Lisa Rinna Admitted Her Final Season of ‘RHOBH’ Was a ‘Mistake’

In 2023, Lisa Rinna announced her departure from RHOBH after eight seasons on the show. Her final season was one of her most controversial, with many fans looking forward to her exit. While Rinna said she doesn’t have regrets about the season, she admitted it was likely a mistake to be a part of it. She shared why she believes she should have taken some time away from the show at that point.

Lisa Rinna said she should have taken a break from ‘RHOBH’

Rinna’s final season with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills aired in 2022. That season, her disputes with castmates Sutton Stracke and Kathy Hilton turned some fans against her. Rinna admitted that her mother’s recent death impacted her behavior. She admitted she likely should have temporarily stepped back from the show. 

“Today I am in a much better place, obviously, than I was three years ago,” she said on Jeff Lewis Live. “You know my mother had passed away and, you know, truth be told, I should have taken a moment and not maybe done that year and just done the grieving and not done the show. I think that was where I made a mistake.”

Rinna said she felt an obligation to do the show but admitted she was not in the right headspace to be on reality television. She wondered if the rawness of her grief was part of the reason viewers turned on her that season.

“[I]t was difficult, you know, it was difficult to grieve in the public eye,” she said. “And I also don’t think that people are comfortable watching other people grieve. It’s too painful. And I think I triggered a lot of stuff in people. They didn’t know why they were upset with me, but I think that had something to do with it. So, it was a really, really difficult ending to that chapter.”

She acknowledged that her final season was “toxic” and said she’s glad to be where she is now. 

Lisa Rinna said she has no regrets about her time on ‘RHOBH’

While Rinna has faced criticism for her final season on RHOBH, she said she does not feel apologetic for the way she treated her co-stars.

“Everyone always asks me if I have regrets about my behavior, especially during my last season,” she wrote in her book You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It (per InStyle). “I do not regret lashing out at Sutton, or regret handling the Kathy of it all. I do not regret a minute of it.”

She believed her cast members should have been more empathetic to her in her final season.

“I was doing the best I could on a reality show a couple days after my mom died, and now that I look back on it, I say shame on them for the way they handled me,” she wrote. 

She said she only has four friends from her time on the show

While Rinna burned some bridges in her time on the show, she said she is still in contact with some of her former co-stars. She is still friendly with Erika Jayne, Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley, and Teddi Mellencamp. She said this group has even discussed going on a trip, and has had dinner together. 

Rinna said passersby seemed shocked when they saw them all at a table together. This didn’t surprise her.

“We were secluded at a discreet table in the back, like in The Sopranos, but a lot of people walked by us on the way to the bathroom and stopped dead in their tracks,” she wrote. “They had to rub their eyes like a cartoon character to make sure what they were really seeing. I don’t blame them. It’s a miracle that I made it out of RHOBH with even one friend.”

Rinna said she is grateful for her time on the show, but is glad to no longer be a part of the cast.