Dennis Shields, the on-off boyfriend of US reality star Bethenny Frankel, has been found dead in New York’s Trump Tower.
The cause of the 51-year-old’s death remains under investigation but an NYPD spokesperson stated it was being investigated as a “possible overdose”.
The New York Post and TMZ report that the banker had asked his PA to inject him with the emergency medication Narcan on Friday morning, believing he was overdosing on prescription pills.
The father of four, was the CEO of litigation-funding firm LawCash and had been dating ‘Real Housewife’ Bethenny on and off since 2016. They had been close friends for 30 years.
He made frequent appearances on ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’, on which Frankel stars.
It’s unclear whether he and Frankel were currently romantically involved, but Shields did appear on an April episode of the long-running reality TV show.
His ex-wife Jill Schwartzberg said in a statement: “Dennis was, and will always be, the love of my life. His spirit lives on in our children. Please respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
In May, Bethenny admitted that her relationship with Shields was complicated.
“I’ve been with someone on and off for years,” she said.
“We’re trying to really kind of be good partners and be good teammates and I think relationships oddly are — and this sounds cold — but a little bit like business.
“It’s like a partnership where if we’re not being teammates and it’s not working and one man is down, then the other man is down.”