Kyle Richards And Bethenny Frankel Go Way Back

NYPost.com:

After the colossal failure that was "Real Housewives of D.C.," I think we all began to doubt Bravo's ability to hone in on new social circles that were as engaging, dynamic and hysteria prone as their Orange County, New York, New Jersey and Atlanta predecessors.

Thankfully DC proved to be an aberration the night "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" bowed -- not a huge shock given the pedigree. From the homes to the jewels to the drama, every signature element of the franchise is bigger, better and blonder. 

But it's a pair of the shows brunettes that have turned the show into appointment viewing: Lisa Vanderpump & Kyle Richards. This afternoon I caught up with Kyle to pick her brain on five of fans' biggest burning questions. Thankfully it didn't matter if we were talking about her war with fellow Housewife Camille Grammer or her constant rivalry with sibling Kim Richards, she was just as straight-forward as I had hoped. 

PopWrap: Were you hesitant about doing reality TV?
Kyle Richards: It’s funny because in LA the running joke was that every girl in town said, “oh they asked me to do it and I turned it down.” Except they didn’t ask half those girls [laughs]. I really was hesitant though, growing up as an actress, I never wanted to do reality TV – to me that is the kiss of death. But when this came up I did my homework and watched all the shows ... and I got so into them, it was embarrassing. As soon as the house cleared out I would make popcorn and watch "Real Housewives of Atlanta."

PW: But you were friends with "RHONY" star Bethenny Frankel prior to this, right?
Kyle: For like 20 years. She was the hostess at a restaurant in Beverly Hills .. she’ll probably kill me for saying this. But I was having lunch one day and she plopped down right next to me and said, “do you use Lancome eye makeup remover?” Turns out she was dating my ex and the Lancome was in his apartment. We started laughing and became friends. Then I got her a job with my sister driving Paris and Nicky to school. 

PW: You seem to mesh with the entire cast ... except for Camille Grammer -- why do you think that is?
Kyle: We're just night and day. It's funny because I don't fight with people, I think I get along with everybody. But we just clashed from day one, which really surprised me. And it wasn't even for the cameras, our fight started off camera. Every time we tried to fix it, we just made it worse. Next week is the big kick off when everything starts to flare up. So I look at this week as the last chance for some nice family time before the screaming.

Interesting. But yeah, I don't think Bethenny's going to be happy at all about Kyle telling the world that she used to be Paris and Nicky's chauffeur.