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Andy Cohen addressed Lisa Rinna‘s departure from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in his recently-released book, The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up.
Months after Lisa confirmed her exit from the series, Andy revealed that she did, in fact, quit the show after the season 12 reunion before opening up about the moments that followed and admitting that he questioned whether or not she and Erika Jayne had leaked stories to the press after Kathy Hilton‘s meltdown in Aspen.
On the May 11 episode of SiriusXM’s Smith Sisters Live, which airs on Andy’s Radio Andy Channel, the hosts wondered if the Watch What Happens Live host had noticed that there’ve been far fewer leaks since Lisa left the show.
“Well, you know it’s funny, because in the days leading up to me getting my star [on the Hollywood Walk of Fame], I write in the book, because Rinna, they all just get back from Aspen two days before I get my star and Rinna is blowing up my phone and she’s like, ‘I’m gonna put Kathy on blast and I need to and I know this didn’t happen on camera but I’m really upset,’” Andy shared.
According to Andy, around this same time, there were tons of stories leaked to the press about what had gone down with Kathy in Aspen.
“Concurrently, there’s all these leaks about what happened in Aspen and I was saying to her and Erika, like, ‘Are you leaking this?’ And they’re like, ‘No. No,’” Andy revealed, noting, “It was all very confusing.”
But while the hosts alluded to Lisa being behind those leaks, and thus the reason why there have been nearly no leaks about RHOBH season 13, Andy wouldn’t confirm.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
In The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up, Andy opened up about Lisa’s decision to walk away from RHOBH in an excerpt written on September 9, 2022.
After confessing he was dreading reunion day amid “rage from impassioned fans,” who hoped to see him put Lisa, Erika, and Kyle Richards on blast for their claims against Kathy, Andy said that what took place at the taping was “so sad, layered, and deep.”
“By the end of the day it had me wondering what the point of all of it really was. [Garcelle Beauvais] turned to me a couple of times as Kathy and Kyle were at odds and said, ‘Why are we doing this?’” he shared.
“I hate when family becomes collateral damage of the Housewives, and I had the same pit in my stomach at the end of the day as I did in early seasons with Kyle and Kim, and several times in New Jersey,” he continued, noting that Lisa’s relationship with RHOBH seemed just as irreparable as Kyle and Kathy’s relationship at the end of filming.
Andy received a text message from Rinna as he and his fellow producers wondered “if there was a path forward” for Lisa after wrapping.
“[I] got a text from Rinna after midnight saying she’s leaving the show and eight years was a good run,” he recalled. “It sure was. She is smart to leave now. It absolutely feels right. I wish she could’ve gone out on a better note. [But I’m] not sure this is the last of this discussion.”
And it wasn’t.
On September 16, just one week later, Andy said that after some back and forth with the team, Lisa appeared to have had a change of heart… and wanted to return to the RHOBH.
“It kinda seems like Rinna isn’t quitting, based on some correspondence with the team. This is going to be a journey, on both sides,” he wrote.
However, by October, following Rinna being booed at Bravocon, the decision was no longer her choice as producers also felt it was best for her to leave.
Andy wrote, “I think [Lisa] should go on pause but absolutely come back. Feels like she has a toxic relationship with the show at this point, and taking a breath away could do everyone good.”
Andy then added in his epilogue: “We mutually agreed with Rinna that she should take a break from the show (this is a real pause).”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 is currently in production and expected to begin airing on Bravo sometime later this year.