When Erika Girardi (and her alter ego Erika Jayne) joined Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she was an immediate fan favorite during her rookie season. After her unprovoked Hong Kong meltdown during her second season and her freak out at new cast member Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave this year, that “fan favorite” status in jeopardy.
Obviously there are a lot of people who are going to adore Erika no matter what. There is a lot to like: she has an intriguing double life, she says hilarious things during her on-camera interviews, and she has such an over the top sense of style. The list goes on and on, but it is tough to watch her snapping at Teddi over and over again, when it appears to be unprovoked. Obviously none of the viewers know every single word exchanged between the two of them, but based on the episodes alone, Erika’s interactions with Teddi have been less than flattering- and that’s putting it nicely.
Before discussing her lack of relationship with Erika, Teddi addressed her confusing dynamic with Dorit Kemsley during an interview for The Bitch Bible podcast. Teddi admitted, “Truthfully as much as the fans have said otherwise, I like Dorit. She’s great TV. She’s funny. She’s a good person. She does have as good heart. Truthfully, me crying came from when Dorit showed me kindness at the end. It wasn’t from when I got snapped at.”
Then Teddi described Erika’s freak out by saying, “Yes, it was too much. It was aggressive. I was shocked.” So were the viewers, Teddi. She added, “As an adult, I’ve never been snapped at before.” She even confessed, “Watching it back I was like ‘What’s wrong with you, Teddi?'”
Teddi seems to have good moments with all of the cast members, even Dorit, but as of this moment, it doesn’t seem like she has any sort of relationship with Erika. Teddi said, “For me personally, I never felt at ease with her and that’s the only person I can say that about on the show.” Ouch.
Teddi theorized, “I think she is aware.” She continued, “I know I can sometimes have a resting bitch face and not even realize I’m doing it.” She also said, “Whereas I see her relationships with the other women and I think they have a good relationship. They have good communication skills. They just don’t really exist with me. In Erika’s defense, Teddi basically called Erika a liar when she accused her of having “pretend amnesia.” I don’t blame Erika for being upset, but her reaction was way too much.
Teddi continued, “For me, it’s not really about the glam, but I feel like so many people in Erika’s life are constantly saying how great she is. So it’s hard when anybody doesn’t really agree with you and I think I’m not the most agreeable human being. I assume that’s probably very irritating.”
It didn’t end with that dinner face off though. Teddi had to relive the interaction when she watched the episode, plus she got to see the digs Erika made during her on-camera interviews. Teddi confessed, “I obviously didn’t like the cry baby comment.” I mean, who wouldn’t? She even joked, “‘I’m done being nice to you.’ She was never nice to me, so that statement didn’t even make sense.” She did invite Teddi to Berlin, that was nice of her…. Oh just kidding, Teddi is a cast member on this show, so I’m sure she was contractually obligated to partake in an all expenses paid trip, so no, Erika’s “invitation” to the girls, really wasn’t much of a gesture if you think about it.
It’s pretty obvious that Dorit has no relationship with Erika, but she seems to have some mixed feelings about Dorit. She admitted, “I haven’t talked to Dorit.” Why is that? Teddi shared, “In all of her interviews, she hasn’t been that positive toward me, but I don’t need her to. My point is, if I say something nice about you, I’m not saying it because I want to hear it back. For me, say all the things that you want, your actions are what actually matter.” For example, she pointed out, “Telling me I look pretty isn’t being nice to me.”
And what about that glassware controversy? Teddi explained, “The thing is, I didn’t even care for me. I felt bad for the bartender.” She continued, “My point was never truthfully to dog out Dorit when I told Lisa [Vanderpump] about it.” If you watch that scene again (which I have several times), you can even see that Teddi never even said Dorit’s name when she was talking to Lisa. Lisa was able to guess- without a doubt- that Dorit was the one who went out of her way to make Teddi feel inferior at her own event.
Teddi explained why she told Lisa about Dorit’s glassware complaints: “It was more to say that you guys are just on a different playing field than me when it comes to events.”
As of now, there really isn’t much that Teddi can do. The season was filmed months ago. Now she just has the reunion to prepare for. She revealed, “I’ve gone back and watched all these reunions now. I’m really ready for mine.” We’ll see about that.
TELL US- WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON: TEDDI’S OR ERIKA’S? DO YOU THINK TEDDI IS A GOOD ADDITION TO THE SHOW? SHOULD TEDDI COME BACK FOR A SECOND SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
