How Bethenny Frankel Responded to Ramona Singer's Insensitive Comment About Dennis Shields

"Real Housewives of New York" star Ramona Singer is still apologizing for the tasteless comment she made about Bethenny Frankel's late boyfriend, Dennis Shields, who died of an overdose in August of last year.

"How smart can Dennis be? I mean, he was on drugs," she said behind Bethenny's back on last week's episode. Ramona apologized on Twitter and apologized again on Wednesday's "Watch What Happens Live," but Andy Cohen wanted to know how Bethenny felt about the remark.

"I don't even recall saying it, and I was appalled," Ramona said when the topic came up. "I'm trying to be less filtered..."

"You're trying to be more filtered," Andy half-asked, half-told his flustered guest.

"That's what I meant. I'm so nervous! I'm so upset," Ramona replied. "I was so upset. I was mortified. I cried. I was like, 'Oh, my God. Oh, my God.' I couldn't believe this."

Ramona went on to explain that the cast gets to see the episodes one week prior to them airing, and when she saw what she had said, she reached out to Bethenny immediately.

"I just texted her and I said, 'I don't even know what to say. I'm so upset,'" she told Andy, who asked if Bethenny ever replied.

"Yeah. She said, 'I don't even know what to say, so just say nothing,'" Ramona recalled, reiterating that her actions that day were "terrible."

Hours before the episode in question even aired, Ramona took to Twitter to pre-apologize to the masses.

"I cringed when I saw what I said about Dennis in tonight's episode," she told her followers. "It definitely wasn't one of my finer moments. I respected and liked him very much, and I sincerely apologize to his family and Bethenny for my thoughtless comments."

The cringe-worthy moment happened after Ramona, Sonja Morgan and Tinsley Mortimer dined and dashed from "RHONY" newcomer Barbara Kavovit's Hamptons clambake. Once "the blondes" got back to their house on the other side of town, they filled Dorinda Medley in on everything she had missed (because Dorin had been disinvited). The conversation soon turned to the lawsuit that sparked Luann de Lesseps' relapse and second stint in rehab.

"That lawsuit won't be dropped until everything is finalized," Sonja said. "But that's why I asked Bethenny to help her with Dennis and all that 'cause you need a smart guy doing that stuff."

That's when Ramona said the unthinkable, and Sonja's mouth fell to the floor.

"How unsophisticated are you?" Sonja later vented to the camera. "Such a lame statement, an unfeeling towards our friend, Bethenny, who just lost her best friend. I can't do this. Alcohol excuses a lot, but not that statement."

Dennis was found dead in his Trump Tower condo on the morning of Friday, August 10, after suffering a suspected overdose. He was 51.

Since 2016, Bethenny and Dennis had been in what she described as an "on-and-off" relationship. She revealed last episode, before Ramona made her comment, that he had proposed to her in April of last year.

"It was not even close to a perfect relationship," Bethenny explained. "Part of me died inside. It was really bad. But I couldn't get out, though, either. I loved him so much and we were family and my daughter was so close to him and I knew him for so many years. He proposed on April 25th. I didn't tell anybody that. I kept it to myself because I didn't want another circus of my life, so I didn't want to start telling people, but we had our own private engagement."

Bethenny said her daughter, Bryn, knew. Not only that, Dennis bought her a ring, too.

"It's funny because he said to me, 'Well, did you say yes?'" she recalled. "And I said, 'Well, I love you and I can't believe you did this, but we have to talk about some conditions and some terms and how things are going to change, issues I've had with partnership and consistency.' It was all very complicated. It wasn't what a natural engagement should be, so our engagement was on ice."

Before his death, Dennis made numerous appearances on the show. During a chilling episode that aired last season, Bethenny was chatting with Dorinda about the latter's relationship ups and downs with boyfriend John Mahdessian when she brought up her own relationship with Dennis.

"You're just lucky that John's never going anywhere," she said. "I didn't say it to Dennis, but in my own mind, I said, '90 days. I'm not saying a word to Dennis for 90 days.' It's a really hard thing to realize that someone you love just doesn't mean they're the right person, and I wish he was."

Speaking about her massive townhouse at the time, Bethenny said, "I may live here forever alone, and I'm okay with that."

"The Real Housewives of New York" airs Wednesdays on Bravo.

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.