Everything You Need To Know About The RHOBH Teddi Mellencamp & Dorit Kemsley Feud
#Puppygate!
Instagram For years, Lisa Vanderpump has been the queen bee of the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills. Sitting on her swing festooned with roses, she has always seemed to gaze down at us lesser mortals from her perch at Rosa Villa (the marble home she made for her husband Ken to shamble about inside of while clutching an ailing dog) laughing at our common foibles and demanding that her housekeeper Rosia make her another cup of tea. But this season, all of that is about to change: the women are turning on Lisa Vanderpump! Release the miniature ponies and be on the lookout for attack swans, because you know La Pump won't take this lying down.
What caused this kerfuffle? What could have possibly happened to bring the not-so-humble Lisa to her knees? That's a good question, and the short answer can be summed up in one of her favorite words: puppies. That's right, the cute, cuddly, canines that Lisa adored are at the root of the crisis of the season on RHOBH, and you can bet Lisa did everything in her power to make sure she wouldn't be going down alone.
In an effort to keep her own hands clean, Lisa, it seems, has taken advantage of the pre-existing bad blood between her cast members Teddi Mellencamp and Dorit Kemsley. Little did she know that it would all blow up in her face! Here's what you need to know about the Teddi Mellencamp/Dori Kemsley feud that's taking over Beverley Hills this season.
1. Dorit and Teddi Last Season
Last season was Teddi Mellencamp's first on the show, and in spite of her famous dad (John Mellencamp), the down to Earth accountability coach had a hard time adjusting to the over the top attitudes and champagne tastes of the rest of the cast, particularly Dorit.
Dorit didn't exactly go out of her way to be cool and approachable, either. The swimsuit designer, whose first name is one character short of a delicious chip, got annoyed when served champagne out of the wrong type of glass, for one. For another, she showed up 45 minutes late to lunch with Teddi, and the Ted (as I will now be calling her apparently) refused to let her off the hook for her bad manners. As of the end of last season, there was no love lost between the two women and things this season certainly got off to a bumpy start...
2. Dorit and The Dogs
Okay, so here are the incidents that are tearing the housewives apart. In between seasons, Dorit adopted not one, but two different dogs from Lisa's rescue organization, Vanderpump Dogs. The first dog was a nipper, so Dorit returned the dog to Lisa's place. Now, that's a little awkward, but hey, stuff happens, not every dog is right for every family. But then... Dorit adopted a second dog, Lucy (Lucy Lucy Apple Juice, if you're a completist like me). Lucy bit the children, bit her husband PK's nose, and that's where things get murky.
If you ask Dorit and PK, Lucy was given to "a nice woman who stopped by the house," but if you ask Lisa or John Blizzard (the head of charity events at Vanderpump dogs), the dog was taken to a kill shelter. Thankfully, the dog was microchipped and returned to Vanderpump Dogs, but the entire situation left major bad blood between Lisa and Dorit and Lisa decided to go on the offensive.
According to Teddi, John Blizzard, at the behest of Lisa, told Teddi all about what happened with Lucy. In the season premiere when Lisa met Kyle Richards and Teddi at Vanderpump Dogs, Blizzard appeared with Lucy and Teddi claims that the entire reveal of the dog and her story to Kyle in front of the camera was totally arranged ahead of time.
3. Where Kyle Richards Fits In
There is one thing Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley and Teddi Mellencamp all have in common: they all have a special friendship with Lisa Vanderpump that means the world to them. Unfortunately, Lisa has never been above turning her friends on each other when she feels left out, or annoyed with one of them. No one has been more susceptible to her machinations than Kyle herself.
You'd think with sisters like Kathy Hilton and Kim Richards that Kyle would be too smart to get suckered into shitty girl-on-girl political crimes, but for whatever reason, Kyle continues to be totally in Lisa's thrall, but it seems like this season that might be changing. Last season, Lisa and Kyle's relationship suffered when Lisa gave Dorit allowance after allowance for her bad behavior, but from the way Kyle walked out of Vanderpump dogs, Lisa's dog rescue in West Hollywood, when Lisa tried to whine about her not attending one of her parties, it's clear that Kyle's at the end of her rope.
Without Kyle at her side, Lisa will have no allies left if this battle continues to play out the way it seems like it's going to. I'd say, "Lisa better proceed with caution," but we've all been keeping up with the drama enough to know that it's way too late for that!
4. Teddi Taking Action
It didn't take long for Teddi to realize that Lisa was setting her up to take a massive fall. She found out about it and thankfully, sister had receipts. Teddi was able to produce a text conversation between herself and John Blizzard where it became painfully clear that Lisa was, in fact, involved in the big reveal of Lucy and her plight.
Unfortunately for Teddi, Lisa also has receipts....the rest of Teddi's conversation with John Blizzard, where it appears that Teddi was complicit in bringing out the dog to be featured on camera in front of Kyle. Be that as it may, while Teddi's hands aren't entirely clean one thing remains painfully clear: this was all a set-up by Lisa Vanderpump, and it's not going the way that she had planned.
5. What's Next On The Show
Lisa wanted Dorit and Teddi at each other's throats over this dog debacle, but it's just not happening. When Lisa presented Dorit with proof that Teddi was more involved than she has previously intimated, Dorit had to admit that Teddi wasn't a total innocent. Still, it's looking like Dorit has no intentions of being ride or die Vanderpump this season. She knows that Lisa betrayed her trust, and she'd be a fool to jump back on her side of the proverbial couch.
Teddi admits that she was complicit, but she's refusing to take the fall for Lisa. Vanderpump herself has been all over the place this season following the tragic suicide of her only brother. Her highs are high and her lows are very low. She only took two days off to go to his funeral in London! With Kyle having no time for her games, Dorit and Teddi both fuming at her, it's no wonder she's made her grand flounce off of the program!
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. Her work focuses on relationships, pop culture and news. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.