Bethenny Frankel (born November 4, 1970) is an American reality TV personality, author, entrepreneur, and natural foods chef. She was a contestant on the 2005 series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart and one of the original five "housewives" featured on the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City. She was the subject of the shows Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After and founded the company Skinnygirl Cocktails.

Frankel is the only child of Robert J. Frankel and Bernadette Burke. Frankel is Jewish; her father was Jewish and her mother converted to Judaism. Frankel attended The Wheatley School on Long Island before moving to Florida. Frankel graduated from the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute in New York. She also attended New York University and Boston University.

Frankel began her TV and film career with appearances in the 1993 short film, Soiree Sans Hors D'oeuvres, the 1994 movie Hollywood Hills 90028, and the 1995 movie Wish Me Luck. She also worked as a production assistant for Saved by the Bell.^{[citation needed]} Upon graduation from the Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute she formed a natural foods bakery and delivery service called BethennyBakes.

Martha Stewart (née Kostyra; August 3, 1941) is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising, and electronic commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, is the publisher of the Martha Stewart Living magazine, and her syndicated talk show, Martha, is broadcast throughout the world.

In 2004, Stewart was entangled in the ImClone insider trading affair and there was speculation that the incident would effectively be the end of her media empire. She began a comeback campaign in 2005 and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairman of her namesake company again in 2012.

Martha Stewart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to middle-class Polish American parents, Edward "Eddie" Kostyra (c. 1912 – 1979) and Jadwiga Martha Ruszkowski Kostyra (b. September 16, 1914, Buffalo, New York – d. November 16, 2007, Norwalk, Connecticut). She lived in Jersey City until the age of 3, when her family moved to Nutley. She was raised in Nutley along with her five siblings. She took the name "Grace" for her confirmation name before graduating from Nutley High School.

Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today. She currently contributes to Dateline NBC and Rock Center with Brian Williams, and hosts the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, having replaced Regis Philbin in 2002. She also presented Intimate Portrait, a series on Lifetime.

Meredith Vieira was born in East Providence, Rhode Island, to Mary Louisa Elsie Rosa Silveira Vieira (née Costa) (October 28, 1904 – November 5, 2004) and Dr. Edwin Vieira (May 15, 1904 – February 1987), both first-generation Portuguese Americans. She is the youngest of four children, with three older brothers. All four of Vieira’s grandparents came from the Azores — three from Faial Island, one of the nine islands in the archipelago. They all left for a better life in New England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, settling around Providence, Rhode Island. Vieira was reared in the Catholic faith, but has stated in recent interviews that she has "spirituality, not a religion."