Denise Richards, 49, is out on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — but the star wanted to stick around for a third season. “Denise really wanted to return for a third season of Housewives, much to a lot of people’s surprise. She knows a lot of the show revolved around her this season so she wanted a hefty pay raise,” an insider spilled to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “[She also wanted] more control when it came to story lines and things that would and wouldn’t be spoken about on camera. Ultimately, they couldn’t come to an agreement so she walked,” the source added.
The Wild Things actress was front and center throughout season 10 as rumors swirled that she had hooked up with former RHOBH star Brandi Glanville, 47 — which came to light on a cast trip to Rome, Italy. “This season was really stressful for her and she didn’t enjoy it as much, but as a whole, she enjoyed her experience being a housewife,” the source also said, going on to explain that Denise is “open” to returning to the Bravo series at some point in the future.
“It seems she’s open to returning again if the right deal were in place no matter who’s on the cast,” the insider revealed, noting that Denise “‘maintains” that “nothing happened” with Brandi. “She didn’t want it to look like she was running away from anything because she really does maintain that nothing ever happened with Brandi and she was really ready to move on from it and talk about other things. This had nothing to do with anyone on the cast whatsoever and she’ll take this time to focus more on doing TV and movie projects. She’s definitely not losing sleep over it not working out.”
Before the news of Denise’s exit from RHOBH was announced, she made headlines for her appearance on the reunion special, which is previewed in the clip below. After dramatic interactions with some of the other cast members, Denise addressed the alleged affair with Brandi and insisted that she’s just an “acquaintance.” She also explained that her husband Aaron Phypers was with her in Northern California when Brandi went to visit her so there’s no way they could have hooked up.
“I do not have an open marriage,” she yelled during the Sept. 16 episode of the reunion. “If I had an open marriage, I would say it.” She also addressed the cease and desist letter she sent to Brandi and admitted that her lawyer presented it to her to “make her tell the truth”, but some of the cast members corrected her and said the letters are used to “silence” people instead.
It will be interesting to see where Denise goes from here and whether or not the drama will continue if she does decide to return to RHOBH in the future!