All questions asked. Erika Jayne was put in the hot seat for the final time during the last segment of the four-part Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion and some of her emotional responses had some viewers wondering if she still has a soft spot for her estranged husband, Tom Girardi.
Hosts of the “Real Moms of Bravo” podcast, Vanessa Rizi and Abby Steffens, joined Us Weekly’s “Getting Real with the Housewives” podcast to break down the big reunion.
“I thought it was interesting when she was crying about everything with Tom, it seemed like there was a lot of sadness, and not so much sadness for what he put her through, but I feel like she feels guilty for leaving him,” Steffens told Us. “It almost seemed like she had a lot of guilt associated with leaving him, which she didn’t show during the season.”
She added, “I don’t know if maybe the realness of the fact that her marriage and life with Tom is actually over hitting her more now than it was when they were filming, but I was surprised to see that much sadness as she started talking about Tom.”
During the Wednesday, November 3, episode, the Pretty Mess author, 50, who, along with Tom, 82, has been accused of embezzling money intended for the families of plane crash victims, explained why she reached out to Tom after he was photographed looking frail in August. He was diagnosed with late on-set Alzheimer’s and dementia in March.
“I just wanted to make sure he was safe because after the pictures came out he looked so bad, that I just wanted to make sure he was in the right place,” Erika explained to Andy Cohen while holding back tears. “He doesn’t even acknowledge anything. None of it. It doesn’t even matter what he says, because he’s incompetent. So, I’m left holding the f—king bag.”
Erika, who is being sued for $25 million for her supposed involvement in Tom’s alleged wrongdoings, has denied having any knowledge of what was happening with Tom’s former firm.
“I believe parts of her story. I think ultimately we want justice for the victims, and I feel like any time in the reunion where she kind of victimized herself, it took away some credibility for me,” Rizi told Us. “However, I do feel like had she approached this and said like, ‘Listen guys, I know this is a wild story,’ which she does at the end, I think she would kind of win some of the viewers over, me being one of them.”
She added, “I just think the way she’s told us all these different stories and not showing a lot of remorse or compassion for the victims, it’s really hard to take her seriously, at least for me.”
For more, including why Jackie Goldschneider wants Danielle Staub back on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, listen to Us Weekly’s “Getting Real with the Housewives” podcast.