Bethenny Frankel is used to baring her soul for the cameras on the Real Housewives of New York City. Now, Bravo’s resident smartmouth—and the head of a growing healthy lifestyle empire that includes “Skinnygirl” cocktail mixes and a NYT bestselling book—is baring her flesh, too, in PETA’s latest “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” ad campaign. TV Guide Magazine stopped by the racy photo shoot on a Manhattan rooftop to get the skinny from her.

You’re brave! How does it feel to take it all off?
Oh, I’m really excited. I think it’s a really amazing cause. It’s very simple to say to people, “You get to make a choice, and you can choose not to wear fur. It’s such a frivolous thing to do, and I used to do it. I wasn’t a crazy fur-wearer, certainly—I couldn’t afford it and I’m not that outlandish—but it really is so superfluous.

Any insecurities about being in the buff?
I don’t know why that part doesn’t bother me that much…it’s like, everybody has a body, everyone’s naked, I have the biggest pimple on my face right now and I don’t even care that much. I’m not a supermodel—no one’s expecting me to be stunning. I read the blogs—people say, “You’re the Corpse Bride, you’re too skinny, you’re this, you’re that.” It’s all good. I’ve always had a thick skin. I think it’s a light-hearted, fun thing for a great cause.

How’d you get involved with PETA, anyway?
I’m a huge animal lover, so it’s been a very organic process. I’m not on the top of any soapbox, but I think this is just a really interesting thing, and they came to me. They [noticed] that I’d gotten a lot of exposure lately—pun intended, because that’s nothing like the exposure I’m getting today. I guess they trust that I’ll be able to carry the message.

Do you have any pets of your own?
I have a dog, Cookie—she’s a lhasa mix, a mutt. I took a picture of her [and added a caption] that said “I’d rather wear fur than go naked,” so she’s in on it.

Your book, Naturally Thin, has been a big hit. Does that mean that people are constantly checking out what you’re eating?
Yes! I had a bowl of pasta, and it showed up on blogs. But my entire mantra is that there’s no food that’s forbidden; taste everything, eat nothing. And people have been watching me eat a lot more lately because for 52 weeks, I’m doing a food crawl for my Twitter followers. Last Monday was the lobster roll crawl, this week it’s a gelato crawl, next week it’s a French fry call. I’m going to be at McDonald’s!

What’s your take on the current season of your sister show, the Real Housewives of Atlanta?
I call it the Real Housewivez [sic] of the Hood. They’re all very much into, “Are you a gangster, are you a hood”…asking [questions] about whether you came from money or didn’t come from money. I don’t think anybody’s confusing them from being in the Great Gatsby…and who cares anyway? I think on the first season, they all wanted to prove how wealthy they are, and how they have a staff and stylists. There are two events a year in Atlanta—I don’t know why they need stylists, assistants and hair people. And this season, I think they’re trying to go backwards a little and be like, “This is where I came from.” They’re having a financial identity crisis.

Is that your favorite of the other Housewives franchises?
Atlanta’s my favorite…my show included. It is! I think it’s great. Kim is like Jessica Rabbit on crack…I can’t stop watching her. She doesn’t edit herself, and I find her an absolute caricature—trash-tastic.

Any Wives you don’t particularly care for?
My least favorite housewife is Teresa [from New Jersey]. I find her to be whiny and unintelligent—and over-exaggerating with the table flip. I really don’t think she would have done that if there were no cameras, and I don’t like when things aren’t completely authentic. And I find Lisa [from Atlanta] to be boring and trying to be perfect—it’s all diluted and very uninteresting to me.

So you’re just beginning to film Season 3 of your show…did you keep in touch with any of the other cast members during the down-time?
I keep in touch with Jill, and I’ve touched base with LuAnn because [of her separation], just to be like, “How you doing?” I’ve kept in touch with Ramona the same way. I don’t keep in touch with Alex and Simon—I don’t particularly care for them. We’re not all best friends by any stretch of the imagination.

And what about Kelly, your nemesis?
I saw Kelly—she came to my Skinnygirl margarita party in Montauk. She was photographed and left immediately afterwards. It was very perplexing.

Do you expect you’ll get into it again with her?
It’s funny, because I didn’t really [feel I got] into it with her before. I just asked her a couple of questions and then looked quizzically into her face. It was a very quiet throwdown, because there wasn’t that much conversation. If I interact with her, will the audience be shocked at how on a different planet she is? Very, very possibly. You never know what’s going to happen when I have a conversation with her, because she may not even know we were having a conversation.

You called her part of the fabulosity crowd. With all your success, aren’t you in that now, too?
If I became the most famous person in the entire world, I still don’t think I’d be part of the fabulosity crowd. That’s not my goal. I buy my clothes on eBay. I care about the season’s food, I don’t care about the season’s clothes. I really hate socialites. I don’t kiss anybody’s ass. It’s very important to Kelly to be surrounded by the right people. My closest friends are my assistants and my boyfriend…this is who I hang out with. I’m not going to fashion shows unless I know somebody there. It’s stupid. Why would I go there? Kelly’s not really in fashion, either. She sort of likes to pretend that she is, but she’s not. Rachel Zoe needs to be in the front row—Kelly doesn’t. Kelly just likes to say that she worked in fashion because she’s had every job in the world for one year.