Peacock Kyle Richards
A “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” newcomer made some observations about her co-stars in a new interview.
In 2021, Sheree Zampino joined the cast of the Bravo reality show as a “friend of” the main cast. The ex-wife of Will Smith is close friends with Garcelle Beauvais, but she has witnessed plenty of drama from the rest of the RHOBH cast, including Lisa Rinna, Erika Jayne, Dorit Kemsley, Sutton Stracke, Garcelle Beauvais, Crystal Kung Minkoff, and fellow newcomer Diana Jenkins.
In a new interview, Zampino addressed the aftermath of a controversial scene that showed Erika Jayne cursing at Beauvais’ 14-year-old son, Jax Nilon, and how Kyle Richards was caught laughing about it. Richards explained that she did not condone Erika’s language to the teen but that she was happy to see her loosen up after years of being closed off on-camera.
Zampino also weighed in on Richards’ involvement during a tense exchange between Sutton Stracke and Diana Jenkins this season.
Sheree Zampino Says RHOBH Doesn’t Need a Moderator
GettySheree Zampino of RHOBH.
In an August 1, 2022 interview on the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast, Zampino said Beauvais handled the situation with Erika “gracefully,” but when asked about Richards saying the incident was “funny but not funny,” she was not laughing.
“I don’t think any part of it was funny,” Zampino said. “It’s just not funny, period. You know, it’s just not funny at all. I don’t see the humor in it whatsoever.”
“You know what. I like Kyle, but sometimes I think Kyle needs to sit down somewhere,” Zampino added in the interview. “Just sit out somewhere and let, let this, I think because she’s an OG, she’s been on, I think every season, so she probably to some extent, to a large extent, I mean, she’s very connected to the show and she acts, you know, as, not the peacemaker — she’s not a peacemaker, I wouldn’t call her that. But she acts as the ….commentator?”
Yontef noted that some fans think the RHOBH veteran acts more like a producer than a star on the show.
“Yes,” Zampino agreed. “And sometimes like, there was a scene with Diana and Sutton. Why, why are you even here? I didn’t understand. I don’t think they needed that. Sometimes you need somebody to come in and be a moderator. And I mean, she’s got the experience, you know, she’s got the knowledge and the information, but it’s not always necessary. We don’t always need a moderator. You know? So I think she kind of sometimes is a lot.”
Of the RHOBH scene in which Richards interjected herself into a heated — and very personal –conversation between Stracke and Jenkins that had nothing to do with her, Zampino said, “Let me stop. We didn’t need her.”
“I think sometimes she might jump the gun, meaning if it’s not necessary to have a moderator yet, but then too, it’s reality,” she added. “Maybe the producers tell her to get in there. I don’t know. You know, and if that’s the case, then she’s being a team player and doing what she signed up to do. So I don’t know. I don’t know. But yeah, it just seemed like with that scene, she wasn’t, it wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t necessary.”
Kyle Richards Has Expressed Regret About Some of the Things She’s Said on RHOBH
BravoPictured: (l-r) Sutton Stracke, Kyle Richards, Garcelle Beauvais
Richards has been a main cast member on RHOBH since its debut in 2010. She has expressed regret for some of her past behavior on camera.
“I have a lot of regrets over the years, the way I reacted to certain things or handled certain things or even something that I said flippantly that I didn’t quite realize in the moment,” she told Goss.ie in July 2022.
“Without the cameras, sometimes we say things and you go, ‘Oh I didn’t mean that, what I mean is….” she added. “You don’t really get that luxury in reality television so there have been moments where I’m just like, ‘I’m never gonna shake that one.’ But you also learn a lot about yourself in doing a show like this. Like, ‘I wish I handled these things differently,’ or, ‘I don’t really like how I react to certain things,’ or ‘I need to work on that or myself.’”
Amid the rocky RHOBH season, the OG cast member has questioned if she will return for season 13.
“I always say, ‘I don’t know,’ and each season I think, ‘Well maybe I can do one more,'” Richards told E! News. “And sometimes I’m just like, ‘How can I keep doing this?’ especially when I get really upset, like this last season when we ended.”
Richards said she doesn’t know if she’ll return for RHOBH next season, telling the outlet, “I just take it day by day.”
READ NEXT: Kyle Richards Explains Reaction to Sutton Stracke’s Miscarriage Story