Erika Jayne on Moment She Nearly Quit RHOBH, Dating

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Erika Jayne revealed when she considered quitting Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and why she chose to stay. Then, amid rumors she hooked up with Summer House star Jesse Solomon, Erika addressed her dating life and shared what it would take to bring a man on the show.

In 2020, Erika left her husband, Tom Girardi, amid allegations that he embezzled millions of dollars from clients. Though Erika has never been convicted of a related crime, several of her co-stars questioned her repeatedly as she faced multiple lawsuits. Last August, Tom was found guilty of embezzlement.

“I wanted to [quit], I sincerely thought about quitting during the worst of my legal troubles,” said Erika on her Diamonds In The Rough podcast. “And what made me not quit was two things: I didn’t want to be a quitter, and I wasn’t going to be ran out … No matter how tough it was or how hard they made it on me, I didn’t want them to be in control of my life story.”

According to Erika, this all happened during the season in which she “drank a lot and blacked out a lot.”

At one point in the podcast, Erika was asked if she would go on Love Hotel, the network’s ‘Housewives’ dating show.

“I would not. I want to date too, but not on Love Hotel,” she said, via EntertainmentNow. But Erika said she’s “not opposed to” showing her love life on RHOBH.

“I don’t mind dating and having fun with people. I really don’t. I’m not looking to get married. I’m not looking to move in with someone or anything like that,” explained the star. “I’ve been married basically all of my adult life … I want to spend time with people that I would actually spend time with, and not for television … It needs to be someone I find genuinely interesting because I can’t fake it.”

Her cohost, Teddi Mellencamp, then asked Erika if she’d introduce a romantic interest to the show. “That’s a really difficult ask,” she answered. “It takes a specific person. How many wives have we seen fail?”

“I don’t know that I can do that to somebody who isn’t already in the public eye. To take someone that doesn’t have any type of experience with being on reality, or being in a public forum — to ask them to come on a show like this … they don’t do well,” she added. “You could innocently bring someone as a plus-one to an event. They could say something and then really be harmed by it, not really knowing what’s going on.”

“If I brought someone on, it would have to be somebody that gets the game,” she said.