‘RHOBH’s Crystal Kung Minkoff Says Upcoming Reunion Will Have Fans ‘Surprised’: ‘It Gets Heated’
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Crystal Kung Minkoff is fresh off her first ‘RHOBH’ rodeo and is spilling all the details of the “intense” four-part reunion EXCLUSIVELY here!
What an introduction! It was Crystal Kung Minkoff‘s first season this year on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and what a doozy for a newbie! Reflecting back on the season — plus the four-part reunion the ladies just finished filming — the season 11 newcomer had a lot to share EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife. In short: “It gets heated.”
Firstly, Crystal discussed the “intense” moments she had to face when the drama between she and fellow diamond-holder Sutton Stracke came to light. “I’m just really happy that the Sutton thing was very early so there’s a lot of time to sort of settle. I was ready. I was ready for it and it went well, I think,” Crystal shared. “It was intense, that’s for sure. I know where I stand today, and I was very nervous filming and I remember just thinking, ‘I need to go in and speak my mind because that’s what the experience is supposed to be and not be so afraid of it.’ That’s how I headed into it.”
In addition to the usual drama that shows up at Housewives reunions, the Beverly Hills ladies were certainly in for a particular treat this time around, considering cast member Erika Jayne‘s legal and financial woes that made front page news this past year. “It’s definitely a wild reunion, I think, sitting there for 10 hours […] it was really intense,” the newfound reality star revealed. “I think there are a lot of answers that people have been looking for. I think that people are going to be satisfied. I think people will surprised at where people are, stuff like that. There’s going to be a lot of surprises. It gets heated.”
The mother-of-two added that it was definitely “emotional” shooting the reunion, especially when host Andy Cohen grilled Erika about her legal troubles. Considering the kinds of questions the ladies had for their co-star while filming the season, it’s not surprising that more tensions came to a head at the reunion. But fans are wondering: where does Crystal stand, considering her sympathies with the “XXpen$ive” singer this season?
“For me, people are like team this, team that. I’m just getting to know these people. I’m not a team,” Crystal explained. “For me […] she kept telling me about [her ex-husband Tom Girardi] having Alzheimer’s and my dad had Alzheimer’s so my heart and my empathy all lean in because of that. A lot of scenes are not shown, but we talk a lot about that and my experiences. When he has to go into a home, I had to deal with that. It was the most painful experience of my life, so I just kept thinking, ‘What if this was my dad? What if this kept happening?'”
Although the food entrepreneur said that she “give[s] respect to people automatically,” she did find the question of believing Erika’s stories “challenging,” considering what continues to come out about her RHOBH co-star. “I want so badly for it not to be […] it’s being revealed still,” she hesitated. “Nothing’s settled, so I’m taking it day by day, but you’ll see. At the reunion … I had questions.”