Denise Richards Reveals What She Didn’t Know When She Joined the ‘Real Housewives’

Denise Richards didn’t know what she was getting into when she joined “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” five years ago.

The “Wild Things” star appeared as a main cast member for two seasons of the Bravo reality show in 2019 and 2020. But given her history as a prolific TV and movie actress, Richards didn’t totally realize what she signed up for in the reality TV realm, she told Bravo’s “Hot Mic” podcast in a February 2025 interview.

Speaking with Bravo producer Alex Baskin on the podcast, Richards admitted she expected perks she usually sees on a movie set. She also took the dress code a little too casually.

Denise Richards Expected to See Craft Services on Set

Bravo

In the past, Richards has said that she wasn’t given a lot of direction when she first joined RHOBH. “The producers don’t sit down and say, ‘Here’s the rules of what’s going on with this show,” she told the “Jeff Lewis Has Issues” podcast in February 2022. “They just throw a mic on you, and you go.”

On “Hot Mic,” she told Baskin she knew things would be “different” than the scripted shows she was used to, but when she went on a RHOBH cast trip to the Bahamas she decided to treat it as if she was “on location” for a shoot.

Richards recalled that she expected to see craft services providing food and drinks on set, a perk she received while working on TV and movies, and was shocked when a co-star told her that wasn’t a thing in the reality TV world.

“Lisa Rinna told me,” Richards said. “I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ I thought she was joking. I’m like, ‘There has to be some [expletive] craft service around here somewhere.’”

Richards found a way around the craft services issue. “I raided that [expletive] minibar the next outing when we had to go out on a boat,” she shared. “I’m like, ‘I’m gonna take every pretzel and potato chip here!’”

RHOBH star Kyle Richards previously shared the craft services story. In 2020, she told Entertainment Tonight that a lot of people are “naïve” coming into the “Real Housewives’ world. “I remember Denise’s first season, she was asking where craft services was and I was, like, ‘Honey, this is a reality show. There is no craft services.,’” Kyle Richards cracked. “So, yeah, it’s definitely kind of shocking when you join the show.”

Denise Richards Didn’t Know She Was Supposed to Dress the Part

Elsewhere on the podcast, Richards admitted she took to heart producers’ advice to dress as she normally would. She wore a rock concert T-shirt and jeans to one of her first filming events. The other women were dressed to the nines, so Richards quickly learned that her super causal look wasn’t cutting it. “Even though I watched the show, I didn’t realize until being on it what was all involved with the outfits and all that [expletive],” she said.

Fans may recall a memorable scene from RHOBH season 10 when Kyle Richards referred to Denise Richards as a “ragamuffin” for how she dressed for a pizza party at her home.

After the episode aired, Kyle Richards apologized publicly. “My mom used to call me that when I looked messy,” she explained on X. “She would say don’t run around like a ragamuffin. Doesn’t make it right that I said that. Not nice. Denise is beautiful no doubt.”

According to People magazine, Denise Richards later appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” and said, “I didn’t know she had called me a ragamuffin until I saw the episode. I actually thought it was funny.”