Bethenny’s estranged mother tells us Bethenny took ice skating lessons as a child!

Reality superstar Bethenny Frankel hasn’t fared too well on the first few episodes of ABC’s Skating with the Stars, and estranged mother Bernadette Birk suspects she’s doing that on purpose! “Bethenny has always had an agenda,” Bernadette tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively. “She couldn’t be that clumsy if she tried! And this is a person that lived on skates as a child.”

Bethenny’s skating experience dates back her childhood, Bernadette says. Bethenny took ice skating lessons as a child and used roller blades as her primary mode of transportation while attending college in New York City.

Plus, as her mother points out, she was on The Real Housewives Of New York City‘s Halloween episode, flying around a party on a pair of roller skates with a drink in her hand. Bethenny also attended an event at a roller skating rink where she was looked comfortable as can be on a pair of skates.

Bernadette has been estranged from Bethenny for about 20 years and doesn’t claim to know much about the current Bethenny, but she does say, “I know she can skate, and I know she is physically fit more than anyone can imagine. So it has nothing to do with physicality. She has had every private lesson in the world and she had the best skates. I know she is not that bad on skates, not unless there is a reason.”

— Jessica Finn