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Bethenny Frankel has revealed she canceled a planned first date with a man after he refused to share his last name.
In a viral TikTok video, the former Real Housewives star shared how she usually tries to figure out a man’s last name on a first date, just so she can do some digging on him. She noted that a man reached out to her, and on paper, he seemed like he had a lot going for him.
“He seemed nice and interesting,” Frankel said, adding that she wasn’t planning on being too judgmental. “The man doesn't have children. He's 53, that's okay. You could choose to not have children, no problem. And he, I guess, was going pro as an athlete, but got hurt, that's years ago, and went to a very good, you know, Ivy League school.”
The podcast host added that he has two homes as well, but he didn’t disclose much more about himself. As someone who’s a public figure, Frankel noted that it’s important to get as much information about a date for the sake of her safety.
“I always want to try to know his last name,” she continued. “It's scary out there and, you know, and I do feel that I'm at a disadvantage because it's the playing field is not even right. I'm a fairly public person, and he could know who I am.”
In the past, Frankel said she’s encountered a variety of men who have claimed not to know who she was, and others who were fairly honest that they were familiar with her. These days, the former reality TV star admitted that she tries to strategize ways to ask them if they know of her, and if they do, she said she felt like the dynamic would be unbalanced.
When she was planning a date with this new man, she wasn’t subtle about asking his last name, telling him that she was “going to need to know your last name to go out with you.”
However, much to her surprise, he evaded her request and hinted that the only way she was gonna find out his last name was if he met her in person at the restaurant they were going to.
“I have to meet him to have a connection for him to give me my last name,” she added. “If you've got a restaurant reservation, you left your freaking dry cleaning, give your last name. Whack job.”
She added that he said: “‘I don't care what your last name is. I was looking to see if there was a connection, and I'm not going to give you a last name or a picture,’ which he already gave me.”
The whole situation was screaming red flags to Frankel, so she blocked him.
In the comment section of the video, people agreed that the man appeared to be hiding something.
“It’s very basic to know someone’s last name before dating I think,” one user commented. “It’s a big red flag, better never meet him, I have a bad feeling about him hearing this story!”
“His ego is huge. You dodged a huge [red flag],” another added.
“When someone refuses you basic information I think it’s because they are hiding something,” one person wrote. To which Frankel replied, “Yes married.”
