Crystal Kung Minkoff addressed if the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is scripted, compared the show to a “zoo,” and revealed if she saw her castmates outside of filming. The star – who was fired after three seasons – also hinted at what producers told her.
During her stint on the show, some fans accused Crystal of not speaking out enough. And she often stayed out of the drama unless she was defending her allies, Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke.
On her new “Humble Brag” podcast, Crystal revealed that “the number one question” she gets from fans is whether the show is scripted or real.
Crystal said the show is indeed real but suggested they’re placed in unnatural situations.
“This is how I describe it to people: We are natural animals in a zoo,” said Crystal. “So we have to act natural in an unnatural environment. Be authentic in an inauthentic environment.”
“I don’t see the same people day in day out, the same eight girls every day,” she added. “You don’t see them for six months.”
The alum said costars “get paid” to “instigate conflict.”
“I remember they would just tell me like, ‘Be yourself, but just speak out loud,'” recalled Crystal who said she wasn’t “good” with this. “I did not like it because I’m polite. And to them, it was manipulative. Because when you get on the show, you actually see that, like if you withhold. But I’m like, I’m not gonna say ‘oh I think that’s ugly’ … You just withhold things and you like talk s**t later.”
After Crystal revealed her exit earlier this year, a source told Us Weekly she was “fired because she didn’t deliver.”
“Producers told her she doesn’t have a storyline, so they had to let her go,” said the insider at the time. “They don’t want her back because they feel she has done all she can do on the show and she no longer has much to add to the drama, so another contract has not been offered … They appreciate her contributions to the show, and the parting is not ugly, but it just is time to move on.”
The new season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is expected to air later this year or early 2025.
