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Rachel Zoe is clapping back at rumors suggesting she joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills due to an allegedly dire financial state.
After she announced that she would be a part of the series’ upcoming 15th season, the 54-year-old celebrity stylist and former star of The Rachel Zoe Project was said to have done so due to her money being “tight” amid her split from husband Rodger Berman.
“The rumors are so ridiculous,” Rachel told PEOPLE. “[I’m] not doing the show for the money.”
“It’s funny because people will just jump on something. They create a story and a narrative, and then, all of a sudden, it’s viral. It’s everywhere,” she continued. “There used to be tabloids when I was doing my show, and it was like one person would write something and then it could be in other places. But it was different because it was in print.”
Back in June, a source told The U.S. Sun that money had “been tighter” for Rachel and Rodger “for a while” and noted that their divorce was sure to “cost a fortune.”
“She needs the money, sure, but even more so, she needs to start branching out on her own now that they are no longer together. It’s important to her,” the source had alleged.
Meanwhile, according to Rachel, she simply felt it was the right time to return to television.
“While building my different businesses and raising my kids over the past 10 years, I’ve discussed coming back to TV in different ways. It had to be when I really felt like I had a lot to share,” she explained. “My life has shifted in many ways personally and professionally. I felt like it was the time now to sit with an amazing group of women and really talk about my new life and what that looks like.”
“I know that sounds silly because I’m a fashion person, and my life may not be that relatable, but I go through very real things and emotions. I live my life in a very normal way most of the time,” she added.
Since Rachel, who shares two sons with Rodger, including Skyler, 14, and Kaius, 11, confirmed her role on RHOBH in June, she’s been having “fun” with her castmates, including Bozoma Saint John, 48, and Kathy Hilton, 66, the latter of who she said “had a lot to do with why” she joined the series.
“Boz, I had on my podcast and fell in love with her,” Rachel shared. “[And] I’ve known Kathy Hilton forever, like 20 years, and I’m very close with her daughters and with her. She’s such a great friend and a great person.”
While Rachel has been enjoying her time with certain cast members, she explained during another interview that filming had been “a lot.”
“It’s been great. I love the girls. We’ve had fun, but it’s a lot,” she admitted to Extra’s Adam Glassman last week.
Although Rachel isn’t a fan of drama, she confessed to having “a lot to say right now in [her] life.”
“I think this is a time to say it and I think it’s nice to be surrounded by women every day when I go to work,” she said.
As for whether she received any advice from former cast member Lisa Rinna, 62, Rachel said she never asked.
“I think with these things, you can’t really do advice. For me, I just roll in and wing it like I do everything else … [But] she’s the best,” she stated.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 airs Thursday nights on Bravo.