While Kyle Richards once declared that “in Beverly Hills, fame and money come and go, but friends should not,” her relationship with Lisa Vanderpump may not survive the 90210 drama.
The former child actress and the restaurant owner both joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for season 1 in 2010. The two women, who started the series as close friends, have overcome a lot of turmoil between them over the years. However, their relationship took a turn for the worse during season 9.
The latest issue between the ladies started in 2018 after their costar Dorit Kemsley adopted a puppy named Lucy from Lisa’s rescue center, Vanderpump Dogs. After Lucy ended up at a kill shelter, Teddi Mellencamp accused the SUR owner of encouraging her and the Vanderpump Dogs employees to talk about the situation on camera, so it would be a storyline on the show. While Kyle tried to stay neutral, she questioned Lisa when the story leaked to the press, upsetting the Vanderpump Rules star. The pair then ended up in a heated argument, with Lisa’s husband, Ken Todd, kicking Kyle out of their house.
Amid the drama, Lisa stopped speaking to her costars, including Kyle. The former American Woman producer told Us Weekly at the time that she has “made an effort” to reconnect with her friend.
“Emails and text messages and, you know, I don’t know what else to do,” Kyle told Us in November 2018. “As far as I’m concerned, the ball is in her court.”
Lisa, for her part, seemingly shut down any hope that the two ladies can repair their friendship in her BravoTV blog, published in March 2019.
“For me to put my hand to God and swear on my children’s life and still have my friend disbelieve me is unacceptable,” she wrote. “I assure you, if any of my friends were as vociferous in their statement of innocence, holding up their children’s life … guess what? I would believe them. That is where the show started but is ultimately where our friendship finished.”
While PuppyGate may have ended their relationship for good, scroll through to revisit the ups and downs of Lisa and Kyle’s friendship:
Viewers quickly fell for Lisa and Kyle’s hijinks during season 1 of the Bravo series, which started airing in October 2010. Valerie Macon/Getty Images
Lisa and Kyle got into their first big fight during the season 2 reunion after the former Little House on the Prairie star called the Brit “calculated.” “Being in a friendship with you is like playing chess with Bobby Fischer,” Kyle said after Adrienne Maloof suggested that Lisa sold stories about the cast to the tabloids. Ben Cohen/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
While the costars attempted to move past Kyle’s Bobby Fischer remark during season 3, Lisa shifted her focus and loyalty to Brandi Glanville. Kyle and Lisa then argued over the Vanderpump Rules star’s alliance with Brandi, who often argued with the other women. Gregg DeGuire/WireImage; Robin Marchant/Getty Images; JB Lacroix/WireImage
Lisa and Kyle’s friendship hit a major rough patch during season 4 when Brandi alleged that Lisa wanted to bring magazines featuring stories about Kyle’s husband, Mauricio Umansky, being unfaithful to Kyle on the cast trip to Puerto Rico. While the Dancing With the Stars alum denied Brandi’s claims, Kyle was upset that Mauricio’s alleged infidelity was talked about on camera. (Both Kyle and Mauricio also denied he was unfaithful to her.) Kelsey McNeal/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
While Lisa separated herself from the group at the beginning of season 5 amid the fallout from the Puerto Rico trip, it did not take long for Kyle and Lisa to reconcile and make a pact to not gossip about each other. David Krieger/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
During season 6, Kyle and Lisa were involved in a conversation about Yolanda Hadid’s Lyme disease, in which Lisa Rinna accused the model of having Munchausen syndrome and faking her illness. Kyle was then forced to reevaluate her relationship with the restaurateur again after Rinna and Eileen Davidson claimed the Vanderpump wanted Kyle to be dragged into the Munchausen drama. While Kyle admitted during the season 6 reunion that she was “annoyed” that her “name got brought up,” the pair were able to move past it. SMXRF/Star Max/GC Images
After a fairly pleasant season 7, Lisa and Kyle’s friendship hit another speed bump during season 8 when Kyle thought Lisa held her to a different standard than her longtime pal Dorit, who joined the cast in 2017. Lisa, in turn, accused Kyle and Dorit of not paying attention to her. The three women ultimately decided they could all be friends. Nicole Weingart/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
While the castmates were divided over Lisa’s alleged involvement in the aforementioned PuppyGate scandal in 2018, Kyle told Us before season 9 started airing that she hopes they can repair their relationship. “I love her, I really do. She’s a good friend of mine for many years and I love doing the show with her and I hope so. We have fun together, laugh together, so we shall see,” Kyle said in November 2018. “There has not been any event that she’s not been invited to. So if she’s not there, it’s because it’s her choice. So, I mean, I love Lisa and I have to respect that it’s her choice.” Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage; Cindy Ord/Getty Images
After eight months of silence, Kyle and Lisa saw each other for the first time at the Chanel counter in Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. Us broke the news of the run-in, which was not filmed for RHOBH. While Lisa called the reunion "OK" during an interview with Us in May 2019, Kyle referred to the situation as “extremely awkward.” “I was just like, I said, ‘Hi, Lisa.’ She turned around and she looked like she saw a ghost. She took a double take and she said, ‘Oh, my God. Wow,’” Kyle told Us at the time. “We spoke for quite a bit. … Like [Lisa] said, it was OK.” Getty Images (2)
While Lisa officially quit RHOBH in June after nine seasons, that doesn’t mean she still doesn’t run into Kyle around town. “I’ve seen her twice in Neiman Marcus, and at a restaurant last week,” Kyle revealed at BravoCon in November 2019. “I said to the hostess, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Then we said, ‘Hello.’ I mean, I said, ‘Hello.’” During the fan-convention, Lisa told Us that the brief interaction at the restaurant was “perfect” for her. “It’s just when, if it’s a friendship, then you know, I wouldn’t experience what I experienced the year before. If it was a real friendship,” she explained. Gregory Pace/Shutterstock; Jason Mendez/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The former costars had a memorable run-in when Vanderpump sent her dinner bill to Richards' table. TMZ reported in May 2021 that the Overserved With Lisa Vanderpump star sent over her $132 bill as a joke. Richards and the Bravo producer that she was dining with didn't pay the tab. Luckily, the Vanderpump Rules personality left an imprint of her credit card and a cash tip for the waiter just in case. After the news made headlines, an Instagram user shared a photo that Vanderpump was allegedly asked to sign for a fan. The former RHOBH star "left the restaurant and scribbled all over her former costars faces," according to the account. The print had x's drawn over Erika Jayne, Dorit Kemsley and Teddi Mellencamp's faces, while Richards and Lisa Rinna were given mustaches. Vanderpump’s image featured her autograph and a heart. Shutterstock (2)
Vanderpump didn't hold back when she said Richards should "keep her new nose out" of her business during an interview with E! News' Daily Pop's cohost Lilliana Vazquez in May 2021. Two days later, Richards responded to the comments made by her former RHOBC costar. "I don't care what she says, it's not important," Richards responded in a clip played during E! News' Daily Pop. Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock; Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
In September 2021, Bethenny Frankel claimed that her late ex, Dennis Shields, warned her about Erika and Tom Girardi's legal issues. During an episode of her “Just B With Bethenny Frankel" podcast, the former Real Housewives of New York City star claimed that the estranged couple's legal woes were known by several people, to which Camille Grammer later responded that "one of the housewives mentioned it at Andy [Cohen]’s baby shower" in 2019. Following Frankel and Grammer's comments, Vanderpump opened up about how Grammer told her that it was Richards who first started spreading the rumor among their friend group. "It could be the person that [my husband] Ken [Todd] kicked out of my house,” the Vanderpump Rules star joked in an interview with Daily Mail TV that same month, referring to her season 9 argument with Richards over PuppyGate. She added: “It didn’t surprise me when Camille told me that it was Kyle that had told her the gossip about her supposed friend Erika Jayne. That’s how Kyle works.” Bravo; Shutterstock
During a November 2021 episode of Vanderpump Rules, the restaurateur mentions her former RHOBH costar when Tom Schwartz visits her in Villa Rosa. As the twosome look for a serving platter in the Vanderpump's home, she makes a joke about hiding dead bodies in her basement before opening a door and saying Richards' name. Shutterstock (2)
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