Adrienne Maloof was not the first Housewife to ever pull a no-show at a reunion. But she was the first, and so far only (ahem, looking at you Lisa Vanderpump) ‘Wife to be fired for it after skipping the Season 3 sit-down for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
While she’s since mended fences with Bravo, the RHOBH alum has never really publicly addressed her controversial decision and subsequent firing. In a new interview, Adrienne is finally speaking out about whether she regrets missing the reunion and compares her experience to LVP‘s disgraceful no-show six years later.
Much of Season 3’s drama revolved around Brandi Glanville blurting out a scandalous family secret about Adrienne and her then-husband Paul Nassif. It was so scandalous, in fact, that the couple sued Bravo to keep the network from revealing what Brandi said — leaving the revelation bleeped out every time it was addressed on camera.
Eventually, tabloids figured out that Brandi had spilled the tea that Adrienne had used a surrogate to give birth to her three boys — a fact the kids themselves didn’t know at the time. Cut to a recent Season 10 episode of RHOBH, where Brandi and Adrienne reunited at Kyle Richards‘ Black and White gala along with nearly every other former ‘Wife in the show’s ten-year history. Via confessional, Brandi finally admitted to spreading the secret — using the word “surrogacy” seven years after the explosive storyline drove Adrienne to skip out on her final reunion.
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Following the episode, Adrienne finally looked back on the situation in a new Life After Bravo segment. However, she still seemed reticent to directly use the word “surrogacy.”
“Out of respect to Paul, it’s something he would have to share as well,” she told host Megan Segura. “Like it’s not just one parent. And I don’t think he ever really gets asked the same questions I get asked. So…”
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One thing Adrienne did do, however, is point the finger squarely at Lisa Vanderpump for goading Brandi into starting the entire ordeal. (For those keeping score at home, this would make the entire Season 3 storyline yet another one of LVP’s behind-the-scenes machinations. She used Brandi to go after Adrienne much like the way she used Camille Grammer to bring up Taylor Armstrong‘s abusive marriage in Season 2. The same way she used Brandi and tabloids in a suitcase to attack Kyle‘s marriage in Season 4. The way she manipulated Lisa Rinna into labeling Yolanda Hadid with the word “Munchausen” in Season 6. Oh and don’t forget about her plan to ruin Dorit Kemsley using Teddi Mellencamp and a certain Radar Online story during Season 9. Shall I continue?)
“Of course it took me by surprise,” Adrienne admitted of her family secret being brought up on camera. “And Brandi has said to me several times [that] she’s apologized, ‘It was not me, it was Lisa that wanted to kind of do the whole media thing and bring it out. At that point, I think Paul and I both were being protective. Very protective. And that’s what parents do. It could’ve been handled differently. It’s just that she, meaning Brandi, I think she was pressured a little bit to bring that out. She definitely didn’t say no! But do I think she was the only one? No, I think Lisa had something to do with that.”
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Finally, the RHOBH OG spoke about her last-minute choice not to attend the reunion, admitting she regrets it in hindsight. (Frankly I regret it too. One of my biggest unanswered Housewives questions is what the original Season 3 seating chart looked like. Honestly, you can’t convince me Kyle was supposed to end up on the same couch as Brandi and Yolanda…) Adrienne also didn’t hold back in comparing her situation to LVP‘s in Season 9.
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“There was so much going on at the time,” she said. “When I think back, I think it would’ve been better to just plow through it, get it over with. And I know Lisa may think differently. It’s a little condescending and holier-than-thou. When I look at what I was going through and what she was going through, there’s no comparison. I’m going through a divorce, the whole Brandi and Lisa situation, bringing the things out about my family. I felt like it was almost too much to handle at the time. But in reality, I should’ve plowed through it. I don’t think Lisa would ever say that.”
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TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED ADRIENNE REGRETS NOT ATTENDING THE SEASON 3 REUNION? WHAT DO YOU THINK THE SEATING CHART WOULD HAVE BEEN IF SHE’D SHOWED UP?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]