Lisa Rinna And Andy Cohen Disagree About The Circumstances Surrounding Her Exit From “The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills”
Lisa Rinna hasn’t received a shred of attention since the announcement of her departure from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills back in January, and if you know anything about Lisa Rinna, that’s a damn problem for her. At that time, the story was that her contract was up, and it was just a boring, drama-free mutual decision between her and Bravo that she wouldn’t return. But, “Bravo Daddy” Andy Cohen rivals Lisa in the attention-seeking department, AND he’s currently promoting a new book. In it, he wrote that Rinna texted him to quit the show right after she caught a ton of (well-deserved) shit at the last season’s reunion, only to text him back later in an attempt at take-backsies. However, he responded that she should go on “pause” and come back after a cooling-off period. And, because one of Lisa’s most used sound bytes is “you better believe I’m gonna talk about it,” of course she did just that by having her rep immediately respond that the texts never happened and she’s sticking to her original exit story.
Andy’s new book is called The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up. Andy became a daddy at the age of 50, so I guess growing up later is better than never. But aside from what I’m guessing are some absolutely groundbreaking parenthood tidbits, he also spills some behind-the-scenes Housewives tea in it. E! News says Andy wrote that Rinna’s last season of the show–where she went on a determined crusade to expose a Kathy Hilton public meltdown–was “toxic,” and then he shared his version of events.
Andy detailed how the Bravo star had quit after filming the season 12 reunion episode with a late night text, but then allegedly changed her mind. In the end, Andy wrote, he thought that Lisa “should go on pause but absolutely come back.”
“Feels like she has a toxic relationship with the show at this point,” the 54-year-old continued in his book, “and taking a breath away could do everyone good.”
He added in the epilogue, “We mutually agreed with Rinna that she should take a break from the show (this is a real pause)”.
And given that viewers were under the impression that the end of one of the most notoriously malicious, pot-stirring Housewives’ reign was an uneventful non-story or a simple publicly euphemized firing, some were shocked to hear about Lisa’s alleged text message rage-quit and crawl-back.
The revelation shook the Housewives fandom, including SiriusXM’s Smith Sisters Live co-hosts Mariah, Rachel and Lauren Smith, who called Lisa’s exit “chaotic” when Andy appeared on their radio show on May 11.
“That was wild to me because I had understood the narrative as her having been fired,” Lauren told Andy, “and I was mind-blown when she texted immediately that night after the reunion being like, ‘I’m out.’ But then, it was like, ‘Actually, no I’m not.’ And then, it’s like, ‘Well, now you’re on pause.'”
Mariah added that Lisa must’ve “immediately regretted” quitting the show.
Here’s that conversation:
And the very next day, Lisa’s rep put out a statement denying Andy’s “on-pause” story and assuring everyone that Lisa has no regrets about leaving the show, OK!?
A rep for the Days of Our Lives alum told E! News on May 12 that the actress is “not ‘on pause'” for RHOBH.
“There was never any discussion with anyone about that concept,” the rep said. “Her contract ended, and the parties mutually agreed not to engage on a new one. She felt her time on the show had run its course and she was more than happy to move on. And she still does not regret it.”
It’s impossible to decide which of these sluts for the spotlight to believe here. But Lisa has no regrets after leaving. Not even one?
Pics: Abaca Press/INSTARimages, Roger Wong/INSTARimages