Garcelle Beauvais thinks Denise Richards was fed up with being the center of negative attention on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — which ultimately led to her exit from the show on September 9. The actress (and newly crowned cohost of The Real) discussed Denise’s departure on SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show on Thursday.
“Let me just say, I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised with the way things went,” Garcelle said, explaining, “I mean, I think, you know, this was a really hard season for her and I think, when you’re being constantly talked about, and I think it, you know, it could affect your marriage, it could affect your kids. I think that’s where she was coming from. And it was like, just back off a little bit, not every dinner needs to be about this,” she continued, adding, “And I think she’s just had enough.”
Fans of RHOBH will know that Denise has been accused all season of having an alleged affair with former BH full-timer Brandi Glanville — during her marriage with Aaron Phypers. Denise has vehemently denied the affair allegation since the news was reported in early January. However, Brandi continues to insist that the two had an intimate relationship. She’s even gone as far as sharing alleged private text messages between the two with the RHOBH cast. Before that, Brandi tweeted a photo that appeared to show the pair kissing.
News of Denise’s exit from RHOBH became public on September 9. A representative for The Bold and the Beautiful actress confirmed the news to our sister site, Variety.
As for Garcelle’s relationship with Denise, the longtime friends are still going strong. “I think friendship is everything,” Garcelle said. “And you don’t throw a friendship away because there’s a rumor about someone. I mean, you know, and that’s, that was my stance, you know, loyalty till the end.” Early on in season 10, Garcelle explained that she’s been friends with Denise since before she joined the show. Given their history, Garcelle was the only cast member to defend Denise this season.
The drama may have started with the affair rumors, but it only escalated from there. In the latter half of season 10, the RHOBH cast confronted Denise about negative remarks she allegedly made behind their backs. — Brandi was the source of the smack-talking claims, which Denise also denied. Things ended up getting so heated that Denise later called out her costars as acting like “mean girls.”
The final part of the RHOBH reunion special airs on Wednesday, September 16, at 9 p.m. on Bravo. Be sure to check back at HollywoodLife for the finale recap and more exclusive RHOBH scoop!