TV Guide
A Day Out With The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
If we've learned anything from the ladies of 90210 — now in Season 2 of their hit show — it's that emotional baggage isn't any easier to lug around when it has Louis Vuitton's initials monogrammed all over it. Yes, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills may have 15,000-square-foot homes and blinding rocks — but they're also rich in drama. We met up with Camille Grammer, Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle Richards at NYC pizzeria Lombardi's — for the record, they can put away some pie — to find out how they're faring in their gilded fishbowl. [Editors note: This interview was conducted prior to the suicide of cast member Russell Armstrong.]
TV Guide Magazine: This season, you and the other gals — Taylor Armstrong, Adrienne Maloof and Kim Richards — were joined by two newcomers, Brandi Glanville and Dana Wilkey. First impressions?
Camille: Dana came on really strong... Like she wanted to be everybody's best friend.
Lisa: She wasn't even on my radar. She was just buzzing around like an annoying little fly.
Kyle: Brandi came in, and I thought she was attacking my sister [Kim] with a comment she made — a bold-faced lie — so I attacked right back. She's not my cup of tea, let's just say...
TV Guide Magazine: Camille, did you relate to Brandi, considering she had such a rough public split from Eddie Cibrian?
Camille: I wanted to. When I first met her at Adrienne's house, I empathized because I was going through it myself. But we handle things differently.
TV Guide Magazine: Let's face it, the breakout star of the show has been Lisa's Pomeranian, Giggy.
Lisa: He has 35,000 followers on Twitter.
Camille: He's got more followers than I do!
TV Guide Magazine: Kyle, last season you accused Kim of being an alcoholic. Do you stand by everything that was said?
Kyle: Yes.
TV Guide Magazine: What happened afterward?
Kyle: My sister and I didn't talk for two months. Once we started speaking again, it was very gradual: one step forward, two steps back.
TV Guide Magazine: Have you always had issues?
Kyle: When we were little, she was my hero. I would see her in movies [like Escape From Witch Mountain] and I believed she really had magical powers. But when we'd have fights, they were intense. We would bite, scratch, pull hair... That's what I wanted to do [in that limo]!
TV Guide Magazine: Camille, do you feel like you're more yourself this season?
Camille: Oh, absolutely. I'm not trying to hide what was really happening behind the scenes. In Season 1, I also felt this weird pressure, like, "I have to act a certain way because this is Beverly Hills." I think Taylor and I both bought into that.
TV Guide Magazine: Do you believe that there is a Housewives marriage curse? There have been so many breakups...
Kyle: I think some people go into doing a show like this thinking, "This will be my out." You know what I mean? Like, "This is my next act — some independence."
Lisa: If you've got a solid marriage, that comes across. If there are cracks in it, it will fall apart [in the spotlight].
TV Guide Magazine: Clearly, none of you need this gig for the money, so why bother?
Lisa: Look at the things we've done! Two years ago, nobody was saying to me, "Write a book." I have a shoe [the Vanderpump] named after me!
Kyle: For me, as an actress, I always hated going on auditions. Now they send me the scripts and say, "Which episode do you want?"
TV Guide Magazine: Do you want to continue having your lives documented like this?
Camille: We don't know.
Kyle: I think everybody's a flight risk on a daily basis on this show.
TV Guide Magazine: Gotta ask: What's up with your dinner parties from hell? Are they as bad as they look?
Lisa: Worse!
Camille: It's terrible — your emotions get the best of you, and you say things that you would never say.
Lisa: Most people are guilty of that in an argument, aren't they?
Camille: But they're not on camera.
Lisa: You're right, you know — why do we do this? Get me out of here!
Kyle: Check, please!