RHOBH: What should we expect from Erika Jayne this season?

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF Beverly Hills, Erika Girardi, Lisa Rinna (Photo by: Kathy Boos/Bravo)
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF Beverly Hills, Erika Girardi, Lisa Rinna (Photo by: Kathy Boos/Bravo)

When news of Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi’s divorce to Tom Girardi hit new outlets on Election day last November, and with the shadowy details spilling out regarding the demise of her celebrated Los Angeles attorney husband, the Bravo watching world went into a fury. When we all realized that they were filming when all the news dropped, we knew this type of drama would make this eleventh season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills must-watch tv.

A few episodes in and soaking up newbies Kathy Hilton and Crystal Kung Minkoff, Erika, and production, are up to something regarding the storytelling of this divorce and legal drama storyline. But what exactly should we expect this season from Erika? Should she have taken this season off instead of withholding and steering the legal drama to make herself look good?

Erika Girardi has never really given us that much of her real life. Instead, she focused on her pop star persona Erika Jayne. Granted, there are many compelling storylines with her career and glam team; we see her personal life in sporadic glimpses like the once per season obligated kitchen morning scene with Tom Girardi with his Styrofoam cup of coffee or Erika’s wild freak out on Eileen Davidson in Hong Kong about her police officer son.

Erika Jayne, Erika Girardi
Erika Jayne (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Will Erika Jayne show fans a different side of her life and personality this season of RHOBH?

Erika is highly guarded and cold, so it is safe to say that she will continue to be this season on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She is too self-protective to reveal what is the actual truth of her knowledge of her husband’s alleged morally corrupt legal and financial affairs. So far, the only on-camera truth offered from Erika is a confession to being on an antidepressant during the pandemic and a dark-sided fake-out during Dorit’s game of two truths and a lie in Lake Tahoe. Both show a calculating Erika guarded with what she reveals this season.

Production, on the other hand, might have a different tactic to handle Erika’s storyline. They seem to be showcasing and lingering on moments highlighting Erika’s wealth, such as artfully edited scenes with her glam team and dramatized voice-overs montages of the lavish Pasadena, CA mansion she shared with her husband. This clever editing reinforces the mental counting of Erika’s perceived wealth by the audience and mentally questioning if the money used to acquire these expensive things were with the funds allegedly stolen from the orphaned and widowed victims of a horrendous plane crash.

We will have to continue to watch what happens to observe if Erika will be truthful. But all is not calculated and dark-sided in Beverly Hills. We have the quirky Kathy Hilton to give us a laugh at Kyle Richards’ expense and Disney’s The Lion King animation artwork and sculptures from Crystal Kung Minkoff, breaking up the heaviness of Erika this season.

Do you want to see Erika Jayne become less guarded on RHOBH? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Catch RHOBH Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Bravo!