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In her newly released memoir, You Better Believe I’m Going To Talk About It, Lisa Rinna sets her sights on former co-stars Garcelle Beauvais and Denise Richards. Known for her candid nature, Rinna pulls no punches as she delves into her experiences on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
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Amid addressing rumors surrounding her husband Harry Hamlin’s sexuality—insisting he’s not gay—the 62-year-old reality TV alum doesn’t shy away from accusing Garcelle, 59, and Denise, 55, of joining the show with ulterior motives. She also brands them, along with Sutton Stracke, 54, as “full-blown narcissists.” Throughout the memoir, Rinna provides updates on her current standing with her former castmates and more.
In a particularly revealing passage, Rinna reflects on her dynamic with Garcelle, writing, “[Garcelle] came onto the show with an agenda. We mixed like oil and water, and she was firmly on Denise’s side.”
Lisa Rinna humorously dubs herself “the Narcissist Hunter of Beverly Hills,” asserting her talent in identifying such personalities. Her memoir promises a no-holds-barred look at her time on the show, offering fans insights into the drama behind the scenes.
According to Lisa, she was “the Narcissist Hunter of Beverly Hills” because she was “really good at sussing them out.”
“All those women are full-blown narcissists. I’m talking Garcelle, Sutton, and Denise,” she stated. “I was always called a bad friend because I didn’t support these newbies when they first came on the show. But, it was because I found out they were bad dudes. They put on a good show, but on a fundamental level we just did not vibe at all.”
Although Lisa described Denise’s first season with the show, season nine, as “uneventful,” she recalled her ex-co-star entering her sophomore year “on a rampage.”
“I noticed right away she wasn’t being buddy-buddy with me. Maybe she knew she didn’t make much of an impression on her first season? Maybe producers told her she needed to step it up?” she wondered. “Who knows, but that’s when she came at Garcelle, [Erika Jayne], [Kyle Richards], [Dorit Kemsley], and me at her backyard barbecue, saying we were talking about threesomes in front of her kids. She’ll never cop to this, but Denise came in with an agenda, and it pissed me off. I thought it was shady.”
“I realized my relationship with Denise was superficial … When I turned on her after the barbecue fiasco, she gaslit me to no end,” she added.
After confirming that she no longer speaks to Garcelle, describing her as a “huge disappointment,” Lisa said she and Denise briefly reconciled after a close mutual friend of theirs passed away.
“We actually got on a call together, and it was a hopeful moment. Then a couple of days later, we got into it again about something stupid. She took my olive branch and stuck it back in my eye. I haven’t communicated with her since. You’d have to ask her why she would do such a thing. My hypothesis is that she’ll never get over the ‘Oof, you’re so angry,’ comment,” she noted.
Three years after her exit from RHOBH, Lisa isn’t so much as considering a return.
“That is out of the question. I’m done with that,” Lisa told Us Weekly on February 24. “I moved on from that chapter in my life, but it did heal me.”
“I probably should have gone a little sooner. You can always look back and be like, ‘I probably should have gone a year later, a year earlier.’ But no, it happens the way it happens,” she explained. “Your path unfolds the way it’s supposed to. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m grateful for every experience that I’ve had, because doing Housewives made me who I am today.”
After noting that she “made great friends” on the show, saying that they “trauma-bonded” and “had a blast a lot of the time, until we didn’t,” Lisa moved on to her current relationships with her former co-stars.
“I had a fake relationship with [Lisa Vanderpump] then, and I have no relationship with her now,” Lisa revealed to Us Weekly, sharing in her book that their dynamic was “complicated.”
Also in her book, Lisa said her relationship with Kyle was “complicated.”
“Kyle and I have had our ups and downs, but we always end up on our feet. I love Kyle. She’s smart. Very loyal. She has great empathy and cares for people. She’s a great mother. She’s really funny and witty. Kyle is one of the most enjoyable people to spend time with,” she shared.
Lisa also had good things to say about Dorit, 49, confirming that after going “through it,” they’re “good,” and adding that she’s kept in touch with Erika, 54, Eileen Davidson, 66, Diana Jenkins, 53, and Teddi Mellencamp, 44.
“We don’t get to see each other all the time, but she is very special to me,” Lisa said of the latter.
She also “reached out” and “apologized” to Yolanda Hadid, 62, who “accepted” her “I’m sorry” following their Munchausen drama, “made up privately” with Kathy Hilton, 66, and got on good terms with Brandi Glanville, 53.
“We had a horribly tumultuous time, it was not good on any level. But we’ve reconnected over the years in a way that I would have never expected, and we’re friendly now,” she wrote. “Brandi made a real effort to reconnect with me … [And] she reaches out to me quite a bit — I’m happy to talk to her.”
As for who she doesn’t “care to” speak to or about, those honors go to Sutton and Kim Richards, 61.
“I don’t really like to talk about Kim. It’s just not necessary,” she stated.
During another chapter of her book, Lisa addressed gay rumors about Harry, whom she married in 1997 and shares daughters Delilah Belle Hamlin, 27, and Amelia Gray Hamlin, 24, with.
“When you’re a good-looking man in Hollywood with a good sense of style, that adds up to ‘Is he gay?’ Let’s just clear this up one last time, once and for all: Harry’s heterosexual,” Lisa declared. “He is not a gay man in any way, shape, or form, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I had actually never heard those rumors until Housewives. I just figured b*tches will say anything to get my hackles up, so it never concerned me. My reaction was always more, ‘Why you mad, boo?’ Besides, every husband’s sexuality was questioned at some point on that show.”
According to Lisa, Harry’s sexuality was questioned after he played a gay man in the 1982 film Making Love.
“Mainstream films about gay men are still rare today, but back then it was unheard of,” she wrote. “It had never been done. It was way before its time.”
Applauding Harry for making a brave decision, Lisa revealed “it bit him in the a**,” sharing that he “was blacklisted for several years afterward.”
As for the status of their marriage, Lisa said she and Harry “have a great amount of trust.”
“I don’t ever worry about Harry. I am not jealous. he’s not jealous … I would be shocked if I found out he was having an affair,” she admitted.