All the piping hot tea was spilled recently on the Watch What Happens Live After Show with Lisa Rinna and Carson Kressley. When a thirsty superfan called in to ask if Rinna had been approached sooner than when she actually joined the cast of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in season five, she punted the answer over to Andy Cohen landing the Bravo host and new dad in some real hot water.
It turns out Lisa and Andy were in talks for her to join the cast of RHOBH in Season 1, but why it didn’t work out was a bit surprising, considering how outspoken entertaining Rinna can be on the show. And not to leave us superfans too parched, the WWHL host let us in on a little extra pour of the good stuff revealing that Bethenny Frankel wasn’t on his list for season one of the Real Housewives of New York either!
We may have witnessed dozens of blowups over the years between Kim Richards and Lisa Rinna had Lisa been cast in season one of RHOBH, but apparently, it was never in the cards. Andy explained his reasoning. He shared, “We did talk to Lisa at the beginning [season one] and put her on tape, and I felt very strongly for better or worse that – I felt like it was…I didn’t get it and I thought it should be all unknown people.” Kim and Kyle Richards had their own share of desperation celebrity as child actors, it’s a little surprising why Rinna wasn’t able to join the fray.
“I felt like Lisa Rinna was too much of a personality and name,” Andy clarified. He continued, “I just felt like the show needed to establish itself on its own. Before in my mind, I could ever picture it. And then at the time, ‘I was like oh my god we need Lisa Rinna it’s the time.'” And WHAT a time to be on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Season 9 is teeing up for some exciting drama.
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And if you think passing on Lisa was the wrong decision, Andy readily admitted it’s not the first mistake. He misjudged the potential of a major Real Housewives cast member. Andy said, “When we were looking at casting for season one of New York Housewives, Bethenny was on the casting.”
Then, he admitted, “I was like, she was just on the Martha Stewart Apprentice. And, I thought this: I don’t get it. She just was on a reality show, people are going to think she’s just going from reality show to reality show, I don’t get this. So I was not in favor of Bethenny coming on. So I’ve made some mistakes in my life.” So wait. Bethenny is NOT just going from reality show to reality show?! Make no mistakes Andy, she may be doing just that.
Luckily for Bethenny, Andy was able to make it up to her in the end. According to an Us Weekly article, it was Andy’s idea to bring her back on to RHONY for Season 7! “When I first started talking to her about it, it seemed kind of unbelievable. But the more we talked about it, it seemed totally right.” Perhaps Lisa Rinna was right when contemplated on the WWHL After Show, “Everything happens for a reason. Always.”
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TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT ANDY INITIALLY PASSED ON BETHENNY? IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WOULD YOU ADD LISA TO SEASON 1 OF RHOBH?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/ Bravo]
