‘RHOBH’ Fans Defend Rachel Zoe After She Admitted to Cheating With a Model
In a recent episode of RHOBH, Rachel Zoe opened up about the end of her marriage to Rodger Berman. Zoe and Berman were married for nearly 30 years before she filed for divorce in 2025. In a conversation about this, Zoe admitted she “fooled around” with a model shortly before they got engaged. While cheating scandals don’t generally elicit sympathy from Bravo fans, many people have defended Zoe.
‘RHOBH’ star Rachel Zoe spoke about a past affair
During a conversation with Kyle Richards and Dorit Kemsley, Zoe admitted to “fooling around” with a model at the start of her career as a stylist.
“There was an absolutely stunning model,” she said, per Bravo. “He was flirting with me all day.”
Zoe said that she ultimately brought the model back to the hotel, where they “fooled around.” The next day, she felt so guilty she “wanted to die” because she was in a relationship with Berman. She told him immediately, and it didn’t negatively impact their relationship.
“Then, literally, like, a few days later, he threw me my 23rd surprise birthday, and the next day, proposed in the Hamptons, that night,” she said.
‘RHOBH’ fans reacted to Rachel Zoe’s candid confession
Often, admissions of cheating cause reality television fans to turn on a person. In this case, though, people are not mad at Zoe.
“I mean as far as cheating scandals go it’s mild , a make out session with a random guy when your [sic] not engaged and don’t have a family is wildly different from something like an affair that goes on in secret for months with children involved , the level of deception in Rachel’s case was low,” wrote one Reddit user. “Also, her ex-husband was obvs fine with it so why should we be offended on his behalf?”
“What does it matter if she cheated before they were married?” another person asked. “They obviously worked it out and got married anyway or so Rachel thought they worked it out. I’m not sure what this has to do with anything?”
Many people found Zoe’s honesty about her past refreshing.
“Rachel Zoe is such a Virgo queen, honest to the point of recklessness!” one person wrote. “And we love her for it!”
People criticized long-time Housewife Richards for not offering as much about her personal life as Zoe does.
“Rachel’s given us so much in half a season,” someone wrote. “Kyle has given zero up to this date.”
She said her husband betrayed her
Zoe’s admission came in the middle of a discussion about her divorce. While she hasn’t outright accused Berman of infidelity, she said he irrevocably broke her trust.
“Honestly, it’s like I saw red and just hung up,” she said in a confessional. “People have always asked me over the years what’s the secret to our success. The first answer was always trust. It’s like, when that trust is broken, it’s broken. There’s no going back.”
She filed for divorce in 2025 after a period of separation.
