Credit: Bravo, Instagram
Lisa Rinna took aim at Lisa Vanderpump in her soon-to-be-released book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
As she admitted to being molded by her former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star, who she described as a manipulator and chess player, Rinna, 62, reflected on her time on the show, admitting to taking on the villain role at the prompting of Vanderpump, 65, and Kyle Richards, 57, and confirming whether she had regrets about the claims she made against Yolanda Hadid, 62, and Kathy Hilton, 66.
“Too many of the women on RHOBH are Virgos. I don’t get along with Virgos,” Rinna began in an excerpt of her book provided by InStyle on January 20. “I’m a Cancer, so Virgos and I do not mix. It’s like oil and water. [Camille Grammer], [Sutton Stracke], and—surprise!—Lisa Vanderpump are all Virgos. That’s a horrible thing for me to say. I don’t mean to diss an entire astrological sign; I know there are some really lovely Virgos out there.”
According to Rinna, her relationship with Vanderpump was “complicated.”
“[We] were acquaintances long before we became [Real Housewives]. By the time I joined the show in season 5, she was already a producer on Vanderpump Rules so she knew the game better than anybody. I looked up to her, and I let her lead the way,” Rinna shared, adding that Vanderpump was quite “clever.”
When Rinna joined the series in 2014 for season five, Vanderpump called her “every single morning,” which made her think she cared. Years later, Rinna realized it was all part of her game.
“Vanderpump’s an expert at manipulation— it’s why she makes such a good producer on her own show—she knows how to use other people like chess pieces. She spends every waking hour figuring out her next move,” she explained. “She was molding me like clay into a henchwoman to do her bidding. Nice phone calls were all it took, and I fell in line. I was ready and willing to do all of Vanderpump’s dirty work. That’s how the whole Yolanda Foster fiasco came about.”
As RHOBH fans will recall, Rinna suggested during season six that Yolanda could be suffering from Munchausen syndrome, rather than Lyme disease.
“I stepped in that villain role, but it was driven by Vanderpump and Kyle,” she explained. “It’s obvious now she had Lyme disease, and my heart aches that I ever questioned her … I always liked her. I never wanted to become enemies.”
While Rinna confessed to acting on Vanderpump’s behalf during her time on the show, their relationship eventually evolved.
“Once our power dynamic evened out and I saw her game plan with clear eyes, she lost control of me, and she never got it back,” Rinna shared. “[But] I loved the cat and mouse game I had with her because it made for great television.”
After applauding Vanderpump as the Bobby Fischer of Housewives, and stating that she “knew how to play the game better than anyone,” Rinna denied having regrets about her final seasons on the show.
“I do not regret lashing out at Sutton, or regret handling the Kathy of it all. I do not regret a minute of it. I was doing the best I could on a reality show a couple days after my mom died, and now that I look back on it, I say shame on them for the way they handled me,” she reasoned.
As for where she stands with her former castmates, Rinna said she recently had dinner with Kyle, Dorit Kemsley, 49, and Erika Jayne, 54, at Cipriani in Beverly Hills.
“It wasn’t for a plotline or the press or to piss anybody off. We were behaving like normal girlfriends do, talking about everything under the sun,” she revealed. “We were secluded at a discreet table … but a lot of people walked by us on the way to the bathroom and stopped dead in their tracks,” she recalled. “I don’t blame them. It’s a miracle that I made it out of RHOBH with even one friend.”
Also in her book, Rinna admitted it was a “gigantic leap of faith” to quit the show.
“I think people are truly shocked because they really wanted me to go away,” she continued, citing her staying power. “They were hoping that it took me down. They genuinely thought, ‘She’s done, that’s that.’ Everyone underestimated me, except me and my family.”
“I was Lisa f*ckin’ Rinna before Housewives, and I am Lisa f*ckin’ Rinna after,” she concluded.
You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It will be available in stores and online starting on February 24.