TODAY
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast members Adrienne Maloof, Kyle Richards and Lisa Vanderpump along with producer Douglas Ross talk about the tragic death of Taylor Armstrong's estranged husband, Russell.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, co-host: Back now at 8:10 with tonight's much anticipated premiere of a new season on the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," a reality show known for peeling back the curtain on the lives of the privileged class.
(Clip from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills")
But of course, this season Housewives have a very real tragedy to deal with. Just three weeks ago the estranged husband of a cast member, Taylor Armstrong, took his own life. And we're joined now by three of the housewives of Beverly Hills, Adrienne Maloof, Kyle Richards and Lisa Vanderpump, along with Douglas Ross who's the show's executive producer. Good morning to all of you.
Ms. LISA VANDERPUMP ("The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"): Good morning.
Mr. DOUGLAS ROSS (Executive Producer, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"): Good morning.
Ms. ADRIENNE MALOOF ("The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"): Good morning.
GUTHRIE: As we just saw from the clip, normally, this is a show that's in good fun.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Yeah.
GUTHRIE: Maybe high drama.
Ms. MALOOF: Yeah.
GUTHRIE: But it has a lightness to it.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: And yet this tragedy has befallen a fellow cast member. Adrienne, I'll start with you.
Ms. MALOOF: Mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: Have you talked to Taylor, and how is she doing?
Ms. MALOOF: I actually did speak to her at the wake. And as to be expected, she was very beside herself. Obviously going through such a tragic. And I think her concern is her little girl right now. And so it's heartbreaking.
GUTHRIE: I know all of you have reached out to her, Lisa.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: We've spent a couple of evenings with her this week.
Ms. KYLE RICHARDS ("The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"): Yeah.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: And she's just trying to kind of digest everything. We've tried to be as supportive as possible, but her priority is her little girl. It's been very, very, very sad, very difficult.
GUTHRIE: You know, there were the seeds of problems in their marriage that were visible...
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: ...in last season between Taylor and her husband Russell. But, Kyle, I mean, did this come as a complete shock to all of you?
Ms. RICHARDS: Absolutely. It came as a complete shock to us. You know, I always saw him as being reserved and quiet. I knew that they had their issues, but no one could have ever anticipated something like this.
GUTHRIE: Well, Doug, obviously shooting has wrapped up. And tonight the show goes forward. Did the producers ever consider just not having the show continue because of this tragedy?
Mr. ROSS: When we heard about the tragedy, of course, our hearts went out to Taylor and all of our thoughts to support her. But we along with the network took a hard look at the show and looked at it very thoroughly and we decided to make some adjustments where appropriate in light of the circumstances. Our goal has always been to make an honest and accurate story about the ladies and what goes on in their life and we wanted to be and we always are respectful and responsible, and in this case, trying to be very appropriate to the situation.
GUTHRIE: Well, that had me wondering because I know you have made adjustments. I know that you ladies have taped an interview that's going to run prior to tonight's premiere.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Yes, mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: But, I mean, how do you adjust the storyline, as it were? Are you taking Russell Armstrong out of the story? Are you trying to deal with these issues more sensitively? I mean, how do you adjust?
Mr. ROSS: We try to deal with the issue sensitively across the board in any case. And in the first few episodes that we've completed editing, Russell is not included in those episodes. But it is important to note that Taylor's story is told throughout the season.
GUTHRIE: Ladies, I have to ask you, I mean, obviously, in these shows a premium is put on drama and some of that emotional intensity.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: Are you asking yourselves whether this show had anything to do with ratcheting up the pressure?
Ms. VANDERPUMP: No.
Ms. MALOOF: No.
Ms. RICHARDS: Absolutely not.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: No. I think that we lead and they follow.
GUTHRIE: Mm-hmm.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: We kind of create and they document. I don't think the show's any way--I've never felt any responsibility to bring drama.
GUTHRIE: Mm-hmm.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: I think if you follow the lives of six people over a year, and we've all had some major issues in the last year and a half, and they just tell the accurate story.
Ms. RICHARDS: Yeah.
Ms. MALOOF: It's basically documenting our lives.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Mm-hmm.
Ms. MALOOF: And it's reality television and it's very real.
GUTHRIE: And, Kyle, you don't think it added some kind of extra element of pressure because, according to reports, Russell knew that his marriage, his marriage that was falling apart, was going to be a key part of the next season.
Ms. RICHARDS: True, but he also signed up for this season one. And came back for season two.
GUTHRIE: Mm-hmm.
Ms. RICHARDS: You know, when they--when we started this show, they cast six strong women. And they didn't really know anything about our story, you know. And we didn't know in season one that Kelsey was going to leave Camille.
GUTHRIE: Mm-hmm.
Ms. RICHARDS: Or the issues between my sister and me. And we certainly didn't know the troubles that he had.
Ms. MALOOF: No.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: No way.
GUTHRIE: Did you ever think for a moment maybe we shouldn't have this season go forward?
Ms. RICHARDS: No.
Ms. MALOOF: I think we all had to reflect at some point.
Ms. RICHARDS: Yeah.
Ms. MALOOF: But then it would really be sweeping suicide under the--under the rug. And that's what I think we didn't want to do. We wanted to bring it to the forefront to discuss it.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Doug, you said?
GUTHRIE: What were you going to say?
Mr. ROSS: And this show is about six strong aggressive, successful, beautiful women and their stories. And although Taylor and Russell's story is a part of it...
Ms. RICHARDS: Mm-hmm.
Mr. ROSS: ...it's not the whole show.
RICHARDS: Mm-hmm.
Mr. ROSS: But we did want to address it appropriately. And that's why in tonight's episode we gathered the entire cast together to sit down and reflect and talk about their feelings of sadness and grief and try to put the entire season that we shot six months ago into perspective.
GUTHRIE: Well, setting aside this terrible tragedy with Russell, I mean, I think a lot of people who watch these shows and enjoy these shows also ask themselves, why do you do it? What's it--because it really does shine a light on the good and the bad.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Yes.
Ms. MALOOF: Right.
GUTHRIE: What's the appeal?
Ms. RICHARDS: There are a lot of fun moments, too, though.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Yeah.
Ms. MALOOF: Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm.
GUTHRIE: Yeah.
Ms. RICHARDS: There really are. We, you know, there's times of course, we have our moments that we may not get along all the time but we also have a lot of fun together, traveling together.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Yeah, incredible opportunities as well.
Ms. RICHARDS: Absolutely.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: And give you a chance to support the charities and things...
Ms. MALOOF: And I think....
Ms. VANDERPUMP: ...and be, you know, spokesperson like that.
GUTHRIE: Platform.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Platforms, and draw attention to things. And yeah, it's been very--I mean, very difficult lately, but it's been amazing.
Ms. MALOOF: I also believe that this cast also supports each other and a little bit more uplifting and empowering to each other, so there's that, too.
GUTHRIE: Well, we have--we'll be watching tonight. Adrienne Maloof, Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump and Doug Ross, I think we're going to see you tomorrow, actually.
Ms. RICHARDS: Thank you.
GUTHRIE: And we want to remind our viewers, they can see the season premiere of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" tonight at 9, 8 Central time on our cable sister network Bravo. And as I mentioned the ladies will be back with us tomorrow to talk about the reaction to tonight's show. Thank you.
Ms. MALOOF: Thank you so much.
Ms. RICHARDS: Thank you.
Ms. VANDERPUMP: Thank you, thank you so much.
Mr. ROSS: Thank you.
GUTHRIE: And we will be back right after this.
Ms. MALOOF: Thank you.