The invitation to join “The Real Housewives” couldn't have come at a better moment for Brandi.The former fashion model says she was nearly broke, with little income and zero credit after husband Eddie Cibrian dumped her for country singer LeAnn Rimes three years ago.
“I was a 36-year-old woman who couldn’t lease a car and a house,” she tells The Post. “For 13 years, my name wasn’t on one account.”
She claims she ended up with nothing in the divorce. “We were living way above our means,” she admits, “in a 10,000-square-foot house. There wasn’t a lot to get, honestly.”
Glanville was eventually able to rent a modest, single-story home in LA’s San Fernando Valley.
“I had to pay the whole year in advance,” she admits. “I had to get my daddy to co-sign.”
The new TV gig is helping Glanville get back on her feet financially, but she remains locked in a nasty legal dispute with Cibrian, who has forbidden their two sons to appear on the show.
“When I am working I don’t get to see my children,” she says. “And that is not OK with me.“
She calls Cibrian “hypocritical” because “he does red carpets and all these paparazzi shoots with them. It is the same difference.”
She is no longer speaking to Rimes, who is suing a pair of Glanville supporters for what the country singer alleges is Internet bullying.
“I want the lawsuit to go away,” Glanville says. “It is not going to end up good for anyone. I want LeAnn to be fine. And to be happy. Just take my husband and go away.”
“If this show is gone tomorrow, I made the most of it. I joke that I whore myself out to anyone that will pay me. But that is kind of what is happening.”
We’ll soon be meeting Marisa on The Real Housewives, and it sounds like the newbie is going to have no problem stirring up trouble.
Marisa tells NY Daily News that Lisa isn’t quite as sweet in real life as she appears to be on the show.
“Lisa is very nice... on camera,” Marisa says cryptically. “Let’s just leave it at that.”
Marisa has equally harsh words for Taylor. “She’s one of those women who needs approval from other women because she’s insecure,” Marisa says.
She adds, “To be honest, I don’t think she really likes me either.”
“Camille and Adrienne probably have the most, and they are really cool and down to earth,” Marisa continues. “Taylor is insecure about that, for sure.”
“Girls would be arguing and we’d look at each other and be like, ‘Are you serious?’” Zanuck says of bonding with fellow newbie Yolanda during filming.
Zanuck is more generous about the recently separated Adrienne and Eddie Cibrian’s ex-wife, Brandi, who “is very much a girl’s girl. I think she says things of course without thinking about them and gets in trouble, but she’s such a nice girl,” Zanuck gushed.
If the name rings a bell, it’s because Marisa is married to Dean Zanuck, son of producer Richard Zanuck and a grandson of Darryl F. Zanuck — a co-founder of 20th Century Fox.
Zanuck says she would “possibly” return to the show for another season, if asked. “I’d have to wait and see how I feel about this season.”
But she does have some final words of wisdom after her first one: “Be careful whose toes you step on today, because they might be connected to the foot that kicks your ass tomorrow!”
PARADE Magazine: What’s the secret to making your marriage to Mario work when so many other Real Housewives’ marriages crumble?
Kyle Richards: I think it’s really about not getting caught up in the show and making your family your number one priority. For us, we have our own personal ways that we like to stay grounded, like the spiritual aspect of our lives. Whether you go to church or temple, I think it’s important to have that in your life. I think that’s probably what keeps us grounded.
There’s a real negative side to doing a show like this. There’s a backlash when it comes to reality TV fame. Why did you decide to continue with the show?
For me, whether I came back or not this season wasn’t about my family because they’ve always been fine with it. My kids, they’re not impressed with the show. They come on if they walk into a room, but they don’t really care about being on the show and they’re not affected by it. It was a personal decision, but I also really thought a lot of good can come from doing these shows and we do have a lot of fun in spite of all the drama.
Tell us about the newest housewife, Yolanda H. Foster.
I’ve known Yolanda from around town over the years and she’s beautiful and glamorous and very together. I’m excited to have her join the show. She’s a wonderful addition.
You’re tumultuous relationship with your sister Kim played out over Seasons 1 and 2. How are you two today?
We’re in a much better place. Thank God. Yes, definitely in a much better place than we were Season 1 and Season 2. I don’t think it could get much worse than Season 1, that’s for sure. Things are good now, but I never know when we’re going to clash, we are sisters. We’re going to clash, so you never know when that’s going to change.
You released a book at the end of last year. What are you working on next?
My biggest project right now is that I’ve just opened a new boutique right in the heart of Beverly Hills, and I’m really excited about that. It’s been a lot of fun and my dream to be a standing store right in Beverly Hills.
Are you a fan of the other Real Housewives’ franchises? Do you watch any of the others?
Yes, I do. I watch all the other shows. I love watching all the other franchises! They’re all on the air at different times, so I always have a different favorite. Right now, I’m very intrigued with New Jersey and the whole drama with Teresa and her brother and that whole thing. I’m watching the reunion just going, ‘Oh my God, I can’t even believe what I’m seeing.’ Better them than me right now!
How do you handle watching yourself on TV each week?
We get the DVDs a week early, so we can write our blogs for Bravo TV, so my family always jokes when the FedEx comes and we hear it drop on the doorstep. We gasp for air and just look at it and stare at it a while before we have the courage to open the envelope. Sometimes there’s things in the episode where I go, ‘That was so much fun! I’m really glad we got to do this,’ and other times I dread what I’m seeing and I dread some of the things I’ve done or said.
Yolanda writes in her Bravo blog that she had never seen the show before joining the cast and didn’t entirely know what to expect. “Everyone seems unnaturally uptight, but I am sure I will get the hang of it soon,” she writes.
Yolanda feels she may have misinterpreted Brandi Glanville’s comment about having slept with everyone. “It was a little display of humility, not a dig at me or a form of bragging,” Yolanda says now. “Regardless of how it was interpreted, I think Brandi is an amazing woman, and I think our friendship will certainly develop.”
Brandi wasn’t the only person Yolanda looks forward to getting to know better. “It was also great to connect with Kim (my water buddy!) while she confronts some prior sources of tension,” Yolanda continues.
“Kim and I got along so well despite me having the same birthday as her beloved sister, Kyle, who is clearly not always her biggest ally in life. So much to learn!”
Former The Real Housewives of New York castmember Alex McCord is applying her inside knowledge and sharp tongue to Celebuzz’s coverage of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
In McCord’s exclusive video blog of Monday’s season premiere, the New York mom gives her take on the return of Brandi Glanville, the shifting friendships this season and the moments that made the biggest impact.
What did she think of Brandi’s return as a full-fledged housewife? What moments felt like setups? How does she feel about post-rehab Kim Richards? And quarrelling former besties Lisa Vanderpump and Adrienne Maloof?
SOURCE: NYPost, WetPaint, Bravo, NYDailyNews, CeleBuzz
