Denise Richards reportedly left The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills because Bravo wouldn’t meet her “excessive” salary demands.
According to a new report, which was shared just days after Andy Cohen confirmed that he was unable to make a deal with Denise during negotiations for season 11, Denise wanted far too much money to return to the show for its new episodes.
“People think that she didn’t want to come back and that it’s because she got ‘mean-girled’ [by other cast members]. The truth is she did want to come back. But [Bravo] didn’t want to pay her what she asked for,” an insider told Page Six on September 14, adding that the amount Denise wanted was “way out of her pay grade.”
While Denise hasn’t yet revealed the reason behind her sudden exit from RHOBH, many fans of the series, as well as the show’s stars, believed she would not return to the show because she couldn’t handle the ongoing allegations against her, which include an alleged affair with Brandi Glanville and mean comments about her castmates. Meanwhile, according to the insider, Denise would have been on board with a return if the price was right.
“She would happily have come back, but for a huge price,” the source noted, adding that Bravo executives “negotiated a lot.”
Although the first insider suggested that it was money that was keeping Denise from returning to the series, a second source said she simply didn’t want to reunite with her former castmates after her “rough” second season with the show.
“Bravo called her last week to ask her if she wanted to return, and she took a couple of days to think about it,” the second source shared.
Denise ultimately confirmed she would not be back for season 11 last Wednesday, September 9, just hours before the second installment of the three-part RHOBH reunion aired on Bravo.
When Denise first joined the cast in 2018 for season nine, it was reported that she was being paid a whopping $1 million for her debut season.
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