Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Erika Jayne discussed her very recent call from estranged husband Thomas Girardi while appearing on Monday’s episode of Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge‘s podcast.
As she opened up about her dark moments with Thomas, 82, admitting she wished she left him sooner, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 52, reacted to Heather Dubrow‘s potential crossover from The Real Housewives of Orange County, revealed she’s dating a new, younger man, shaded Sutton Stracke, 51, for her comments about her weight loss, and more.
“[Being a victim is] not who I am and it doesn’t work,” Erika admitted on the August 28 episode of Two Ts in a Pod as she discussed her comeback following years of legal drama. “You have to own up and take accountability for what you do and what you don’t do, and that’s the most important thing … You have to put your big girl panties on and put one foot literally in front of the other, and you will find yourself.”
“If you turn and run, it’s f*cked up. It’s over for you,” she continued. “You can never leave social media. You can never cower. You can never let the crowd dictate who you are.”
After facing a series of lawsuits, many of which were prompted by Thomas’ crimes against his former clients, Erika took heat for her alleged lack of empathy. But weeks ago, she met with several of his victims in Los Angeles.
“They were very kind to me,” she revealed, noting that the meeting was set up by Jim Wilkes, who she was linked to earlier this year.
“I don’t know essentially what they took away from it, but I needed to show up because they needed to feel who I really was,” Erika shared. “I felt peace. You would have to ask them [how they feel]. I sat there and I answered as many questions as I possibly could.”
Although Erika didn’t file for divorce from Thomas until his legal empire started to collapse, she confirmed to Teddi and Tamra that she wished she left him sooner.
“Yes, and I told Tom when I knew he was having affairs and all that kind of sh*t, I was like, ‘I think you should be a man and divorce me.’ He wanted me to be the bad guy,” she revealed, stating that she doesn’t “take it personally” that he cheated.
When Erika was then asked if she wished she’d been more honest about her marriage on RHOBH, she confessed to wanting to keep Thomas protected.
“I think we all try to protect our husbands or our significant others and I was in a marriage that the person was rapidly changing and rapidly going downhill and there were so many things beyond my control and I think that’s the only thing I wish I could change people’s minds about is, please understand, a lot of things were beyond my control,” she explained. “I don’t run a law firm. That business has been around before I was born and I’m f*cking 52 years old.”
Throughout her marriage to Tom, Erika said she was submissive to the once-famed attorney.
“I was very respectful and grateful. He’s rough. He’s a rough man,” she said.
Although season 13 of RHOBH has yet to air, there have already been rumblings in regard to Heather, 54, being added to the cast since she recently purchased a $16 million home in Beverly Hills.
“I had a conversation with Heather Dubrow at BravoCon and it was really nice, the first time we ever connected,” Erika recalled after being asked for her thoughts. “I don’t know. All I know from Heather is that we have a nice time. I don’t cast. I had a nice time with her. We had a nice conversation. That’s where I leave it. I don’t know her outside of that.”
Since moving on from her marriage, Erika has kept her love life on the down-low. And while she confirmed she is currently seeing one man in particular, she wouldn’t reveal his identity and said he will “absolutely not” be seen on RHOBH.
“I’m actually seeing someone younger now. I can’t [say who he is] because I promised we’d be private. He has black hair and brown skin. He’s in his late 30s,” she teased as she answered questions from a very curious Teddi and Tamra. “I’m in such trouble. [I’m] not necessarily [the breadwinner but] I’m the more famous person… or infamous person.”
After Erika appeared on Watch What Happens Live in early August, where she credited her weight loss to hormones she began taking after entering menopause, Sutton questioned her claims to Us Weekly.
“I’ve been through the menopause, but I still don’t look like that, but OK,” she had said.
In response, after noting that she “could blast [Sutton] right now but [is] gonna choose not to,” Erika clarified her statements.
“I was going through menopause and I expanded and then I went and I got help,” she revealed. “I am on a lot of different hormone regimens and it takes you down and it makes you better and that gave me a chance to drop a whole lot of puffiness. I stopped drinking and I totally changed my regimen. So it wasn’t like I lost weight during menopause. No, I sought help during menopause and came down, and so should everybody else that feels that way.”
She then noted that it’s “no one’s business what you do with your body,” and she said, “Ozempic is old.”
“It’s been around for over a decade and it’s been used as weight loss for over a decade so you guys are late,” she declared.
Going back to the topic of her marriage, Erika looked back on an awkward moment she had with Thomas and the Los Angeles Police Department’s former Chief of Police.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ and he goes [jokingly], ‘If you were married to a better man, you would’ve been here faster.’ And Tom literally looked at him and said, ‘Well if you think you can afford her, you can f*cking have her.’”
She then shared the last time she spoke to her former spouse, who was recently accused of exaggerating his alleged dementia as a means to avoid consequences for his alleged crimes against his victims.
“He called this morning to ask me how my show was. ‘It was good. I’ll talk to you later,’” she recalled.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year.