Photo by: Nicole Weingart/Bravo Pictured: Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle Richards
Once upon a time, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Kyle Richards and Lisa Vanderpump used to be best friends. The two traveled, gossiped, and lunched together, but it didn’t last forever.
The two had a falling out during season 9 of the reality show franchise. Vanderpump was struggling with the sudden loss of her brother, and her friendship with Richards began to crumble. Fellow cast member Dorit Kemsley adopted a dog from Vanderpump’s Vanderpump Dog Center, but the dog wasn’t a fit with her family, so they decided to give it away to another family.
When the story got leaked to a news outlet, many of the cast members thought Vanderpump had something to do with it. Richards and Vanderpump’s friendship came to a screeching halt when Richards confronted Vanderpump in her home and accused her of leaking the story. Since then, the two have not reconciled, and it looks like they won’t be doing so anytime soon.
Author Anna Peele wrote an in-depth story on Bravo for Vulture where she talked to various Bravo personalities. She chatted with Richards, but one of Richards’ quotes didn’t make it into the piece. “Kyle Richards said of Lisa Vanderpump, ‘she was kind of like the villain, and people didn’t realize for so long,'” Peele tweeted on April 14.
Vanderpump Recently Spoke Not so Fondly of Richards
Richards isn’t the only one playing with fire. Vanderpump appeared on an episode of The Bellas Podcast in February where she discussed her disappointment with Richards.
“I guess if somebody doubts you when you’re swearing on your children’s life, that’s not an authentic friendship,” Vanderpump said of Richards. “If somebody kind of enjoys your demise, or they don’t make you feel good about yourself, that’s not somebody [you] need around.”
But Richards hasn’t totally closed the door on Vanderpump. “I think there’s always room to repair any friendship,” Richards told Us Weekly last May. “Any time you’ve cared about someone and shared a lot with them, I think there’s always room for that. But, you know, it has to be a two-way street.”
Both Stars Have Admitted to Occasionally Running Into Each Other
Deep down, Beverly Hills is a small town. “I seem to run into Kyle a few times,” Vanderpump revealed on Dear Media’s The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast in January.
“She always runs up to me and she always goes, ‘Hi, how are you?’ And I go, ‘Good,’” she said on the podcast. “But I think when somebody doesn’t have good intention for you, where does that leave a friendship? I want friends around me that have good intention for me.”
Richards also confessed to running into her ex-bff. Prior to season 10 of RHOBH aired, Richards discussed how she felt starting a new season without Vanderpump for the first time. When asked if they’ve run into one another, Richards echoed Vanderpump’s explanation.
“I bumped into her again,” Richards revealed on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in April 2020. “I’ve seen her twice in Neiman Marcus. The second time I saw her she didn’t see me and I sort of hid to be honest.”
She added, “But this last time I saw her at a restaurant and I was passing her table and they sat us right next to each other. And I said to the hostess, ‘Really? Really?’ So I said hello and, to be honest, she was short.”
Richards explained that Vanderpump’s husband Ken Todd also confronted her. “And then Ken came up after and I stood up and I gave him a hug,” she told Cohen. “And he said, ‘Why are you giving me a hug? I kicked you out of our home.’ And I said, ‘I can still give you a hug, Ken.’ Because I do care about them. But that was the last time I saw them. And I haven’t seen them since or heard from them.”
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