After a tumultuous couple of years, Erika Jayne is forging a path forward — one where she leaves the “angry, reactive person” within her behind. Ahead of the emotional Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 13 premiere, the reality star, who has been in “a lot” of therapy since we last saw her, fills Decider in on what’s been going on in the 90210.
Between Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky‘s separation and both Lisa Rinna and Kathy Hilton departing Bravo, there have been plenty of shocking shakeups on RHOBH. In fact, the first episode seeks to bring the fractured group back together to hash out their issues following the heated Season 12 reunion.
At a healing retreat led by a spiritual guru named EagleWoman, Jayne sobs as she apologizes to the ladies for her often-criticized behavior from last season, while she also works to make amends with Dorit Kemsley after predicting at last year’s BravoCon that her marriage would be the next one from the Bravoverse to fail.
While she and Kemsley have since “moved on” from their feud, things weren’t so sunny between Jayne and a newly returned Denise Richards, who apparently “came looking for a fight” at a cast dinner party, per the show’s explosive trailer. Plus, we may be waiting a bit longer for Jayne and fellow Georgia Peach Sutton Stracke to fully hit it off because, according to the singer, nice moments between them “inevitably get ruined” by Stracke.
From her Las Vegas residency to a chaotic cast trip to where she currently stands with her fellow castmates, Jayne dishes on it all. Read on for the full interview.
DECIDER: In the first episode, we see you apologize to the group for what you called “vicious” and “rough” behavior last season. As someone who doesn’t always wear her emotions or get super vulnerable, why do you think you had such a tearful response?
JAYNE: For the last couple years, I felt very cornered and very misunderstood and very judged [harshly] and one-sided. Very biased. I have to live with that. And I just think that, at some point, that’s not really who I am. That is a side of me that comes out when I am pushed to a place that I really need to defend myself. But that’s not who I want to be. It’s tiring and it’s not my nature.
Unfortunately, that’s what I’ve had to show for the last couple of years in order to basically just, you know, keep the wall built and make it through one day at a time just with all of these things I was — well, I still am — dealing with.
I’ve been in therapy a lot. And I think that it was important that they just see me for me and not for a very angry reactive person.
You and Dorit start off on a rough foot in the episode. In her confessional, she shades your hormone use and says it’s Ozempic and calls you out for the BravoCon comment. Where do you guys go from here?
Today as I speak to you, I’m friends with Dorit and I care for Dorit very much and I’m very sorry that I hurt she and PK’s feelings with what I said at BravoCon. That was not my intention. It was a question that I did not want to answer. If you go back and watch and I did and it flew out of my mouth. I paid the price for that. I apologized. When I apologized in the moment, it was not good. And that’s really where it’s at. But I think we’ve moved on.
With Lisa Rinna gone, who would you say is the biggest pot-stirrer this season? Did you miss filming with her?
I miss filming with Lisa. Everybody misses Lisa. She was a big part of the show. [She] moved the story along. She was great. Who is the biggest pot-stirrer? I think we all have moments. You know, I think that we all have a moment or two of getting in there and making things happen.
Speaking of people who didn’t come back, Kathy Hilton. How do you feel about her choosing not to return? And do you think she ever will?
That’s Kathy’s personal decision and I really have no opinion on whether she should or should not return. That’s purely up to her.
Kyle and Mauricio have been the talk of the town. Is there anything you can say about their separation? And what advice would you give Kyle when it comes to dealing with the heightened media attention?
I’m not going to reveal any conversations that I’ve had with Kyle privately. I stand in support of my friend Kyle. This is a very painful thing to go through not on television and on television it’s worse. You know, Kyle knows that she can call me at any time if she needs me.
On a lighter note, do you have any Dancing with the Stars tips for Mauricio based on your own experience?
I heard he got kicked off*. Dancing with the Stars is a very hard show. It really is very physical. I didn’t watch him on there but it’s a tough show. But good for him! I mean, I think it’s great to do these things.
*Mauricio was not yet eliminated at the time this interview took place. However, his most recent score on Oct. 17 did fall amid the bottom three.
You and Denise have a pretty tense exchange in the trailer when she calls you evil. What can you say about that? And what is the state of your friendship today?
Here’s the thing with Denise. Denise came to a dinner hosted by Kyle and it was nice to see her. Then she launched into this kind of tirade with me, and I really didn’t understand what she was saying. It’s been four years since I’ve seen Denise and I really thought that it was very misplaced anger. It needed to be with Brandi [Glanville]. She needs to take her anger up with Brandi, Lisa Rinna and Teddi Mellencamp but I just happened to be there. So she unloaded on me. And I apologized — not really knowing what I was apologizing for.
Then I had to see her again. So I called Teddi Mellencamp, who remembers everything chapter and verse and I said, “Hey, can you remind me what was going on?” And she said, “Oh, yeah, no problem.”
So I came prepared to Taco Night in the pink dress. It didn’t have to be that way with Denise. Denise picked that fight, Denise wanted that. I was very gracious at Kyle’s house and just said, “I’m very sorry, I’m confused. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And she would say things like, “Well, go watch the fucking show.” It was so uncomfortable to watch her in that state. Like, her jacket was on upside down. It was tough. At Taco Tuesday, I just had it so fuck it. I didn’t go looking for a fight with Denise. She came looking for a fight with me and she got one.
Where does your friendship with Sutton stand this season? Will we finally see our Georgia Peaches in action together?
It really depends on Sutton. I have nice moments with her and then it’s almost like she changes and then she becomes very sort of catty or rude. It would be nice because there are nice moments but it inevitably gets ruined — by her.
You currently have a Las Vegas residency. But in the trailer, you seem worried that people might not want to see you back on the stage after the last couple of years. What ultimately made you decide to take the risk and go for it? And what can fans expect from the show?
You have to take risks in life. And when you’re given an opportunity like this, you’d be a fool to turn it down. So, of course, I was going to do it. And yes, you think, “Wow. I’ve been away for a long time. I hope people will come.” You don’t know.
It’s been so much fun. And it is a great show. It is an 80-minute dance party starting from my first record in 2007 to now [with] new material. It’s just great all the way around. I don’t know if you’ve seen some of the things online. It looks good. It sounds good. And it’s a good time.
I am super excited to attend your Pat the Puss panel at BravoCon. What are you most excited for?
I’m excited too. We’re going to talk about dance and performance and auto-performance. Then we’re teaching a small combo at the end that everybody can have fun with. It’s really just about my life as a performer and what that entails and the Vegas show. We talk about [the] Vegas show, we talk about all the shows that we’ve done, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun. And what it takes to put on a production like that — the process of mounting a show like Bet It All On Blonde, which we did in about four to five months.
Is there anything else you can tease about the new season of RHOBH?
Spain is interesting. We went there to release Sutton’s friends’ ashes and they ended up blowing back on us. The rest is, you know, pretty heavy.
I love a good cast trip.
I mean, we stayed in this home that was about 700 or 800 years old and I’m not lying to you. And it felt that way. It was very different. And very remote. Very remote. We were not in the city. And I got bit by a spider and my arms swelled up.
You can’t write this shit. Do you know what I’m saying? I think about this in my life. If I sat down and I was going to pitch this woman — meaning me — somebody would be like, “No, this is totally impossible.” And it’s like, “No, it really happened.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Wednesday nights at 9/8c on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.