‘RHOBH’s’ Kyle Richards on Dorit Kemsley feud, partnership with Reese Witherspoon and possible ‘Halloween’ sequel

Kyle Richards is the last member of the OG cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsand season 14 looks to be one of her most challenging seasons yet.

The actor, entrepreneur and reality TV star spoke to Deadline about the new season of Bravo series, her friendship with co-star Dorit Kemsley, the project she’s working on with Reese Witherspoon, and whether she’d return for another Halloween rates.

RHOBH Season 14 begins with Richards and Kemsley not speaking since filming the reunion. Their friendship becomes even more bitter when Kemsley reads a private text message from Richards at the reunion, wanting to patch things up. However, Kemsley sees Richards’ actions as a form of manipulation, as she believes Halloween the star only gets to it when the cameras are rolling.

“Well, I always look at what people accuse you of because it seems like something they would do to people. So that’s how I looked at it,” Richards said deadline. “I think my text that he read at the meeting was very transparent. It was actually the complete opposite of manipulation. I couldn’t have been more transparent in what I told him about not wanting to ruin a friendship over a reality show. And I think that was manipulative, it was her reading this on camera, a private text…”

Richards continued, “I mean, with any of the cast members in all these years, nobody’s ever done that to me and I’ve never done that to them. So that was obviously very upsetting. And we entered the season in a bad place because of it. That was one of the things, so you’ll see us work through all of that as much as we can throughout the season. But then we’d kind of take one step forward, two steps back.”

After the trailer of the new season of RHOBH dropped, many viewers noticed that Kemsley was more active than previous seasons. Some pointed to rumors that a cast change was taking place and that Kemsley was trying to secure the diamond, which Richards agrees with.

DEADLINE: There have been rumors online of cast changes. Dorit was one of the names floated online as a possibility of no return. Do you think her being a little bit more turned on and hot for you somehow influenced that?

KYLE RICHARDS: Yeah, which was really frustrating for me, because I’m like, “We’re friends, (which) is more than a TV show,” and so I felt even more frustrated with the things that were happening. camera and read text and all that. It kind of made me think, “Okay, okay, wow. Talk about manipulation.”

DEADLINE: From the reunion until the cameras roll again, Dorit reveals she’s going through marital problems. Was there any intention on your part that you wanted to talk or work things out with her? How was your friendship during that time?

RICHARDS: My intention from the beginning going back into this (was) to get this resolved right away and hopefully get back on the same page and be able to support each other because of what we were both going through. And I was only met with resistance. And I thought, “Okay, okay, I see what’s going on here. She doesn’t want to fix things.” So I kept trying but I found it very difficult and I met a very different Dorit that I was used to seeing and it didn’t feel like it was just what she was going through in her life. She just seemed a lot angrier.

DEADLINE: But what do you think was Dorit’s motivation for not trying to patch things up with you, despite your longtime friendship?

RICHARDS: Well, I think you kind of hit the nail on the head with what you said a minute ago, which I’m not sure if I want to repeat that, but I think that’s a big part of it. And then I think she’s also maybe upset about what’s going on in her life.

Kyle Richards and Dorit Kemsley in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Griffin Nagel/Bravo

DEADLINE: Do you ever feel like social media conversations are influencing cast members to create stories for the show?

RICHARDS: Well, I’d like to think that’s not the case. The reason The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills it was such a success is (that) we had real issues and real problems. I think when we started the show, people expected it to be fake and fake because it was Beverly Hills. And they soon learned that we have big problems, just like everyone else, regardless of the size of our homes. That’s why I’ve always been one of the best shows — (it’s) because of that and that’s how I’ve lived my life on the show, and what I say to the women’s faces on stage, I’d say off-camera, and I’d be consistent in my conversations with the other cast members and in my interviews, and sometimes I see that I’m cute with my face and then very different conversations happen with the other cast members. And I’m like, “Wait, what am I thinking here?” But then that perpetuates more problems within the show.

DEADLINE: It seems this year, more than ever, the other girls are rooting for you. If you could have a former cast member back who would have your back unconditionally, who would you want to return?

RICHARDS: Teddy (Mellencamp). I know she would always support me. Erika (Girardi) has always been firm and has never made me question her friendship in all the years she’s been on the show. (In the past), a lot of cast members have hurt me, and then they apologize and come back and do it again, so you’re kind of left wondering, ‘Will the real person please stay here?’ but Teddi I know would, like Erika, be supportive. And I can trust her.

DEADLINE: We see some of those patterns with Sutton (Stracke). She will expose situations in your life on camera, then apologize, and then it will happen again. How is your friendship with Sutton now?

RICHARDS: She came into this season really wanting to mend our friendship and apologizing for the way she treated me last year. I really appreciated that and felt it was genuine and was grateful because I care about her and just wanted to be friends again. I need all the support I can get right now, so I was grateful for that. And then, you know, you see the trailer and you’re like, “Wait, what’s she saying behind my back?” So I don’t know. I’ll just have to wait and see like everyone else what is said when I’m not around.

DEADLINE: Earlier this year, Reese Witherspoon shocked the Bravosphere by saying she had a project with a Real Housewives starwhich you later confirmed to be you. Will we hear about this soon? Is it scripted? Unscripted?

RICHARDS: Yes, it’s an unscripted documentary series, but for now, that’s all I can say.

DEADLINE: Jamie Lee Curtis, Your Ex Halloween co-star, hinted that she might still be ready to do another Halloween. Would you be interested in returning?

RICHARDS: Did she say that? I would 100% – I would love to do that. I’m thankful I didn’t get killed in the last one – since the original one, I survived. So I’d love to come back doing something like that with Jamie, or, you know, come back as my character Lindsay.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 14 premieres Tuesday, November 19 at 8:00 PM ET on Bravo.