Kelly Bensimon has no regrets after calling off her wedding to her ex-fiancé Scott Litner just four days before the couple of two years was set to tie the knot.
The Real Housewives of New York City star decided not to move forward with the ceremony because Scott had refused to sign a prenuptial agreement.
‘I am ready to explore and enjoy the life I’ve worked so hard to create for myself and for my children,’ the reality star explained. ‘Personally, it feels good to feel good. I’m ready to rediscover who I am at this age and reintroduce this new version of myself to the world.’
‘I’m just switching gears and, obviously, focusing on the girls and my family and friends and my work,’ she revealed, while adding she’s looking forward to upcoming events in the Hamptons and ‘new opportunities.’
Now, three weeks after making the life-changing decision, she’s urging other women to sign a prenup before they marry their significant others.
‘I’m obviously extremely disappointed, but it’s not something that just happened. This is something that was building up over time and the prenup was a big deal for me,’ Kelly, 56, told DailyMail.com exclusively at The Daily Front Row’s Most Stylish Party at Sunset Harbor in the Hamptons on July 13.
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Kelly Bensimon has no regrets after calling off her wedding to ex-fiancé Scott Litner just four days before the couple of two years was set to tie the knot due to his refusal to sign a prenup
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Kelly, 56, spoke to DailyMail.com exclusively about her advice to all women to get a prenup at The Daily Front Row’s Most Stylish Party at Sunset Harbor in the Hamptons on July 13
‘It’s like when you’re a single parent, whether you have thousands in your account or you have a 100 million in your account, women are going to need to protect themselves, and I’m just not going to take a risk,’ she added.
Ever since revealing her plans to cancel her wedding, the reality star said that the talk about the significant premarital agreement ‘opened a lot of doors.’
‘It’s about having personal respect and value, which I have. I’m raising two girls, who are really important to me. But the prenup is really important because it talks about more than just your own personal value.’
She continued, ‘I guess the biggest takeaway from this is just about protecting myself and my friends and being a solid female that people can come to. I’ve had so many people reach out to me and say, This happened to me…I just have so much empathy for them, and I try to be a solid sounding board for them.
‘It’s been really great. It’s been really helpful to me because I’ve met so many women who have gone through similar situations and just with my family and everyone talks about balance,’ she continued. ‘Balance is really important. You have to work hard, play hard, love hard and nurture hard.’
The real estate agent noticed that she’s ‘better off’ now as a single lady, and she described how she feels ‘much better’ and ‘looks much better.’ Friends even believe the tone in her voice is ‘so different.’
Kelly and Scott, who are both based in New York City, were set to walk down the aisle on June 29 in Boston in the backyard of the financier’s mother in front of friends and family.
Looking to the future, Kelly said you ‘put yourself at a disadvantage’ if you plan to get married without a prenup, as ‘every state has a different law’ when it comes to divorce, or even death, and ‘the law doesn’t care if he loved you so much.’
‘I’m not going to let my girls do it and I’m not going to do it,’ she insisted, referring to her two daughters — Sea, 26, and Teddy, 23 — whom she shares with her former husband, Gilles Bensimon.
Kelly was married to the famed photographer from 1997 to 2006.
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‘I’m obviously extremely disappointed, but it’s not something that just happened. This is something that was building up over time and the prenup was a big deal for me,’ Kelly explained; seen with ex-fiancé Scott Litner in October 2023 in NYC
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‘It’s like when you’re a single parent, whether you have thousands in your account or you have a 100 million in your account, women are going to need to protect themselves, and I’m just not going to take a risk,’ she added
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‘The biggest takeaway from this is just about protecting myself and my friends and being a solid female that people can come to,’ she said
The RHONY alumna has been grateful for all the support that she has received since calling off her summer wedding, especially from the other men in her life.
‘People always say you’re such a strong woman. I’m actually not a strong woman,’ she admitted. ‘I was just raised by a twin brother [Tom Killoren] and an amazing dad who had so much who gave me a lot of pride. And there’s a misconception of me on Housewives.
‘They’re like, ‘Oh, she’s a b****.’ I’m not a b**ch,’ she insisted. ‘I’m super honest and I have a strong sense of integrity, and I think in this day and age when we’re raising these girls in this tumultuous environment, it’s imperative that women really stick up for themselves and for each other. It’s more than just a prenup — more than that.’
Scott, who has been married twice and has children of his own, proposed to Kelly on a speedboat in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, over the Fourth of July weekend in 2023.
It was reported that soon after the proposal she began renting out her apartment in downtown Manhattan’s Police Building for $28,500 per month as she spent time living with her fiancé in a separate space.
Reflecting on the failed relationship, the Douglas Elliman broker believes she shouldn’t have moved in with Scott during their engagement.
‘My dad always says, ‘You’re giving milk away for free.’ So, if you want people to respect you, you don’t live with them. I don’t care if you need to save money, get a roommate,’ Kelly said.
‘Do not live with your partner before you get married unless you don’t want to really get married and you’re just together and you’re having a more unique relationship, not a traditional relationship. If you want to trust a relationship, do not live with him or her before you get married,’ she advised.
When asked why she feels that way, she replied, ‘Because things are different once you live with people. The stakes are different. Everything’s different when you’re actually married. Totally different.’
Kelly’s father, Thomas Killoren, passed away in August 2022. In an Instagram post shared at the time, the former model thanked her father for ‘instilling strong values and morals.’
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Looking to the future, Kelly said you ‘put yourself at a disadvantage’ if you plan to get married without a prenup, as ‘every state has a different law’ when it comes to divorce, or even death, and ‘the law doesn’t care if he loved you so much’
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‘I’m not going to let my girls do it and I’m not going to do it,’ she insisted, referring to her two daughters — Sea, 26, and Teddy, 23 — whom she shares with her former husband, Gilles Bensimon
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‘It’s been really helpful to me because I’ve met so many women who have gone through similar situations and just with my family and everyone talks about balance,’ she continued. ‘Balance is really important. You have to work hard, play hard, love hard and nurture hard’
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Kelly also urged men and women not to live with their partners before getting married — a mistake she said she and Scott made
Kelly is now back living in the Police Building, as Page Six reported, and she is focusing on her family, friends and work, plus taking on a new hobby: polo lessons.
Comparing her love life to her work life, she said, ‘In real estate, they always say time kills all deals. So, when you’re separated from people, clarity comes in, you go through all these different stages of loss — anger, sadness — but you have clarity and I deserve that.
‘If it’s not the best, don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if I’m 56 or if I’m 22. You know, I deserve the best.’
She concluded, ‘My dad always says too, ‘When you least expect it, someone’s going to be there.’ So, I’d rather be working on myself and caring for my friends and family and making sure they get the best of the best, and then that [future soulmate] is going to see a positive person and they’re going to want to be around that.’