Kelly Bensimon on The Golden Life: 'I'm Finding Myself'

Kelly Bensimon is back on reality TV, and she wants you to know she's not the same person who once debated whether a costar was a chef or a cook.

Us Weekly reports that the 58-year-old is reuniting with Ramona Singer, Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan and Dorinda Medley for E!'s new series *The Golden Life*, set in Palm Beach, Florida. It's been nearly 15 years since she stepped away from *The Real Housewives of New York City*.

So why return? Kelly told Us that a 2023 trip with the group for *The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip* season 4 reminded her how much fun they have together. When the Palm Beach opportunity came up — a place she lived as a child — she jumped at the chance to "really nurture friendships."

"I had just rented my apartment, sold an apartment that I was living in, packed up my entire life. I broke up with a boyfriend. I just literally was like, 'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to just be with my friends and just be completely open and share so many things I've never shared before.'"

Kelly, an iHeartRadio podcast host and mother of two with ex-husband Gilles Bensimon, also wants to correct what she sees as lingering misconceptions from her RHONY days. The idea that she thinks she's above others is wrong, she says.

"They think that 'I'm up here, you're down there,' as if it is about finance or where you are in your social structure. It was really about, like, being childish or being an adult," she told Us, adding that she's from Rockford, Illinois, and came to New York at 15. "I have a lot of respect for New York. I'm just not that person."

She also pushed back on perceptions that she's not smart or flighty, pointing to years of financial pressure raising her daughters.

"When you work in so many different businesses as I do, and I'm under a lot of pressure — financial pressure with my kids and my family for the past 15 years — I need an outlet," she said. "My outlet is being playful and fun and giddy. Sometimes, people misconstrue that as me just being flighty. I am definitely not flighty."

What does she hope her reality TV legacy will be? "Playful and fun and charming and, like, life is so short. Just really lean into enjoying their lives like I do."

*The Golden Life* premieres Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET on E! with a 90-minute episode.