Lisa Rinna Says She Never Heard Rumors About Her Husband’s Sexuality Until She Joined ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’

Lisa Rinna is getting really honest with her audience in her new memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It. The memoir covers everything from her soap-opera start to her days on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Rinna is even addressing her husband, Harry Hamlin’s, sexuality in the pages of the non-fiction offering. Despite longstanding rumors, Rinna insists she heard nothing about Hamlin possibly being gay until she signed up for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She’s setting the record straight (he’s straight) and offering her theory on why the rumors have had so much reach.

Lisa Rinna says she never heard rumors about Harry Hamlin’s sexuality until she joined Bravo

Lisa Rinna is talking about Harry Hamlin’s sexuality. At least she’s addressing rumors that he is gay head-on. In her memoir, Rinna reveals that she had never heard rumors about Hamlin’s sexuality until she signed up for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2014. She contends that was really the first time she had heard anyone publicly suggest to her that her husband wasn’t heterosexual. Rinna states that she thought, at first, that her co-stars were just trying to get under her skin. Eventually, she recognized that it was a very longstanding rumor.

Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna were married for many years before she joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The couple met by happenstance in 1992. At the time, Hamlin was in the process of separating from his second wife, Nicolette Sheridan. Rinna was dating someone during that first meeting. Still, they felt an instant connection. They began dating just months later. They tied the knot in 1997. Their daughter, Delilah, was born in 1998. Their second child together, Amelia, was born in 2001. Hamlin has a son, Dimitri, from a previous relationship.

She has theories about why so many people think he’s gay

Sure, Lisa Rinna concedes that her time on reality TV certainly led to more speculation about Harry Hamlin’s sexuality. Still, her TV career certainly wasn’t the origin of the rumors. While Rinna insists the rumors became more commonplace after she signed on to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, speculation has followed her husband for decades. In the memoir, Rinna suggests that Hamlin, as a good-looking and well-dressed actor, was likely destined to have his sexuality questioned no matter what. Still, the choice to play an openly gay character back in 1982 pretty much ensured people would question whether he was gay or straight.

While Hamlin’s looks, sense of style, and role choices sparked some of the rumors, Rinna notes that such questions were common on the series. She contends that, at one time or another, every Bravo husband’s sexuality has been questioned. While she didn’t delve into how such speculation is presented, she admitted that the housewives often make accusations to upset their on-screen nemeses. It’s unclear if she believes it’s common across all installments, or if the ladies of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills are especially problematic in that way.

Rinna walked away from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2022 after eight seasons. She joined the cast as a guest during season 4. She became a full housewife during season 5. Rinna departed at the end of season 12 and has no plans to return. Season 15 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is currently airing.