supplements, as well as ice cream, something she was munching on while filming her video.

Frankel was diagnosed with POTS in 2023, according to People magazine. The Cleveland Clinic says that POTS is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which can present with fatigue, dizziness, or a rapid heart rate upon standing. Frankel developed the condition after picking up a nasty infection while she was traveling.

Treating POTS also requires lifestyle changes, like managing diet, nutrition, and physical activity, all of which Frankel seems to be doing well with.