Kelly Bensimon Comes Back From "Crazy"

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about me,” Kelly says, with her friend of 15 years (who asks not to be named) in tow. “It was hard to come back from being ‘crazy.’ How do you come back from that? With everything that I say, people are going to be like ‘what does she mean by that?’ I don’t mean anything. I’m very cut-and-dried. I’m straight forward.”

She adds, “There’s no gray area about me. I’m incredibly loyal and generous, but I’m also incredibly sensitive. If you rub me the wrong way, I could cry, scream, yell. But you know what? That’s OK. It’s called being human. And if you’re not human and you don’t have emotion, there’s something wrong with you.”

What can we expect from her this season?

“You’re going to see me working,” she says. “I know, you’re like ‘she works?’ laughs You’re going to see me working, you’re going to see a lot more of my kids. Everyone’s like ‘I’m the peacemaker, I’m the glue.’ I’m not saying I’m anyone. I’m having a good time.”

She continues, “I applied my own life to the show. For example, if my friend was having a problem, I would be there for her. If you were having a problem, I would be there for you. Not to give you advice, but to be like ‘you have a friend.’ Sometimes it’s nice to know that you have another person there when you need a buffer there to listen and to vent to. You can be like ‘I’m angry.’ That doesn’t mean I have to be on your side; I could just be there listening. That’s who I am this season – a listener, and to show everyone that I’m actually there. That’s what a real friend is – someone that’s there.”