The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills newbie Crystal Kung Minkoff joined the franchise at a very tumultuous time. The season 11 newcomer told HollywoodLife in an exclusive interview that she was still “getting to know” all of the ladies over the course of the season, and opted to give Erika Jayne “respect” despite her legal woes. “People are like ‘team this, team that’. I’m just getting to know these people. I’m not a team,” she explained.
“[Erika] 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.” Crystal noted that they spoke frequently about their shared experiences, and she was able to empathize with the former Broadway star.
“I just kept thinking, ‘What if this was my dad? What if this kept happening?’ … I take people at face value. That’s who I am. This is who I am, always, so I give that respect to people automatically because I expect that in return.” When asked whether she believed Erika, Crystal said, “I want so badly for it not to be [but] I think it’s really not my place to. Nothing’s settled so I’m taking it day by day.
She added, “At the reunion, I had questions.” Speaking of the hotly-anticipated reunion, Crystal teased what fans can expect. “It’s definitely a wild reunion, I think, sitting there for 10 hours … it was really intense,” the 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.”
Crystal also discussed the “intense” moment when the drama between her and Sutton Stracke came to a head. “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. “I was very nervous.”