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Erika Jayne opened up about her decision to share the news of her past abuse after last week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Following a revealing scene between herself, Sutton Stracke, 54, and Denise Richards, 55, in which Denise spoke about the abuse she reportedly sustained at the hands of her estranged husband Aaron Phypers, 53, Erika, 54, said that she would have kept her own experience secret if it weren’t for Denise speaking so candidly.
“I spoke of having encountered something like that. A lot of time had passed, and me opening up that night, I wouldn’t have done it had it not been someone that I knew doing it as well,” Erika explained on the February 19 episode of the RHOBH: After Show.
Although Erika disclosed the information to Kyle Richards, 57, and Dorit Kemsley, 49, she did so in confidence “when everything was over.”
“[Kyle] knew about it and Dorit knew about it, and I think it’s important for everybody watching to understand that certain things are very delicate and you don’t necessarily can reveal them in the moment,” she continued.
According to Erika, she felt that it took “a lot of balls” for Denise to come forward and advocate for herself amid her messy split from Aaron because “nobody wants to feel that way.”
While Erika noted that it was “the right moment” for her to open up, she admitted she feared she’d regret it.
“I don’t know how it’s gonna be received,” she went on. “The reason I didn’t bring it up at all is because how much more can I take, and how much more sh*t is it gonna open up? ‘You deserved it.’ That’s gonna happen. There’s gonna be people that support you and people that go, ‘you f*cking deserved it.’ ‘You’re lying.’”
Moving on to her past run-in with Aaron, which aired on the 10th season of RHOBH, and included Teddi Mellencamp, 44, Erika recalled getting a “specific energy” from Aaron at an event hosted by Sutton.
“While it probably didn’t read to the audience at that time, both Teddi and I felt a very specific energy coming off of Aaron that .. I’m not shocked, is what I’m trying to say …. That energy … I just was like, ‘Wait a second. This ain’t right,’” she shared as Kyle remembered how he threatened to “crush [Denise’s] f*cking hand.”
Sutton also recalled an odd behavior from Aaron.
“I had worked with Denise a little bit with Sutton Brands … And when it was just me and Denise, it was really great, very easy … and then as soon as Aaron stepped in, the whole mood shifted, and he really wanted control of what she was saying, and I noticed,” she stated. “That was the first time that I really saw a dominance over her words, not just a physical thing, but over her words, and what she was saying, what she was allowed to discuss.”
“[He was] trying to suppress her, what she’s saying,” Kyle replied.
Sutton then admitted to being surprised by Erika sharing her abuse story.
“Someone really strong like Erika that you would think never would that ever happen to a personality like [hers] that’s so strong, but it still can. I think that’s the biggest takeaway cuz I was shocked,” she said.
Also on the After Show, after Kathy Hilton, 66, said that Denise had been “going through hell” amid her divorce, noting that she’s “sensitive but strong,” Erika admitted they hadn’t been in touch as of late.
“I need to text her back because I saw her at BravoCon and I wanted to get with her and see her, and I haven’t … I do owe her a response,” she noted. “Even though we weren’t in a good place, she texted me years ago when everything happened with [Thomas Girardi] and said, ‘I’m so very sorry,’ and I always thought that was very kind of her.”
“Denise has a very good heart. At her core, I think that she is a sweet soul,” she added.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.