Lisa Rinna shares what it would take to get her back on ‘Real Housewives’
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Los Angeles — Lisa Rinna said she would return to the “Real Housewives” franchise, but to get her husband Harry Hamlin on board, it would have to involve some big numbers.
“You guys are gonna laugh and think I’m ridiculous, but I was like, ‘I might do it for $5 million,’” Rinna explained. “He’s like, ‘No, 10. $10 million, you can go 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 “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It” author sat down with Times senior television writer Yvonne Villarreal to talk about Rinna’s journey from soap star to her rise on the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and her recent “The Traitors” fame.
Several of the biggest names at the L.A. Times Festival of Books stopped by our photo studio. View our curated gallery of portraits taken between panel discussions, book signings and speaking engagements.
As a “Real Housewife,” Rinna was known for her snappy comebacks and for sharing her candid emotions. Her memoir explores Rinna’s experience during Season 12, which was filmed shortly after the death of her mother, Lois Rinna. Rinna explained that her grief manifested into feelings of “rage.”
“Rage was the first emotion that came. I didn’t expect that. You know, you think you’re going to be in shock, and then you think you’re going to be really sad? Well, I went immediately into rage, and that’s not really very cute,” Rinna said. “But I think my being in grief triggered the housewives, and it triggered the audience.”
After Rinna’s time on “RHOBH,” she joined the cast of Season 4 of “The Traitors.” The show — loosely based on the game Mafia — selects celebrities to be faithfuls and traitors, and the faithful must attempt to discover the traitors. Wearing 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, ‘Self, listen. You’re gonna go in there and just be you. No Housewives s—, no, none of that reactionary stuff, no, you’re gonna just 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 deceive, I could backstab. Heaven.”
Rinna compared the objectives of “RHOBH” to “The Traitors” and the different strategies she had to employ on the franchises.
“‘Housewives’ is not a game. ‘Traitors’ is a game,” Rinna explained. “‘Housewives,’ you just tried to literally protect yourself from the drama and the toxicity. And it’s even though it’s a television show, it’s real. I mean, no one is writing a script for you. You’re dealing with interpersonal relationships and conflict.”
