Kyle Richards Admits She’ll ‘Miss’ Lisa Vanderpump & Reveals If She Thinks ‘RHOBH’ Can Go On Without Her

‘RHOBH’ without Lisa Vanderpump is actually a plausible idea to Kyle Richards — she just had to point to the show’s current ratings while chatting with HollywoodLife.

Kyle Richards, 50, isn’t biting her nails now that The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lost one of its OG stars — Lisa Vanderpump, 58. We caught up with the only other “Housewife” who has starred on every season of the Bravo show at The Hills: New Beginnings premiere party on June 19, and made sure to ask what Kyle thinks Season 10 will be like in a post-LVP era. “Our ratings are really strong. I think people have been tuning into the show for nine years and they’re invested and they know us all,” Kyle EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife at the Liaison Restaurant and Lounge in Los Angeles. She emphasized, “I think that we’re strong.” It’s true — RHOBH snagged a 0.6 rating for adults 18-49, jumping up from last week’s 0.5 rating, according to TV By The Numbers.

Although the Season 9 story line was wrapped around PuppyGate’s finger, Kyle pointed out that RHOBH isn’t a one-woman show. “We’re an ensemble show and I think everybody is fantastic,” the ER star told HollywoodLife, when asked if she’s confident the cast can carry on without Lisa. Although Kyle’s not breaking a sweat over the cast shake-up, she admitted that she’ll “miss [Lisa] as a cast member” and “as a friend,” but reminded us once again that “the show is still strong.”

But does Kyle think Lisa’s hiatus from the show will be permanent? “I don’t know. I think that there’s always an open door,” she admitted. “Maybe when she’s feeling more herself, [then] maybe she would come back so I don’t know.”

This interview was conducted the night before news broke that Lisa’s mother, Jean Vanderpump, sadly passed away at the age of 84 this week, a source confirmed with HollywoodLife. Understandably, the restaurant entrepreneur’s priorities lie with her family at the current moment. “Lisa had decided to take a break from filming the show right now to be with family,” the insider told us. “Everyone of course understands. She’ll be back [from London] and looks forward to it.” Meanwhile, “The rest of the cast is still shooting the show as planned.” Lisa first revealed that she wouldn’t be returning to film RHOBH — or even film the Season 9 reunion — in an interview with DailyMailTV, which surfaced on June 4.