Denise Richards says she ‘went in very naive’ to RHOBH and that COVID-19 restrictions slowed filming

From fights with her husband to allegations of a lesbian affair, Denise Richards’ latest season on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has been interesting to say the very least. 

And the 49-year-old spoke out about her time on the show saying she ‘went in very naive.’ 

Richards also revealed that due to COVID-19 restrictions filming has delayed episodes as the cast members learn to film themselves, while speaking on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show on Tuesday. 

Richards joined the Bravo show in 2019 for the ninth season and is currently a cast member.  

‘I went in very naive, I think, the very first season,’ she said. ‘I want to be myself, because some people do know of me and I didn’t want to play a character, otherwise let’s call it scripted.’

She continued: ‘So I just wanted to be myself on the show, and you know, whatever happens happens, and just react how I really would.’

Richards did say she enjoyed getting to know the other cast members which includes Lisa Rinna, Erica Jayne, Kyle Richards and Teddi Mellencamp. 

‘My first season I had a great time getting to know all the women,’ she said. ‘And it was fun to be able to — you know, we get to go to fabulous restaurants and trips, and I had fun with them, and I genuinely formed some great friendships.’

Though, the mother of Sam, 16, Lola, 15, and Eloise, eight, found her second season to be a different experience. 

‘It’s been a different experience,’ she said. ‘But, you know, people are watching, so that’s good.’

Richards did speak out on her alleged affair with co-star Brandi Glanville, which she has previously denied, as the incidents have not yet been aired. 

‘If it airs the way it was shot,’ Richards said. ‘Then people will see what happened.’ 

But production on the season has been stalled as the coronavirus pandemic has put limits on gatherings over 10 people, as well as requiring face coverings. 

‘We wrapped for the season and then we do all our confessionals and everything,’ she said of production. ‘I think that we’re on hiatus because we got so far behind with the confessionals with the COVID.’

She continued: ‘We just recently started doing them where we’re filming ourselves basically.’ 

Adding that some arrangements have been made to allow the cast members to film themselves. 

‘We have someone come in and set everything up with a mask,’ she said. ‘So we got behind for that.’

Adding: ‘So I think that’s part of the reason why we have to go on hiatus. We gotta catch up with the episodes.’

She recently was the topic of conversation for some of her cast mates after the most recent episode of RHOBH showed her husband Aaron Phypers raised eyebrows for his threatening remark toward her.  

The threat to ‘crush’ Richards’ hand came after she was confronted by Kyle Richards and Teddi Mellencamp about not trusting her kids around them.

During the episode’s premiere, Kyle, Mellencamp, and Erika Jayne took to Twitter to react to Aaron’s shocking words. 

During Kyle’s BBQ, Denise felt she was being attacked for not bringing her children, Sami, 16, Lola, 14, and Eloise, to the event. 

But she had earlier told her castmates she did not like the way they discussed salacious stories near her girls, and it upset her that they cited her history of sexy film roles as a reason she shouldn’t mind.