Andy Cohen Addresses Rumors Kathy Hilton Could Replace Lisa Vanderpump on 'RHOBH'
Andy Cohen is addressing all the drama surrounding The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and original cast member Lisa Vanderpump’s exit from the series.
ET learned on Thursday that the reality queen has no plans to return to the Bravo series, news which came a day after Cohen confirmed she had not attended the show’s season nine reunion.
Following the announcement, there was rising speculation that Kathy Hilton was being tapped to replace Vanderpump, after she was snapped with Cohen at a Los Angeles restaurant on Friday.
However, the two simply ran into each other by chance, according to Cohen, 51.
“Friday night after this long week in LA, we go out for an early dinner at Mr. Chow. So who is at the table next to us but Kathy Hilton. Only in Beverly Hills, sweetie, does this happen,” Cohen explained on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live on Monday. “Kathy was like, 'Oh! We gotta take a pic. It's hilarious that we're running into each other.'”
By the time Cohen had left dinner, his pal, Bruce Bozzi, had already posted the photo on Instagram with a caption, “Sign on the dotted line... a true diamond 💎 in Beverly Hills.” Despite the teasing post, Cohen said the idea of Hilton joining the series didn’t even come up.
“There have been absolutely no conversations about this possibility,” he said. “It was a funny, suggestive caption. All the reports were that I was taking her out to woo her to come on the show to replace Lisa. There is no replacing Lisa -- let's be clear!”
Hilton had her own humorous response to the speculation, posting a video showing her giving someone a haircut. “Rumors of me joining the Beverly Hills Housewives would interfere with my real job of cutting hair,” she captioned the post.
Hilton's sister, Kyle Richards, who is already on the series, told ET in 2017 that having both of them on the show might be "heavy-handed on the sister side." She did note Kathy had a great sense of humor -- which could make her a great addition to the series.
"What people don't know about her is, she's very funny," Richards said. "She comes across very [prim and proper], but she comes out with the funniest things."
A post shared by Bruce Bozzi (@brucebozzi) on Jun 7, 2019 at 9:18pm PDT
Rumors of me joining the Beverly Hills Housewives would interfere with my real job of cutting hair.
A post shared by Kathy Hilton (@kathyhilton) on Jun 9, 2019 at 3:36pm PDT
During his radio show, Cohen also discussed his disappointment at Vanderpump’s failure to turn up for the show’s reunion. She told ET in March that she had "no idea how I'll feel" by the time the reunion rolled around.
“I really wish she had been there and I think she would've done great,” Cohen said. “I think -- and I hope -- she actually could've left with some resolution.”
He further stressed how he doesn’t envision anyone being able to “replace” Vanderpump, let alone the “whole universe” that came with her, like her pets, Giggy and Harrison.
In fact, it was seeing Vanderpump on a casting tape that originally quelled his doubts about adding Beverly Hills to the list of host cities for the Real Housewives series.
“I just wanted to see more of Lisa and so did all of you,” he recalled. “She is iconic and I am so glad that we will continue to see more of Lisa in all of her glory on Vanderpump Rules. I guess that's what mitigates the loss of her from Beverly Hills -- thank god I still get to see her on Vanderpump Rules!”
“She will always be the queen of diamonds in the Bravo universe,” Cohen continued. “As for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the show will go on. We have a bunch of all-star housewives. And the wonderful thing about this series is that when one person leaves, another joins and you don't know where the story will go.”
See more on the series and Vanderpump’s recent “Puppygate” drama below.
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