The Garden of Eden might not be paradise after all. On the Tuesday, January 24, episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Eden Sassoon seemed determined to prove that Kim Richards was on the brink of another breakdown. Dorit Kemsley was too busy planning her hubby’s 49th birthday party to pay much attention, and Kyle Richards was thousands of miles away in Mykonos with Erika Girardi.
Speaking of Kyle and Erika, they really bonded over a sunset dinner, as they discussed their families and careers. Like Erika, Kyle until recently had been “only a wife and mom,” but was now working her tail off on an upcoming TV show and running a boutique. Erika, meanwhile, had played second fiddle to her husband for nearly 17 years and was finally breaking out on her own with her music career. They both agreed they were incredibly lucky to have such supportive husbands.
It turned out that Erika had supportive friends as well, however. During dinner, Dorit, Eileen Davidson and Lisa Rinna called Erika to wish her luck on her show. (The three had been rollerblading together somewhere “in the Valley,” a location that Kyle and Erika found really comical for some unexplained reason.)
Erika Teaches Kyle How to Party
In true diva fashion, Erika went on stage at 3 a.m. to debut her new single. Kyle hung off to the side, watching and seeming pretty impressed with Erika’s performance skills. Kyle also seemed impressed with Erika’s male dancers’ abs — which, to be fair, were pretty impressive.
They got back to their villa around 6 a.m., and Erika immediately began posing for photos as the sun came up. Somehow she convinced Kyle to join her for the impromptu photo shoot. Though Kyle resisted at first and seemed more interested in eating, she ended up changing into a sexy swimsuit and striking a pose with her new bestie.
Eden Tells Vanderpump That Kim Is “Struggling”
Back in Beverly Hills, Eden dropped by Lisa Vanderpump‘s house for some girl talk. The conversation started off about Eden. Apparently she had broken up with a guy two days prior because he’d popped a nicotine mint in his mouth after eating a cheeseburger. For full context, he had quit smoking at Eden’s request, so the gum seemed like a reasonable stepping stone, but Eden did not approve. When she needled him about it, he called her type A (which is actually probably a nice word for it). She didn’t like being called type A, and that was the end of that. Vanderpump was somewhat mystified that this ended the romance, but soon they had moved on to Eden volunteering her thoughts on Kim’s sobriety.
After explaining that she lost her own sister to a drug overdose, Eden told Vanderpump that Kim was clearly “struggling” with addiction. When Lisa asked if she’d spent any time with Kim (at all!) besides at the dinner party, Eden said she didn’t need to — she could see what Kim was going through. She also said she could see Kyle enabling Kim. Vanderpump defended Kyle to the camera, saying she was “not that person.” Eden was certain her assessment of the situation was correct, however.
“Kyle is an enabler to Kim because she allows this behavior to continue. She allows a sober woman to speak in ways that a sober woman shouldn’t speak,” Eden said to the camera. “It’s just behavior that, as a sister, you might want to say something.” It’s safe to say that Eden didn’t realize how close Vanderpump and Kyle are.
Eden Admits She Takes Pills
Later, Rinna and Dorit went to Eden’s house, where she prepared them smoothies instead of cocktails. Dorit joked that she wanted to put vodka in hers, and Rinna said she once put a Xanax in a smoothie. Eden didn’t miss a beat before announcing that she would definitely do that. When Dorit did a double take (wondering if you could still take pills if you were a recovering addict), Eden chirped, “I take medication. I just don’t drink.” Hmm. At that point, Rinna produced a giant Ziploc bag of pills, which she said were “mostly vitamins.” The key word in that description is “mostly.”
Eden Comes for Kim (Again)
The night of PK’s party arrived, and after a bit of anxiety over the flower arrangements, which Dorit described as “tragic,” plus some issues figuring out how to hide the stage that Boy George was going to perform on later, things got off to a promising start. Erika and Kyle both came, even though they had been back from Mykonos for about 10 minutes, as well as Rinna, Eden, Eileen, Vanderpump, Kim, Camille Grammer and — randomly — Mario Lopez.
Kim made a point of hugging Eileen and Rinna hello just to make it clear there were no hard feelings. Then she began talking about how she was feeling now that the arrival of her grandson was imminent. “With my grandson coming, I’m starting to get a little bit funny again,” she said. “I’m starting to worry and go back through those first mother instincts.” Eden pounced all over that immediately, asking Kim why she was having anxiety about her grandson’s birth. To the camera, Eden suggested this could be a trigger. “Right there as an addict, she’s going to reach for that drink, and it’s goodbye!” she said to the camera. It seemed like a bit of a stretch.
To Kim, Eden asked if she felt like she was holding this anxiety in her mind, and it was having a physical effect on her body. Kim thought Eden was being weird (which she was), but soon everyone was too busy fawning over Kyle and Erika’s sexy bathing suit photo shoot to get too hung up on Eden’s obsession with Kim’s sobriety … for now.
Tell Us: Do you think Eden is overdoing it in terms of wanting to “help” Kim?
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
