Kim is focused on her continued sobriety -- and her absence will be addressed this season. Still, some of the ladies think it's a "shame" that Richards did not return this season.
“I think [it’s] a shame, really,” Lisa Vanderpump told ET. “Because, always the relationship, when it's a family member, it really raises the stakes, because you're so invested in that. And I like Kim ... she stepped out at certain times, she's needed to step out, and it was a shame she didn't come back this year, because apparently, she's doing, you know, quite well.”
“There were times I really wanted her to be there this season, but she opted not to,” she adds.
“That created so much anxiety for me,” she says. “Just a very difficult, emotional time and I just thought, 'This is not what I thought the show was going to be.' I thought it was gonna be all fun and games, I don't want to do this, but you know, you find the good outweighs the bad, and a lot of good has come from doing the Housewives. I'm doing things that I would've never been given the opportunity if it wasn't for the Housewives.”
This will be the first time in eight years of the show that Kim won’t appear as a cast member. The former child star hasn’t been a full-time “Housewife” since season five, but appeared in a “guest” capacity during seasons six and seven. She arguably delivered season seven’s most intense moment, dramatically returning a gift Lisa Rinna bought for Kim’s grandson at the season seven reunion.
Photo Credit: Bravo
