Dorit Kemsley Addresses RHOBH Producers’ “Unspoken Rule” & Viral Smoking Moment, Plus Not “[Giving] a Sh*t” & How Rinna Convinced Her to Return to Show as She Shades Costars’ Confessionals, & Live Viewing Thread

During an interview on Monday, Dorit Kemsley looked back on her viral smoking moment on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and admitted to reaching a point where she didn’t “give a sh*t.”

As she also shared the “unspoken rule” that producers have for the cast, revealed how Lisa Rinna, 61, convinced her to return to RHOBH amid her separation from Paul “PK” Kemsley, 57, and confirmed if she was glad she did, Dorit, 48, said she didn’t expect her smoking scene to turn into such a cultural phenomenon.

“I remember the headspace I was in,” Dorit admitted during a December 9 interview with British Vogue. “I was coming out of such a dark time. It felt like I’d been holding it together. And then I was just like… f*ck it. So that was what you saw.”

“[I] would have never expected a moment like that would have [resonated with so many people],” she continued. “Seeing the I don’t give a f*ck. I really learnt to appreciate the humor and also the power.”

While some Real Housewives have seemingly started catering to what the audience wants to see, Dorit said she’s “never been driven by that.”

“I don’t research and look at Twitter and see what they want… [But] I know that some people do,” she noted.

According to Dorit, she was once “afraid” of how social media would respond to her on-screen behavior, fearing certain actions would be “misconstrued” or “twisted,” but she has since gotten to a place of freedom.

“I reached a point where I didn’t give a sh*t. It’s the best way to do a show like this,” she declared.

Dorit joined the RHOBH cast in 2016 for season seven and has, of course, been involved in plenty of drama since. However, in her real life, Dorit “prefers as little drama as possible.”

Still, even if she didn’t want drama on-camera, she knows she has to save it for the show.

“The producers would kill us,” she stated. “It’s an unspoken rule. You sign up and it’s a year-long commitment and it’s a little unfair if you were to have those conversations without the cameras. When I first started, that was really not allowed. You weren’t even really allowed to carry on having conversations outside of the show. They wanted everything on camera. And I think that’s the way it should be. It’s what we’re being paid to do.”

Although Dorit has gotten used to the cameras after eight years on reality television, she said she’s never been able to get used to her co-stars’ confessionals.

“It’s never easy to hear the ladies saying terrible things about you,” she shared. “I like to see when people are talking sh*t, quite frankly, because [if] they don’t have the balls to say it to your face, they’ll say it in their confessional. And I always think that’s such a chicken way out.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like being sassy and fun. But at least it should echo what you say when you’re with the person, and not be totally different,” she continued. “There are some women in the group that will be very silent and not share their feelings and then [it’ll] flash to their confessional and they’ve got a lot to say.”

“But listen, that’s the nature of it,” she added.

Looking back at the start of production on season 14 earlier this year, Dorit admitted she nearly left the show because she was “done and tired with the bullsh*t.”

“[I wasn’t in a] great place with the women. It was [Erika Jayne], really, who felt like my only friend in the group,” she recalled.

But after having a chat with Lisa, the former RHOBH star convinced her to return.

“I was so tired of this and that, and some of the ladies mistaking my kindness for weakness and treating me like sh*t and being horrible. And she said, ‘You sound like you have big feelings.’ She said, ‘If you’re over it, there’s a whole world on the other side. If not, then go in there and speak your truth, no holds barred… And I thought, you know what, she’s absolutely right. I’ve got a lot to say,” Dorit explained.

As for whether she was glad she came back, Dorit confirmed she was.

“It was liberating,” she revealed. “Even personally, I needed it. I’ve heard a lot of, ‘Dorit finally found her voice’. I don’t think that’s the case. I think for a time I felt broken, and I was fractured. I didn’t have a lot of support from the women. I didn’t have a lot of support from my husband. And being able to come out of such a dark place, and a lonely place, and then to start to feel this confidence and strength… This was the season that I needed to do. And I’m really pleased to see the audience resonating with it. I’m looking forward to a very strong, very empowered 2025.”

Live Viewing Thread – This is also the living viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of the RHOBH season 14. Feel free to chat and comment below as the episode airs on Bravo at 8/7c.