As the world turns to increased comforts and low-vibrational entertainment in the wake of a volatile reality, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills returns to remind Americans that, sometimes, the best thing a TV show can be is boring.
In the land of champagne problems and pearl-clutching, voices rarely rise, secrets stay buried, and nothing ever happens. It’s one of those YouTube ambience videos in Bravo form. The Beverly Hills status quo will stay unchanged, no matter what.
Garcelle Beauvais has left and made way for the reality TV return of Rachel Zoe, the star of Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project. It’s a seismic shift for those stuck in 2010, but one that effectively swaps one “above the format, while benefitting from said format” star for another. Will Rachel Zoe even ask women if they’re lesbians or triggered by their daughters’ eating disorders, though?
The Season 15 premiere is a blast from the past in more ways than one—referencing Hot Girl Summer earnestly, in 2025? Really?—welcoming Rachel Zoe back into the Bravo fold just as the RHOBH offer up a simple, low-stakes start to a season that’s more akin to the network’s early days than the post-Reality VonTease era. It’s very old school OC in an almost endearing way.
The big drama of the episode surrounds Garcelle’s departure, having left the reunion stage in a huff, only to unfollow every cast member in the aftermath. That includes Sutton Stracke, who was Garcelle’s ride-or-die for the past four seasons, now on an island of her own creation. Even Jennifer Tilly—the last bastion of fun in the milquetoast land—is M.I.A. in the premiere, emphasizing the new world order.
For as much as things have changed, though, it’s all effectively the same. Dorit and Kyle are still on the outs, despite their reunion kumbaya, and Erika and Sutton are engaging in a two-steps forward, two-steps back song-and-dance, once again.
The blondes sit down for a get-together, alongside Kyle, emphasizing the new lines in the sand. Sutton shares she’s let go of her former assistant Avi (Garcelle scored custody in the divorce), and she’s let go of her marriage, albeit not by choice.
Her ex-husband was granted an annulment, meaning the alliterated Sutton Stracke is back to Brown, humbly trotting out her scary Southern mother to remind us that Hope Floats for this Augusta native. Sutton is the exact type of woman to be dumped on a daytime talk show, after all.
Having lost it all, Sutton’s finally a palatable sad-sack for Kyle and Erika, who scoop her up as an ally—only for Erika to turn around and call her “box” shaped. As I said, a few steps forward, a few back.
Meanwhile, Dorit and Boz have resigned their friendship contract, entering another season of Dorit sharing long-winded stories while Boz reacts “wow!” and “woah!” without getting to share anything of her own.
Contrasting the coy divorce tale of on-again, off-again lesbian Kyle Richards—who does come out as bisexual, somewhat, in the season trailer—Dorit lays it all on the table. The first scene of the season is all about PK’s shortcomings as an ex, having publicly canoodled a lady while requesting joint custody of kids Dorit claims he’s never cared for. Dorit has filed for divorce, re-upped her blonde hair dye, and is determined to shed herself of any and all wallflowers. The b---- flower remains firmly in bloom, God willing.
That makes this an entire cast of divorcees, sans the potted plant named Kathy Hilton. Rachel joins the cast on the heels of her own separation, having filed for divorce from long-time husband Rodger Berman in July 2025 (midway through filming). Her voice is monotone, her outfits are monochrome, and she’s determined to give us nothing in the chicest way she knows. Somehow, it works, even if the last thing RHOBH needs is another boring lady. Thankfully, the second new Housewife, Amanda, seems a lot less put-together, so much so that she missed the premiere in full.
With Rachel welcomed into the fold, Kyle hosts the first group event of the season, a flower-crown party full of Faye Resnicks, where the soap opera vaseline lens fully lulls us into a wonderfully insomniatic state. The best part is the minute-long moment in which Kyle asks, “Who is that? Who are you? Is that Dorit?” as random extra #4 approaches. Also fun is Dorit asking Kyle if she’ll stop being boring and drink again, which is the kind of tactless remark this franchise was built on.
That’s about as spicy as the event gets, as the women resign themselves to keeping the peace to start the season. Even Dorit and Sutton, oil and water, decide to play nice for the moment, only coaxing each other a bit (Dorit asking if Sutton and Garcelle were just an alliance; Sutton snarking at Dorit’s inability to tell her kids about the divorce).
For now, though, it’s all fun in the sun in Beverly Hills. They have an entire season to get to the nitty gritty, so why not enjoy spending time on the surface level? If you want screaming banshees lobbing pill-popping accusations, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is down the hall and to the left. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is Cocomelon for adults. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
