The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills may be a modern day soap opera, but Eileen Davidson is still kicking it old school as her long-running alter-ego of Ashley Abbott on The Young & The Restless. So, when Eileen gifted Erika Girardi a chance to appear on Y&R this year, she was both excited and nervous about how Erika would fare in a scripted capacity.
The verdict? Eileen loved it! She loved Erika’s performance so much, in fact, that she’s urging Y&R writers to get Erika more material. She says, “After I saw [the episode] air, I was on the phone, ‘Come on you guys, write her something again. It would be so much fun.'”
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Everything turned out alright in the end, but Eileen does admit she was initially a bit freaked out about Erika’s Y&R audition. That second-hand nervousness extended all the way through Erika’s actual appearance on the show.
Eileen tells Bravo’s Daily Dish that “having Erika on the show was a little stressful just because, I had every confidence in her, but nobody else really did, because they didn’t know what I felt. At the 11th hour, I was like, ‘Ooh, I’m sure she’s gonna do well, but what if she doesn’t? This is gonna be really bad.'” However, Eileen didn’t have to worry because Erika apparently “nailed it, like one take.”
In her Y&R cameo, Erika played the role of Farrah Dubose, a real estate agent who gets into “a little drama” with Ashley Abbott after spilling coffee all over her. (It’s like wine in the face, sans an ACTUAL crazy person throwing it!)
“We actually had a lot of fun with it because it had a little bit of that cattiness and then we make up,” says Eileen. “I thought it was a great choice of dialogue, too. [Saying], ‘what a bitch’ at the end of that was so much fun.” Bonus: Because of Erika’s acting chops, the writers even gave her a bit more to do than Eileen was initially expecting.
Though some might suspect that Eileen’s gesture of goodwill in gifting Erika with a Y&R role had dubious motivations (alliance building, anyone?), Eileen says she just thought Erika would be a natural fit. “I thought that Erika would be a great fit for The Young and the Restless because she was a soap opera fan. She shared that with me last year when I brought her to set just to visit. And she was very excited just about being there and witnessing the whole process.”
RELATED: Erika Girardi Wants The Sobriety Drama To Be Over
Eileen continues, “I think the fact that Erika is a performer certainly helped. But what she does has absolutely no correlation to my show, except for the fact that she’s got a great presence and a fantastic personality.”
More than happy to have Erika visit her world, Eileen confesses that she’s not so sure about making a cameo in Erika Jayne‘s Pat The Puss Universe – should the invitation be extended.
Eileen admits, “This is why Erika having me in one of her music videos is terrifying. I’m the kind of person that would probably have to say yes just because I wouldn’t want to not have that experience. But that experience could be absolutely horrible. Let’s face it, I kind of don’t want it to happen, but a weird part of me does. I don’t know. It’s a nightmare.”
Hmm, but a nightmare that has major comedic value built in, no? I mean, we all saw Eileen’s spastic dance moves on the set of the XXpen$ive video. Please, Erika, if you like us at all – make this happen!
Tonight is an all new episode of RHOBH. “As the women pack for their trip to Mexico, Eden stops by Lisa Vanderpump’s house to tell her what Lisa Rinna said about Kim’s sobriety. With Lisa Rinna in NYC to see her model daughter walk at Fashion Week, the ladies in Mexico discuss her shocking comments.” Join us here in the comments at 9/8CST!
TELL US: DO YOU THINK ERIKA HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A SOAP STAR? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE EILEEN FEATURED IN ONE OF ERIKA JAYNE’S VIDEOS?
Photo Credit: Bravo
