Believe it or not, Denise Richards says she “actually would” return to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills if she’s ever invited back in the future. “My first season, I had a great time,” she told Caroline Stanbury on the latest episode of The Real Housewives of Dubai star’s podcast, Divorced not Dead.
Denise was a full-time cast member on RHOBH for Seasons 9 and 10, but she left the show after she was bombarded with accusations about an alleged affair she had with RHOBH alum Brandi Glanville. Denise has vehemently denied the claims ever since, but most of the cast — including her long-time good friend, Lisa Rinna — believed she did have a sexual relationship with Brandi behind her husband, Aaron Phypers‘, back.
“My second season was incredibly challenging, and I felt like, what would they do to me the third [season if I stayed]?” Denise pondered while discussing a possible return to the show. She went on to tell Caroline that she was “devastated” to “lose” her “20-year friendship with Lisa Rinna — that’s the truth. And that’s why I was so upset. During my second season, I was so shocked and so blindsided”.
Denise said that, at the time, her fallout with Lisa “was a big reason why I didn’t go back”. She further said, “I miss her, I miss our old friendship, but I would never be friends with her again.” Still, she’s open to making a Bravo comeback, if she should ever be asked to return. So why did she leave then? Well, it had more to do with her feud with Lisa than it did with the rumors about Brandi.
Denise explained: “Once it’s done airing and we do the reunion, they start filming again right away. And also, we were in a pandemic, and I was in Spain working. So I just had to really look at — I also wanted to be off. Like if no one likes you on the damn show — I mean, thank God Garcelle [Beauvais] did — but no one else did. And at the reunion, it felt like, where the hell do I go from here? If no one likes me on this show, why would I, it might look weird if I’m, I don’t know, it was weird, and I had to make a decision quickly because they started filming. So I made the decision not to go back for a third season at the time.”
The twelfth season of RHOBH is currently airing Wednesday nights at 8pm on Bravo. At this time, there are no plans for Season 13, but a comeback for Denise is always possible. And now we know she’s all for it. To hear her talk more in-depth about RHOBH, Lisa, and more, listen to the full podcast episode above.