Crystal Minkoff Suggests Garcelle & Sutton’s Friendship Was Based on “Alliance” on RHOBH and Shares Why She Thinks Their Relationship Became “Broken”

Crystal Kung Minkoff suggested that Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke didn’t have a “natural” friendship but an “alliance.” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum also shared why she thinks their relationship became “broken.”​

For several seasons, Garcelle, Crystal and Sutton often defended each other against other castmates. But in the newest season, Garcelle was displeased that Sutton refused to back her as she questioned Kyle Richards over her friendship with Morgan Wade. At the reunion, Sutton seemingly sided with Kyle. And in the final episode, Garcelle refused to take a cast photo and left without telling Sutton goodbye. It was later revealed that she quit the show and unfollowed the cast, including Sutton. 

On the Reality with The King podcast, Crystal suggested that Garcelle and Sutton’s relationship was not a “natural” friendship but an “alliance.”​

“The show doesn’t allow to have natural friendships,” she said, via @bravosnarkside on Instagram. “Alliances [are] part of the experience.”​

“Sutton and Garcelle saw each other a lot [outside of filming] … but I do think that there’s a — and we’ve talked about this on our pod — is that there’s just inherently is like an alliance that happens,” she said. “It’s like you have to. You need to find someone that you trust.”​

She then addressed “what happened at the very end” between Garcelle and Sutton.​

“I think what happened at the end is because of real friendships felt broken. To me, I feel like Garcelle really felt betrayed by her friend,” Crystal explained. “Not [that] the alliance is broken, [but] I think that she really felt like you did not defend me.”​

On March 25, Garcelle announced her exit from the show.​

“CHEERS TO THE NEXT CHAPTER,” she wrote in the caption to her video post on Instagram.​

“Hey guys. So, I have some news. I have decided to leave [RHOBH]. It’s been a wild ride, I mean, some amazing things have happened, and some hard things have also happened, but it’s been a ride nevertheless,” she said.

“One of the reasons why I’m leaving is my family, my boys. Their last year of high school is next year, and I want to be a part of that, and Jaid is starting a new career, and I want to be a part of that too,” Garcelle continued. “And secondly, I have the most exciting projects that I am developing, producing and acting in. I can’t tell you anything right now, but you’ll know soon.”​