The former reality star said she’s “grateful” for her time on the Bravo series, which made her “the person I am today”
Lisa Rinna found one unexpected benefit from her time on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show that aired Friday, the 60-year-old star looked back on her 8-year-run on the Bravo series, revealing that it had a positive experience on her acting career.
“It has made me a better actor,” said Rinna, who has returned to scripted shows after quitting the reality series. “I’m acting again [and] I’m not kidding — you laugh but it’s true. I think it made me a better actor.”
Chris Millard/Warner Bros
Lisa Rinna on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’
She went on to reference Mommy Meanest, the upcoming Lifetime movie she stars in alongside daughter Delilah Belle Hamlin, 25. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of a teenager who is secretly cyber-bullied by her own mother.
“Working with those women, going through that experience… I just did a movie called Mommy Meanest, which I trained for for 8 years on that show,” Rinna said. “I definitely did and I had a lot to pull from. I have a lot to pull from after working for 8 years on that showl Different psychologies of different women, I never would have come across that if I hadn’t done that show.”
The revelation came up when Hudson, 42, asked Rinna if she would ever consider returning to RHOBH.
“No, never. No I wouldn’t,” Rinna quickly said. “I’m grateful for that show. I’m the person I am today because of it, but I’ll never go back. Nope, I did it. Did it, done it, saw the movie.”
Cindy Ord/Bravo via Getty Lisa Rinna at BravoCon 2022
Rinna — who also shares daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin, 22, with husband Harry Hamlin, 72 — announced her exit from RHOBH exclusively with PEOPLE in January 2023, after the airing of season 12. She quit the series after her contract expired, with RHOBH even showing her resignation letter in a season 13 episode.
“This is the longest job I have held in my 35 year career and I am grateful to everyone at Bravo and all those involved in the series,” Rinna said in a statement. “It has been a fun eight-year run and I am excited for what is to come!”
The former soap star joined the show in its fifth season, which premiered in 2014. Over the years, she’d create some of the most iconic moments across the entire Real Housewives franchise, including a memorable fight in which she smashed a wine glass after then-costar Kim Richards alluded Rinna didn’t want something to get out about her husband.
Nicole Weingart/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Lisa Rinna and Sutton Stracke on ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
After Rinna’s exit made headlines, she told PEOPLE she was surprised by the kind things viewers had to say about her legacy on the show
“I didn’t expect that, I really didn’t,” Rinna shared in February 2023. “That is the thing that was unexpected to me the most about everything. I thought people would mostly be like, ‘Thank God we got her fired’ — and some were, don’t get me wrong. But the majority of it was love.”
“Even the way people described my eight years on the show, with words like ‘legend, icon, G.O.A.T.’ — I said to Harry, ‘There are things you’d normally only get to hear if you died!'” she joked. “And that’s how it felt: like I died, but I didn’t, and I got to see all the things that people would say about me at my funeral.”
The Jennifer Hudson Show airs weekdays in syndication (check local listings). Past episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills can be streamed on Peacock.