The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star teases what’s still to come on season nine, including lots of drama with Camille Grammer.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is moving from puppygate to no-show gate.
"There’s lots of shifts in the group going forward," Erika Jayne teases ET. "Certainly a cast member not showing up after a certain time, you know, changes the dynamic."
Yes, after Tuesday night’s episode, Lisa Vanderpump will continue to hold a diamond in the show’s opening sequence, but won’t appear in any scenes with her co-stars. She made the decision to walk away from the group in the wake of the drama surrounding the dog that Dorit Kemsley adopted from her rescue center.
"It was definitely a difficult spot," Erika says of LVP cutting off contact with the group. "We didn't know what was going on … Because we were thrown such a curve, we, as a cast, kind of gelled together in a way that we have not the previous seasons before."
"I think [Lisa's] playing her own game, which is kind of what she's done the whole time," she adds.
That "game" would include the social media comments Lisa has made in recent weeks, including one that really got the rest of her cast riled up. She replied to former RHOBH star Joyce Giraud, saying she would have rather be filmed with pigs than with her co-stars.
"Pigs are smarter than dogs," Erika rebuffs. "It's a scientific fact. You know what? I've been called a lot of things and especially this year, the vitriol has been really, it’s been intense."
Erika, who has two shoe collections with ShoeDazzle (on display in the interview above), admits the last time she spoke with Lisa was at co-star Denise Richards’ wedding. The next time she may have a chance to face the restaurateur is at the season nine reunion, which films this summer. Lisa has yet to officially say if she’ll show up to the taping, though she hinted to ET back in March that she was likely to make it there.
"She should show up," Erika says with a sigh. "And she should tell her side of the story, and she should sit down with the rest of us and talk about what happened … I hope she's right in the middle with all of us so that we can all see each other and hear each other equally."
If she does show, Erika admits the group is going to need something out of Lisa that, for now, she’s seemingly not going to offer.
"An acknowledgment of her hand in the whole puppygate issue would help a lot," Erika notes. "The acknowledgment of her involvement, whether directly or indirectly. Whether you told someone directly or you indirectly had someone do it. Just that you did it."
As for her current feelings toward Lisa, Erika says she’s "neutral."
"It's neither good nor bad for me," she shares. "It's nowhere."
Luckily, Erika says the show is going somewhere after LVP’s semi-exit.
"There's some interesting dynamics with Camille [Grammer] and the group," she teases. "And I think that's where you're gonna see the majority of conflict … She has a strong opinion about a lot of stuff. It seems to go against the strong opinions of herself, quite honestly."
Camille, however, does not make it on the cast trip to France. She and Denise Richards sat out the trip as they dealt with the California wildfires that ultimately took Camille’s home. Even without Camille, though, Erika says the vacation is drama and rosé filled.
"There's a lot of unnecessary yelling, and poking, and prodding, and picking, and sticking," she says. "There's a lot of that. You know, when you're drunk, you talk s**t. That's what happens."
"I think we talk s**t about everybody!" she continues. "And everybody turned on each other. You know, it was typical."
The trip was teased in both the initial season trailer and the midseason tease, with Erika confronting Kyle Richards and Teddi Mellencamp. She accuses them of "being in cahoots" and asking them, "Are you guys trying to push me out?" Erika wouldn’t cough up what causes the argument, but did say it’s Lisa Rinna’s fault.
Overall, Erika says she had "fun" on her fourth season of the show.
"You can either walk away feeling really defeated and sort of, like, down, or you can walk away feeling like, you know what? I'm OK," she reflects. "And that's how I feel. I'm OK. I got to know these women better, and we went through some interesting things together. Some of us use harder words than others. You know, each season is different, that's the one thing that I think I could say to a viewer is that every year it changes. And your experience, one year you may be great with someone and the next season you may be at each other’s throats."
"As you begin to develop real relationships and bonds it gets harder because sometimes you say things to people and hurt their feelings and you really care about them," she says. "And then you get to relive it, and then you need to apologize and then you need to be sincere about that. If you're unattached then it doesn't matter. And I think that that's something this season you can see is that the five of us really pulled together."
"Maybe I'm just hopeful," Erika then scoffs. "It could be anything. Who knows what those other b***hes are saying about me? Whatever, I'm just being nice."
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. Erika’s ShoeDazzle collection is available online now.
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