The more things change in Beverly Hills — goodbye Eileen Davidson, hello Teddi Mellencamp — the more things stay the same. The rest of last season’s cast members, Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Lisa Rinna, Erika Girardi and Dorit Kemsley returned for season 8 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and brought their private jets, diamonds and drama with them.
New Year, New Taglines
Another season of RHOBH equals another batch of RHOBH taglines. All six of the leading ladies — not including Camille Grammer who also returned in the premiere and will have a “friend” role this season — have new taglines, but the following stood out as the best.
Erika: “Some people call me cold, but that’s not ice. It’s diamonds.”
Rinna: “I don’t have to buy it, ‘cause I already own it.”
Vanderpump: “The queen of diamonds always has an ace up her sleeve.”
Meet Teddi
It was only appropriate for last year’s newbie Dorit to introduce the audience to season 8’s new housewife. And even more appropriate? Teddi, the daughter of singer John Mellencamp, hosting a children’s music class for her first scene.
“My dad is John Mellencamp, he is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Teddi explained. “It kind of makes me laugh when everybody’s like, ‘Oh, do you have a favorite song that your dad sings?’ Let’s keep it in prospective: in the ‘80s, like my 9-year-old friends? We didn’t give a f—k. We cared about My Little Pony! Care bears! I kind of thought everybody’s dad was on the radio.”
Teddi also introduced the cameras to her husband, Edwin Arroyave, who she admitted she met during a what was supposed to be a one-night stand.
“How I met my husband, I could try to sugar coat it a little, but it was a one-night stand,” Teddi said in a confessional. “It was supposed to be a one-night stand! I woke up with some guy and thought his name was Edward! His name is Edwin!”
The couple are parents to 5-year-old daughter Slate and 3-year-old son Cruz.
Making Up in Vegas?
At lunch with Vanderpump, Kyle decides to plan a trip to Vegas to celebrate Dorit, Erika and Rinna’s birthdays, even though the three ladies didn’t get along last season. Despite joking about bringing a bouncer for the plane, Kyle thinks it’s a good idea. Vanderpump, who is close with Dorit, wasn’t so sure, and joked, “If you tell Erika to pack her underwear then we’ll be good,” referencing last year’s #PantyGate.
Someone else who wasn’t so sure the Vegas trip was a good idea was Dorit’s husband, PK. “You’re going to go to Vegas with Rinna? And Erika? … Last time I saw Erika, she was really horrible to me … Rinna was just a joke, horrible,” PK said to his wife before flashbacks from last season’s reunion and the infamous clip of Rinna asking Dorit if people were doing cocaine in her bathroom aired.
When the group arrives at the airport to go to Sin City, Dorit and Erika play nice and hug it out. “Let’s have fun, I don’t want to fight with anybody, I don’t want to upset anyone, fresh beginnings, happy birthday, yay,” Erika said in her confessional.
Time will tell if Erika and Dorit’s new truce will last … and fans will have to wait until next week to see how Dorit’s friendship with Rinna plays out, as the former soap opera star arrived in Vegas as the episode ended.
Paging Kim Richards
Noticeably missing from the season 8 premiere of RHOBH was Kyle’s sister Kim Richards … but that didn’t mean her name wasn’t mentioned.
“I bumped into Harry [Hamlin] on a hike,” Kyle told Vanderpump and Camille in Vegas, referring to Rinna’s husband. “He says to me ‘So, what are we going to do about your sister? She obviously cannot be around this group ever, ever again.’ And he was clearly really upset about it.”
“So you’ve never discussed [the encounter] with anybody?” Vanderpump asked Kyle. “Nope,” Kyle responded, adding, “I can think of so many things that I would rather do than talk to Lisa Rinna about Harry Hamlin … Pap smear, root canal, enema” in her confessional.
While Kim and Rinna have never gotten along during the course of the series, their relationship seemingly ended after Kim returned the bunny, which Rinna bought for her grandson, during last season’s reunion. It’s safe to assume that this duo will not kiss and make up anytime soon, because according to Kyle, Kim will not be featured on the show this season.
“This season no, unfortunately not,” Kyle told Us Weekly exclusively at the RHOBH season 8 premiere. “She’s doing fantastic. She’s happy and she’s with her grandson almost every day so she’s great.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Bravo at 9 p.m. ET.
