The early seasons of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills are unforgettable. Of course, there’s the shiny diamonds, the private jets, and the sprawling mansions that we love to drool over, and there were the dramatic dinner parties that have birthed a million memes. But there were also authentic and relatable storylines, one of the most memorable being Kim Richards and Kyle Richards’ fractured sisterhood. When Kyle outed Kim as an alcoholic in the first season finale, everyone’s jaws hit the floor. It’s tough to watch, and we all know that since then, Kim has publicly navigated substance abuse, arrests, and multiple rehab stints. But what we didn’t realize is that when Kim went to rehab for the first time in 2011, Bravo actually paid for it.
In the Housewives tell-all book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of The Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It, several producers spoke about Kim’s downward spiral in the early seasons of RHOBH. Producer Kathleen French noted in the book, “Kim had mostly kept her shit together through Season 1. Season 2 was the beginning of the spiral down.”
Throughout season 2, Kim’s erratic behavior became a topic of discussion for the women in the group. In the tell-all book, Andy Cohen said that they felt a responsibility to intervene behind the scenes.
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“When it was clear that it was a real problem, we wanted to be responsible and we didn’t want to put her in a situation where anything could be exacerbated,” Andy explained. “We considered her family and wanted to work with her to get her better. Bravo paid for her rehab.”
Kim’s experience in rehab was a hot topic during season 2, and at the reunion, she sat down for a one-on-one interview with Andy. She bravely admitted to her alcohol abuse, and she expressed how hard it was to watch herself on reality television. Nevertheless, she stuck around as a full-time Housewife for three more seasons. In the tell-all book, RHOBH producer Chris Cullen said she returned to the show because she wanted to show her sobriety, even though there were a few concerning slip-ups along the way.
It’s refreshing to hear that there was a little bit of humanity behind-the-scenes of RHOBH with people willing to help Kim achieve the healthy life that she deserves.
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TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT BRAVO PAID FOR KIM’S REHAB? DO YOU THINK THERE ARE OTHER INSTANCES WHERE THEY HAVE INTERVENED?
