'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star reveals she was forced to exit the reunion early due to an unexpected medical event.
Sutton Stracke is on the mend after a scary experience on set of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 reunion.
"It's taken me, I'd say, almost six weeks to feel 100 percent better," the Sutton Concept boutique owner, 52, shares with ET over video chat. She says, a little over halfway through the Jan. 26 taping of the all-cast sit-down special, she started to feel flu-like symptoms.
"I was like getting hot and cold, and I remember saying to [Garcelle Beauvais], 'Is it hot in here?' and she was like, 'Girl, no. It's freezing!'" Sutton recalls. "And I kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and the room spun and kind of went upside down and I remember grabbing onto Garcelle."
Sutton says she blacked out, falling unconscious on the couch for a brief period of time before paramedics rushed in while cameras rolled.
"My body went into a shock," she says. "I think my blood pressure was 175 over 120, and I couldn't stop my legs from shaking. It was really crazy, and they sent me to urgent care, and Garcelle came with me."
"I started throwing up everywhere, literally on the floor," she continues. "The doctor said, 'You need to get to the emergency room,' and I was like, 'In the ambulance?!' Like, I had to get in an ambulance, on a gurney. We get in the ambulance -- this was a funny part of it -- Garcelle said, 'Oh, I've never been in an ambulance!' Well, thank you. I'm glad that I can provide you this opportunity to get in an ambulance, ma'am. But I just kept falling asleep in and out and in and out, and I was cold and hot, and cold and hot."
Sutton says she spent about four hours in the emergency room, receiving a battery of tests that resulted in a diagnosis of exhaustion, dehydration and bronchitis. In addition to taking antibiotics and steroids, Sutton has started making lifestyle changes in the weeks since the incident.
"The biggest lesson that I learned is, I travel a lot from L.A. to New York, back and forth, and especially that month, I did it every week," she notes. "And I try I make them really fast, because I have to get back home because my son [James, 17] lives with me, and I don't like to be away from him for more than two nights."
"I run hard, and I can't," she continues. "I cannot go at full speed. You know, I'm 52 years old. I think I'm 22 years old. I've got to take care of myself in a better way. When I travel, hydrate constantly and get more rest. I think that I can sleep on four hours a night, but apparently that's not true. I'm working on sleeping more and hydrating more, and just trying to stay calm."
After restarting her career with the launch of her store roughly five years ago, Sutton's now expanding into a larger company, Sutton Brands. It's added stress to her plate she didn't have in her previous life, before her divorce as a stay-at-home mom to three (James' older siblings, Philip, 20, and Porter, 21).
"Doing a new startup takes a lot of time and energy, while filming a show and being a working mother," she rattles off. "So, there is a lot of bits and pieces to this, and coming from someone that didn't work for 17 years and just kind of did whatever they wanted now, doing this, I'm like, 'Oh, I can't do it all. I have to remove some parts of my life that are frivolous."
Sutton says the ultimate takeaway for herself and for viewers is to listen to your body. While Sutton did just that in the moment, it did result in some things being left unsaid at reunion.
"The sofa must have tipped over, because just [Crystal Kung Minkoff] was left on that side of the sofa," Sutton cracks. "I mean, like, did you scoot over? Like, how did they work that part out, logistically?"
"I did have more things to say, and I am sure Garcelle did, as well," she continues. "I think Crystal probably took the torch and probably did a good job, but you know, she's always great and she was very vocal. I was starting to really lose some of my velocity near the end, because I really did not feel well, but Crystal was holding her own. I think she's a champ."
Parts 1 and 2 saw fiery face-offs between Sutton, Kyle Richards and Dorit Kemsley, including discussion of the pair's speculative comments about Sutton's drinking. Sutton is adamant, she does not have a drinking problem.
"We need to really stop the rumors about me having a drinking problem, it's enough," Sutton pleads. "It can be really damaging to me as a business woman. It's not true, and I just really want to be on the record saying that, and also the eating disorder thing: I ate on set. I had breakfast. We had a lunch."
"I have not spoken to Dorit since I got ushered out and taken to the hospital," she reveals. "I think I said what I needed to say to Dorit at the reunion, as far as that is concerned. We all know it's not true."
"I think we can all let that one go," she reiterates. "Let that mouse go."
As for Kyle, the two shared an on-stage hug after their verbal sparring match and have been working on their relationship off-camera since.
"Kyle and I had a rough year," Sutton admits. "We just had dinner last week and it was it was nice, it was very calm. We have a lot of work to do with one another, to build this friendship back, trust being the biggest factor, but I think the underlying part is that, we are friends at the end of the day and want the best for each other. So I think it's very hopeful."
Sutton is choosing to leave the reunion digs -- including Kyle saying all she brought to the show was a horse and a dating coach -- behind them, so they can move forward.
"We talked about our current lives, you know, because we are more than the show," she shares of their dinner. "We are actually friends, and so we don't need to pedal back. We just were really catching up and listening to one another and, you know, being there for one another, because that's what real friends do and so that's kind of that was our night -- and then Kathy came!"
Kathy would be Kathy Hilton, Kyle's older sister who made a surprise appearance at reunion to close the loop left open in season 12 by some of Kathy's off-camera behavior. The reunion teaser made it look as if Sutton started shaking at the sight of Kathy.
"Oh, those editors," Sutton quips. "It had nothing to do with Kathy's appearance. Kathy and I are good friends. I just had dinner with her two nights ago. ... but, you know, it's funny; Kathy called me and she was like, 'Honey, they're saying this...' and I go, look, it's OK. It'll fall out when we see the episode, because it's obvious that it's not you."
While Sutton was seemingly present for Kathy's segment, she did miss out on Kyle going into detail about her separation from husband Mauricio Umansky and the speculation surrounding her personal life. She'll face questions about all that, including her relationship with country singer Morgan Wade, in part 3. Whatever is shared, Sutton seems hopeful it'll set the stage for a more positive season 14.
"We finally started to have fun, and I think we kind of dusted off the cobwebs a little bit," she remarks. "I like to see all that crazy glamour, and Beverly Hills really sparkly. That's why we have diamonds!"
While no official announcements have been made about season 14, Sutton would welcome one-time 'Wife Denise Richards back to the fold after her headline-making cameos this year. The two recently partnered on a Sutton Brands clothing line.
"Denise is great, just you know, she's a little kooky, but so am I," Sutton says. "Maybe that's why we get along, but Denise is also very smart. ... She's very clued-in, even though we're kind of similar. Like, we might come off kind of clueless and weird, but she's not at all."
As for season 13 newcomer Annemarie Wiley's future on the show, that remains a question mark. Much of the nurse anesthetist's season 13 screen time focused on questioning Sutton's medical history, with an intense interest in Sutton's narrow esophagus.
"I didn't care," Sutton says of the never-ending conversation driven by Annemarie. "I mean, the great news-- it was interesting, because I've gotten so many people talking about their esophageal problems, and I was like, OK, this is cool. Let's get that out there. Anything I can do to help other people, I am all about. So, thank you, Annemarie, for helping bring awareness to something that I actually have."
Part 3 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 reunion airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Episodes stream next day on Peacock.
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