Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards is the Queen of the North Pole, both IRL and in her new Peacock holiday movie titled … The Housewives of the North Pole. A campy feature film that says “pumpkin cheesecake†too many times, it takes place in a little Vermont town called (yes) North Pole, and it has the Hallmark Channel gooped and gagged. In the actress and reality TV mogul’s latest project, following her reprised role as Lindsey Wallace (and Lindsey Wallace’s prize-worthy bangs) in this year’s Halloween Kills, Richards plays Trish, a Christmas addict and BFF to Betsy Brandt’s painter slash divorcee, Diana.
Everything is going great until the duo gets into a classic “Housewife†fight and all holiday hell ignites: Someone throws a super thick Frappuccino in someone else’s face, and so the battle begins to win the town’s Golden Reindeer, awarded to the best-decorated house. Oh, and Kyle Richards gets “pegged†by Santa in a snowball fight. Sleighhhhh, qween! We talked to Richards about the holiday season, Santa (duh), her Christmas menu this year, her sister Kim’s fudge, and which Beverly Hills housewife is the “UN-GOAT.â€
I want to start with the pumpkin cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. Did you eat it? And was it good?
Okay, well, I didn’t actually make it [Laughs].
In the very first scene, you bring the pumpkin cheesecake into the dining room to ask if anyone wants it. They decline. And then you say you’re going to take back into the kitchen, but you actually just set it down on the table. We never get to see if anyone took the bite!
It was so exciting because it was July, but I’m obsessed with the holidays and Christmas and all that stuff. So it was fun to be around all the Christmas decorations and the fake snow and the turkey. And then I’d be like, Can we just eat that? It looks so good. We’d be sharing recipes on the set, Betsy Brandt and myself. But I didn’t eat that because it was a prop. And I wanted to really badly.
Would you say that your character Trish is more into the holidays than Kyle?
I would say Trish is more ambitious and, uh, competitive about it. But I am equally into the holidays. I love the holidays. I put my tree up. My good friend Justin always says it goes up the day after Halloween … slight exaggeration! But it is up before Thanksgiving. Trees! Trees!
How did you end up getting cast in The Housewives of the North Pole?
I think that after Halloween, people started saying, Oh, that’s right, she’s an actor. And then I think the title maybe rang a bell. There’s no affiliation with the Real Housewives reality show; I think that they probably saw this character as a lot like me, because they hear me talk [on RHOBH] about, Oh, I love Christmas and all that. I guess I’d have to say I thank Halloween for that, for people to be reminded that I’m acting again.
Did you pull from your Halloween experience at all for Trish, or was it completely different?
Lindsey and Trish have nothing in common. [Laughs] But it was just so fun playing this character, and playing a mom to a daughter, because I have four daughters. And, my love for my best friend, Diana [in the movie], I am someone who takes my friendships very seriously. So, when we have this big falling out and the whole town’s talking about it and we’re not speaking, I mean, I can relate to that. If I have a falling out with a friend, it keeps me up at night, if there’s some misunderstanding or something. So Kyle and Trish do have that aspect in common.
My favorite line of the whole movie — which is in the trailer, too — is when you say “Fake Fendi.†Did you come up with that? Is there a backstory?
[Laughs] No! And I was like, Oh gosh, why does she have to go there! I think that’s playing into the title of the movie, very kind of a housewife-y comment. But, um, it was funny. I think some people will think it’s funny, people will laugh about it.
Okay, so, about the scene in which Trish throws a frappe in Diana’s face — I want to know what flavor the frappe was, where it was from, how many takes you had to do. I want to know everything.
Oh my gosh … first of all, props was making it was so sweet and so strong and extra thick so that it really, like, landed well. I feel like it was like a pumpkin-type of flavor, actually. It was orangey. I was thinking, Gosh, I really have to nail this on the first take, because otherwise it’s gonna be Betsy having to go to shower in the trailer, washing her hair, drying, the whole makeup again. So I was like, I’ve got to nail this on the first take. And, contrary to popular belief, I don’t throw drinks in people’s faces! So I was really happy to nail it on the first take.
Your fellow Housewives Karen Huger, Sonja Morgan, Cynthia Bailey, and Lisa Barlow show up for cameos. Did you know about it beforehand?
I did. They had asked me, you know, Who do you think we should ask? There was definitely a conversation. I had asked for Lisa Rinna to be there, but then at the last minute she couldn’t. I was like, oh, it’ll be fun! Just because I was away from L.A. for so long making the movie, I was like, it would be nice to have Lisa Rinna come and visit, to at least have dinner or something. But she wasn’t able to.
In the movie, when we see the Housewives, they’re gossiping about yours and Diana’s fallout. Does that play as a joke to you about Housewives gossip?
I think that the Housewives fans are going to enjoy that. I talked about this with Betsy because you know, she’s a serious actress and she has amazing credits and she does not know about the Real Housewives. And she only thinks of me as an actor, which I love. But, the Housewives fans are gonna love it. The Betsy Brandt fans are gonna love it. We just want everyone to be able to enjoy this movie, but the Housewives fans are passionate. They are not messing around, so they’re gonna be watching that with a magnifying glass. And I think they’re gonna think that’s fun.
I died at Lisa Barlow as a real estate agent.
I know [Laughs.] I thought that was really funny.
Another big question: Did Trish ever reconcile with the Girl Scouts of Troop 9?
Let me tell you, those kids were so funny. I mean, the faces that they were making at me, I was like, you guys are really serving me some looks here, my God. They were passing me and just glaring at me and I was like [shudders]. They were terrifying! Anyway, no they did not reconcile! Maybe that’ll have to be in a part two.
Diana says something really funny when you’re at the tree farm: “UN-GOAT,†after she realizes that GOAT means “greatest of all time.†So I wanted to ask you, out of the Beverly Hills Housewives — or any housewife — would you say one of them is an “UN-GOATâ€?Â
Of our show?
Or any Housewives show!
Um, I wouldn’t say any of them were “UN-GOAT.†I wouldn’t say any of them are the GOAT. I’m not gonna point out who the GOAT is, but there’s no “UN-GOATS.â€
Thank you.
[Laughs] Some may just need some time!
I want to ask about the supermodel snow woman. That was amazing but also so random.
It was so funny, the things that they were coming up with on a set that day. Like the elves gone wild in my front yard, the supermodel snow woman. It was 95 degrees in Utah. And they were creating these amazing sets with the fake snow and the decor. As someone who loves the holiday so much, it was so fun to be around that all the time. If I could have Christmas year-round, I would. So the fact that I got to start in July was really exciting.
Was there anything during filming that made you think, Oh my god, what am I doing?
The one thing that I was like, I don’t know, why do I have to say this all the time: “pumpkin cheesecake!†I was like, “I don’t want to say that, it sounds so corny!†And then they’re like, “Well, that’s who she is.†And I was like, “Okay, you’re right. You’re right.†And then when I watched the movie, I’m like, Okay, it works. But that was the one thing I was like, Why do I have to keep saying that?
I have to ask about the snowball fight — or, in the words of Diana, when you got “pegged†by Santa.
It was so funny. We were filming late. It was probably midnight at that time, maybe one in the morning. And we were having so much fun, throwing these snowballs, all of the Girl Scouts and Betsy. Betsy got me right in the face so many times, and she was enjoying it way too much. But it was just such a fun night. And then Santa, I had in the prior scene banged into him and hurt his arm. The whole frickin’ town was coming for me, and [now] even Santa! I think at one point I said, Even Santa, are you kidding me?! [Laughs]
Do you think Trish’s house would have won the Golden Reindeer if she and Diana hadn’t forfeited?
I have to say, when I was on set and then when I saw the movie, Diana’s house looked really good. Trish’s house did look really good, of course it was over the top and ridiculous. But Diana’s looked really good. So, I’m not sure, but I can’t give anything away [Laughs].
Can you tell me anything about what’s next in your acting career? Because I really want Kyle Richards’ Oscar, um, now.
Aw, you’re so cute. I just found out that I’m allowed to say that I’m doing the next Halloween, so I’ll be back for Halloween Ends. And I’m really excited to be a part of that again, and team up with Jamie Lee Curtis and David Gordon Green and Danny McBride — it’s going to be really exciting to go back and to do that again. I’m shooting Season 12 [of Real Housewives] right now, and then I’ll go right to Halloween. Acting again just feels like I’m home. It just feels like where I’m supposed to be.
Kyle, to you, what does the spirit of Christmas or the holiday season mean?
To me, the holidays is just about family and being together and letting bygones be bygones. You know, I’ve had situations in my own family where we weren’t speaking during the holidays and it was very painful and it just did not feel like Christmas. And, you know, it actually took our own kids kind of bringing us back together to fix things, just like in this movie, The Housewives of the North Pole, our kids bring us back together. It really is just about family and forgiveness. And Christmas pajamas and cooking and baking in the kitchen with Christmas music playing.
What’s your favorite holiday dessert to make? Is it the same as Trish’s, which is the … pumpkin cheesecake?
Well, no, so here’s the thing: I’m known for making the best holiday dinner. I really am. And Kim, my sister, is the one who makes the best dessert. She’s famous for her fudge. So I’m always like, Don’t forget your fudge! She makes unbelievable fudge. So she’s the one who makes the best dessert. I keep it to the food. Otherwise, I’m just making, like, banana bread.
I have to ask what’s on your menu because Christmas is coming up!
Oh my God. I’m getting hungry thinking about it. I make an unbelievable turkey. I have a really great recipe. I said on Thanksgiving I was gonna do an Instagram Live so I could show people how to do it, but I was so tired and nobody would wanna see me looking like that. I make amazing mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, peas, I’ve got the best gravy, cranberry sauce, all the classic things. Rolls. I think I might do cornbread this Christmas.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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