Los Angeles- Lisa Rinna said she would return to the “Real Housewives” franchise, but for her husband Harry Hamlin to join, it would have to involve big numbers.
“You guys are going to laugh and think I'm ridiculous, but I thought, 'I could do it for $5 million,'” Rinna explained. “He says, 'No, 10. $10 million, you can come back.'”
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum wasn't afraid to throw shade on a sunny Saturday morning during her panel at the Times Festival of Books.
The author of “You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It” sat down with Times senior television writer Yvonne Villarreal to talk about Rinna's journey from soap star to her rise on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” to her recent fame on “The Traitors.”
As a “real housewife,” Rinna was known for her snappy responses and sharing her candid emotions. Her memoir explores Rinna's experience during season 12, which filmed shortly after the death of her mother, Lois Rinna. Rinna explained that her pain manifested itself in feelings of “anger.”
“Anger was the first emotion that came up. I wasn't expecting that. You know, you think you're going to be shocked and then you think you're going to be really sad? Well, I immediately went into anger, and that's actually not very nice,” Rinna said. “But I think my pain triggered the housewives and the audience.”
After Rinna's time on “RHOBH,” she joined the season 4 cast of “The Traitors.” The show, loosely based on the game Mafia, selects celebrities to be loyalists and traitors, and the loyalists must try to uncover the traitors. With outfits like her viral cheetah-print ensemble, Rinna skyrocketed to fan-favorite status during her tenure as a traitor.
“So when I decided to do 'Traitors,' I was like, 'Yo, listen. You're going to come in and just be you. No housewives, no, none of that reactionary stuff, no, you're just going to be you,'” Rinna said.
She also joked that being a traitor was the “highlight” of her year: “I could kill people, I could lie, I could cheat, I could stab people in the back. Heaven.”
Rinna compared the goals of “RHOBH” to those of “The Traitors” and the different strategies she had to employ in the franchises.
“'Housewives' is not a game. 'Traitors' is a game,” Rinna explained. “'Housewives,' you just literally tried to protect yourself from the drama and the toxicity. And even though it's a TV show, it's real. I mean, no one is writing a script for you. You're dealing with interpersonal relationships and conflict.”
