Toronto Star
Most "real" of the Housewives; Kyle Richards says she and wealthy castmates have problems just like everyone else
Fake air kisses and augmented cleavage. Big jewellery, tiny pampered pooches and really expensive real estate.
The sixth instalment of the alleged Real Housewives reality series, featuring the idyllic lives of Beverly Hills' idle rich, gets its Canadian premiere on Slice at 10 p.m. on April 5.
The series, which aired in the U.S. between October and February, features conspicuous consumption, sibling rivalry, marital discord - Camille Donatacci lost her hubbie of 14 years, actor Kelsey Grammer, during filming - and cat fights. Lotsa cat fights.
It has also become the highest rated to date, besting previously featured "housewives" from Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. (Miami is next on the block.)
Kyle Richards, sister of child star Kim Richards and aunt to Paris Hilton, is not the least surprised.
"Beverly Hills is a brand in itself. People have had a long fascination with Beverly Hills, how it's portrayed in movies and books, and Beverly Hills 90210, the show. So it kind of piqued their curiosity," said Richards, who had a minor TV acting career and whose husband sells high-end real estate.
"And then once they tuned in - I think we had 4.5 million viewers (by the end) - people found us to be real people with real problems. No matter where you live or what zip code you have or what kind of car you drive, they see we have the same problems as everybody else," Richards said.
"I really think that people were expecting the Beverly Hill housewives to be the least real of all the housewives. And they found them to be the most real," she added.
Besides Kyle and Kim Richards - best remembered for roles in the 1970s TV series Nanny and the Professor, and two Disney Witch Mountain movies - there's Adrienne Maloof, whose family owns the Sacramento Kings and whose husband is a prominent cosmetic surgeon; Lisa Vanderpump, an expat Brit who, along with husband Ken Todd, owns 26 restaurants; Taylor Armstrong, president of body care company Four Truffles and chief creative director of BeautyTicket.com; and finally, the ex-Mrs. Grammer.
The Richards' sister Kathy is mother of socialite heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton.
The series was more difficult to make than expected, Richards insisted.
"If anyone would have said to me, 'Oh it's hard doing a reality show,' I think I would have laughed in their face. Now that I've gone through this, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how hard this is.' There are no words to describe how challenging, how anxiety-provoking and stressful it can be. There are many fun times too, I have to say," Richards said.
"But there was a lot of drama involved in it and that's difficult, and you want the cameras to go away and they just don't leave when you don't want them there. Anything that you really don't want to show, that's going to be the first thing that goes in the show," she added.
As for regrets, she has a few, particularly over clashes with Kim and with Grammer.
But no apologies.
"We're reflective of where we are. We are who we are, where we live. And like I said, we all have problems ... real-life problems just like everybody else. Yes, we are privileged and that is a concern I had going into doing a show like this during such trying times with the economy. Everyone is affected, no matter what, on some level. Also, when you do have more, it's your job during these times to give back more."