Before this season began, Kyle Richards dragged Denise Richards as a quitter. But as the season unfolds, that is not the whole story.
Hostile sparks have been flying between these two Richards, and on this week’s RHOBH, the ladies exploded at each other.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, and that includes Kyle having a breakdown at Denise’s pizza party.
Though it was Lisa Rinna who prompted the emotional display, Kyle still found the time to call Denise a “ragamuffin.”
On this week’s episode, Denise chatted with Erika Jayne about that incident.
Erika tried to persuade Denise that this was simply the result of Kyle being under a lot of pressure.
Denise, however, wasn’t buying it.
“I am filming in Los Angeles, I got an ex-husband I’m dealing with, I got a kid with special needs, I gotta pay the bills,” Denise remarked.
“B–ch, we all have a lot going on,” she observed.
Denise assessed that “that’s not an excuse to be an asshole.”
Her conversation with Erika swiftly turned to Erika issuing an apology for the loud conversation about threesomes that the ladies had.
Specifically, Denise’s daughter Sami had overheard the chatter, though she stressed to her mom that it was no big deal.
That’s pretty standard in terms of reactions from 15-year-olds.
Some have never heard of threesomes, others have been part of one, but either way, they’re going to be chill when the topic comes up.
Even then, the Richards v Richards tensions reared their ugly head.
Denise could not help but notice that out of everyone in the group text that she sent to thank them for attending, only Kyle had failed to respond.
After Lisa’s daughters’ photoshoot (which was partially Lisa’s, to everyone’s amusement), Kyle suggested a celebration.
She pitched a weekend trip to Santa Barbara to celebrate wrapping up “Halloween Kills.”
“What does Kyle want? A f–king medal?” Denise complained in the confessional.
“I shoot about 10 episodes of Bold and the Beautiful a week,” she noted.
Soap operas famously film at a breakneck rate, which is why they look the way that they do. The actors are good, but they do not get reshoots.
“Want to know how I celebrate?” Denise said to the camera. “I cook dinner for my kids and I memorize my lines for next week.”
Lisa apologized to Kyle for hurting her feelings at the pizza party, and Kyle shared her suspicion that it was just an effort to smooth things over.
Then it was Kyle’s turn for an apology, apologizing to Denise for leaving in a weeping huff.
“I love Kyle’s half-assed apology, because she doesn’t give a shit what I have to f–king say,” Denise told the camera.
Denise said that Kyle “only cares about getting her point across, and I find that really f–king selfish.”
Following some drama with Sutton, Dorit stirred the pot by bringing up how Kyle had said that the rest of them were “fake ass b–ches.”
“I want to know, who is a fake ass bitch?” Denise very confrontationally asked Kyle.
Kyle protested, saying that she thinks “everyone has that potential,” which is decidedly not an answer.
“Even you Denise, who was down to earth, no makeup last year,” she continued.
Kyle accused Denise: “You’re all of a sudden getting glam and having a diamond ice sculpture at your house.”
“Everybody’s so full of s–t,” she commented.
“Who gives a s–t if I have a goddamn ice sculpture?” Denise demanded.
Kyle then opined: “It just seems like that’s not how you were before.”
At this point, Lisa Rinna chimes in to back up Denise’s claim that she’s not upping her ante just because it’s Season 2.
She confirms that, years ago, she rode on the back of a camel at Denise’s house.
The episode even played footage of that — dated to 2011.
So clearly, the ice sculpture is, if anything, a little understated for Denise’s tastes.
“Why am I fake because of that?” Denise demanded to know.
She then reminded her castmates: “I’ve been an actress in this business for a long time. I’ve done glam.”
“Half the time you guys see me,” Denise noted, “I’m coming from f–king set.”
This then leads Denise to making one of her best statements of the season so far.
“I am f–king Denise Richards, Kyle!” Denise declared.
“I don’t think these b–ches know,” she continued.
Denise observed: “I’ve been on every f–king magazine cover you could possibly imagine that they would want to be on.”
She’s not wrong. She is certainly and easily one of the most high-profile Real Housewives in the franchise’s history.
That was not the end of the confrontation at the table, however, as Denise then lectured Kyle about her apparent need to interrupt others.
“Do you realize you don’t let some people talk? You talk at us sometimes and not to us and you don’t listen,” She accused.
Kylie’s attempts to defend herself did not do her any favors.
“You need to be quiet!” Denise admonished. “Stop! Do you ever let people talk!” Only Lisa’s timely intervention cut the tension.
