Denise Richards made the decision to leave The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after two seasons, and a source close to the soap star revealed why. The insider spoke to HollywoodLife exclusively about the Bravo star’s exit from the show, citing her hectic work schedule among the reasons she left. “Denise decided recently that she wasn’t going to come back to Housewives and she did not tell too many people before the news came out,” the source told us. “She thought this last season was a lot on her personal life and she’s not friends with any of the ladies besides Garcelle Beauvais away from the cameras so it didn’t make sense.”
The source also explained that Denise wants to spend more time with her family. “She had to spend a lot of time away from her girls with her filming schedule and when you couple that with her soap schedule and her other acting projects, she had barely any free time and something had to give,” they told HL. “She wants to spend more time focusing on acting and with her family. It really wasn’t a hard decision for her to make. She didn’t like doing it anymore so she walked away, but the show did want her back. It just became too much and it wasn’t fun anymore.”
A second source close to production of the popular reality show told HL that “nobody was surprised” Denise opted not to return. “Most of them didn’t think they’d ever see her again after filming the season. They felt she skipped a lot of things and grew frustrated with her,” the insider explained. “They would talk on a group text about things when they needed to, but that was it. Nobody but Garcelle and Dorit [Kemsley] here and there were actually having conversations with her that weren’t necessary.”
Denise’s rep confirmed on September 9 that she would exit the show, amid drama surrounding an alleged affair she had with RHOBH alum Brandi Glanville. Over the course of the last several episodes, Denise had to defend herself against most of her co-stars, after they claimed that she and Brandi had sex behind closed doors.
