“I’m glad that I wasn’t a Faithful. I really am. That’s hard. And they’re terrible.”
Photo: Euan Cherry/PEACOCK
When she was ousted on the seventh episode of The Traitors, several of Lisa Rinna’s fellow players called her a legend and an icon, words Rinna would most likely use to describe herself. She’s earned them: as a soap star on Days of Our Lives, a standout on Melrose Place, and a fourth-place finisher on Dancing With the Stars season two. Not to mention her eight seasons of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where she changed the game by dancing on tables, breaking wineglasses, and asking if people were doing coke in the bathroom.
During Rinna’s last season on the show, when her mother, Lois, died during filming, she became something of a villain, engaging in nonstop fighting with her co-stars and trash-talking the show on social media. Fans booed her when she walked onstage at BravoCon in 2022, but her public image turned around after her delightful run as an actual villain on this season of The Traitors, where she murdered with so much relish that it could be spread on a billion hot dogs. Along with fellow Real Housewife Candiace Dillard-Bassett and Love Island USA star Rob Rausch, they were a tight band of Traitors until Rob turned Brutus on Lisa and sided with his ally, former Bachelor Colton Underwood, to pull back her hood in front of the whole group.
I would like to start by talking about your Traitors journey at the end. You had this teary good-bye and you said that leaving Housewives was very difficult for you.
It was.
Why was it so hard for you?
Hello? You saw every minute of it. You know what was hard. It was really a difficult season. I was grieving on-camera in front of the world. In hindsight, I should have said, “You know what? I’m going to come back next season. I’m going to go take a break.” I didn’t. I’m a worker bee. I was like, I’ve got to show up for work. And it was a disaster. At the end of the day, grief is really painful, and people don’t want to see it on television, because then it triggers their own grief. So the release of the last moment of Traitors, it really broke me open. I’m really grateful for it, because I hadn’t cried like that in four years. It was a good thing.
How did that mind-set at the end of Housewives affect you when The Traitors came along and you considered whether or not you wanted to go on the show?
Well, listen, I wasn’t super-keen on doing another reality show. I was like, No, I’d rather watch The Traitors. I don’t really want to do it. But I’m a businesswoman, so everybody comes to me and says why I should do it. And then I saw the value in it. I thought, Well, what do I have to lose?
Was there a tipping point that made you decide: “Okay, I’m doing it”?
I’ll tell you, our neighbor down the street who was one of the girls’ best friends growing up, I’ve known her since she was 6 months old. She called me, and she said, “Lisa, you have to do this show.” She’s 27 and I respect her. She’s really the one that made me go, You know what? I’m going to do it. Sydney Bacco made me do The Traitors.
Going into the game, did you have a strategy?
No, none. I mean, listen, I didn’t even watch Survivor. I didn’t watch Big Brother. I don’t know anything about gamers. I just know they’re brutal. And I was like, Okay, listen, I’m just going to go and have really good fashion and be in the moment and see what happens.
Tell me about the fashion. Did you have a stylist? Are all the designers sending you clothes? How did it work?
I had the time of my life. I knew I couldn’t bring Couture Rinna to The Traitors, because that’s Alan’s world, right? He does the wigs and the hair. I thought, Okay, we can’t do that, but let’s find the right vibe. We had a fitting, and we tried on a bunch of stuff and came into something that felt right and comfortable and fashionable, but not trying too hard and not too costumey.
So Alan makes you a Traitor. Did you start to formulate any plan? How did you approach playing the game?
I mean, once you’re a Traitor, your job is to murder people. I think I did a good job of that. I really enjoyed it, and I was very good at it.
How would you have played differently if you were a Faithful?
Oh, God. I mean, I don’t know. As a Faithful, you’re such a target. They’re mice running on a wheel. I’m glad that I wasn’t a Faithful. I really am. That’s hard. And they’re terrible.
You’re not wrong.
I’m not wrong. I even said to Natalie Anderson at the end, I was like, “You guys are terrible.” She was like, “I know. I know.”
Do you feel like your fellow Traitor, Rob, betrayed you by voting for you twice?
What do you think? Duh. But that’s the game. I was sad because we had this great Traitor family, and I didn’t want the family to be broken up. And the same with Candiace. I think we all felt that way except for Rob. And listen, he’s playing a great game. I can’t really fault him for it. But yes, he is a bad boy and he’s getting heat for it, and I’m glad, because he was untouchable the week before. The whole world loved him, idolized him. You were also right there.
Yes, ma’am.
I’m glad that he got a little heat, because he needed it to be taken down a few notches.
What was your relationship with Candiace like before The Traitors?
I didn’t know Candiace. I didn’t know Porsha Williams. I knew Dorinda Medley and I knew Caroline Stanbury.
Who you won’t ever see again, according to her when she was murdered.
I won’t see her at BravoCon ever again. That’s all.
When you said that, I was like, “Lisa won’t see her at BravoCon because Lisa’s never going to BravoCon.”
Exactly. So when she said that to me, I’m like, “No, you won’t.” Very honest. And I had my soap-opera hat. Listen, I went so over the top with that murder. It was so much fun. I was like, “You should thank me, because I gave you a great murder.”
Speaking of great murders, your final murder with the amulet brooch was amazing.
Thank you.
Did you get picked because the amulet looked best with your outfit?
I didn’t get picked. I chose it, because, listen, I knew that I was putting myself out there, but I didn’t care because I knew that amulet would look really good with my outfit and I knew I’d be the center of attention. Obviously, it didn’t serve me well, but it served me well because it was iconic.
I’ve seen you in a lot of great things, Lisa Rinna, but I have never seen your acting skills on better display than when you were like, “Oh, it’s sticking me.” Did you have that plan all along? How did you formulate how you were going to get someone to touch it?
Well, first I was going to drop it and have Colton pick it up. And then I was like, I can’t risk that. He’s too onto me. He’s watching me like a hawk. Everywhere I go, he’s looking at me. So I’m like, Who could I get to fix it? What if I go, “Oh, God, I can’t close it. It’s sticking me.” I knew I could get Yam Yam to do it. I could get Johnny to do it …
All the gays.
I knew all the gays would do it, except for Colton, because he’s eyeing me too much. So, I mean, honestly, I love Yam Yam. We had such a great time, but I knew in the moment when I got in that area, I was like, I got to do it right now. Because we didn’t have a lot of time.
Yam Yam and the producers have been taking some heat for when they dragged him out and he was like, “It’s Lisa! It’s Lisa!” Do you think it was unfair he got to make those accusations on the way out?
I never thought of it that way. I was just so shocked when he said it. I was like, Uh-oh, I’m sunk the minute he said it. Now online when I’m seeing that, I’m like, Oh yeah, he was supposed to be dead. You can’t talk when you’re dead. So I do like that people are trying to have my back. That felt good.
Now that you’re out, is there anyone left in the castle who you’re really rooting for?
Really only Candiace, because those Faithfuls are terrible.
The Housewives seem to get a bad rap in the game. They have that whole Housewives-don’t-vote-for-Housewives thing.
I’m sorry. I voted for a Housewife right out of the gate because I’m a Traitor. I was looking for a secret Traitor. That Housewife-alliance mentality is bullshit. I’m not even a Housewife anymore!
One of my other favorite moments is after Colton first comes at you and says, “You’re not behaving like I thought you would.” And you said, “You want me to be a Housewife, I can turn it on like that. But that’s not really me.” Was that game talk, or do you feel like that in real life?
Both. Because my last year on Housewives, I was really labeled something that I’m not. And it has taken me three years to be on a show that people go, “Oh, that’s the girl we love. She’s back.” And I’m like, “Well, no, I never left. You just had a different opinion about me.” That was a real moment in telling him, “Listen, expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” If you say to me, “I expect you to be like this,” I’m like, “Fuck you. I’m not that. I’m Lisa Rinna. Been in the business for 37 years. I’m an actor.” That was real.
Anyone who watches Housewives knows that the person behaving differently was Dorinda. I mean, she’s been so calm, cool, and collected.
She is so calm and quiet. But again, I think I came in with more of a target on my back. Well, she might’ve too, but no one’s noticing it. Dorinda’s not being Dorinda at all, but what are you going to do?
Are there any other Housewives you think would be great on The Traitors?
I think Erika Jayne would be great. I would love to see a big actor do it, not a Housewife but somebody like Julia Roberts or Jennifer Lawrence or Kate Hudson.
How would Harry Hamlin do, speaking of great actors?
You know what? I think Harry Hamlin would be awesome. He’s super-smart. He can be MacGyver and live out in the woods. He’s got a little Rob in him. If there’s a snake in the backyard, he’ll put it in a trash can and then make the gardeners take it away. He won’t kill it.
Would you come back for an all-Housewives season of The Traitors?
No!
Why not?
I don’t want to be near those women. Hell no.
How is playing a Traitor different from being on Housewives?
It’s not anything like being on Housewives. You’re playing a game, and I always remembered that, so I never took it personally. I never had grudges against people. I was a Traitor. I did what I was supposed to do. Housewives was not a game. That’s the difference.
These gamers always say, “It’s a game. It doesn’t matter. Do whatever you want to do.” But, for Housewives, being on a show is their real life. And I feel like they often approach the game like it’s real life. We’re seeing Candiace do that now, coming after Rob.
It’s a fine line, because you get triggered. We were watching a roundtable the other night, and Harry was like, “Wow, this is hard.” Because everybody’s psychosis comes out in these pressure moments. It’s a lot to handle. That’s why I would sit back and go, “It’s just a game. It’s not personal.”
What do your girls think of watching you on the show?
They knew how difficult it was for me to do it. It took three weeks for me to recover. They were like, “Wow, that really took Mom out.” I think it was really just joyful for the whole family to see me have a truer moment in a show like this.
Your three weeks of recovery — was it a physical recovery or an emotional recovery?
Mental, physical, and psychological, truly. I just had to go to bed for three weeks. Seriously. I’m not kidding. I know you think, Oh, come on, girl. Truly, three weeks to recover. Maybe more.
Well, Lisa, it was a pleasure watching you.
Thank you. I feel so good about it. I feel like I won. I really do. I don’t need to go to the end. I won.