Kim Richard’s Long History With Alcohol Abuse Revealed; Bravo Had To Edit Out More Damaging Scenes

Fans of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills were relieved to learn that Kim Richards had checked herself into rehab following a season filled with erratic and troubling behavior (“Slut Pig” outburst, anyone?).

Well, In Touch Weekly now reports that what viewers saw was mild compared to what was happening behind the scenes and that Kim’s situation was far more dire than we could have imagined! In a new expose titled “Destroyed By Hollywood,” the magazine speaks to a relative and a family friend of Kim’s that claim appearing on the series caused Kim to relapse! “Before the show, Kim was sober and living a low-key life,” the relative reveals.

“Kim is a really quiet person when she’s sober,” the relative shares. “But in order to get good ratings you need big personalities. So she started drinking again almost as soon as she got on the show.” It was Kim’s sister Kyle Richards who got her a spot on the show after she introduced Kim to producers and it was also Kyle who exposed Kim’s alcoholic past and publicly worried about her drinking and behavior throughout this season.

The pressure of being on camera and dealing with the show, including interacting with the other ladies, led Kim to start drinking again. “She turns to alcohol to deal with her nerves,” the relative explains.

Initially, Kim’s silly and goofy personality along with her shy, but straight-forward demeanor earned her fans and she became one of the breakout stars of the series, but all that changed this season when viewers witnessed a very different side of Kim. According to Bravo insiders much of Kim’s behavior was so outrageous it had to be cut from the series, which is perhaps why we aren’t seeing much of her this season.

“They’ve actually edited out a lot of scenes in which she was acting really sloppy,” the insider recounts. “It was too evident that she was on something.” That lost footage was one of the reasons the network supposedly encouraged Kim to seek treatment for her addiction.

Kim apparently has a “lifelong” pattern of using alcohol and has been in and out of rehab throughout the past decade. Kim actually admitted this to fans in a Twitter blog, in which she acknowledged her past struggles with alcohol abuse and claiming that she was better now.

According to her family friend Kim was far from healed and in fact her desire to be famous fueled her addiction. “She has always wanted to be famous,” the friend shares. “Even a taste of it is addictive to her.” Indeed, Kim’s days in the limelight as a child star dwindled once she reached adulthood and pursued marriage and children.

Kim tried to break into acting as an adult, but never quite got a big break. Making it a particularly bitter pill to swallow was her niece Paris Hilton‘s rise to superstardom for a sex tape and personal scandals. Kim “actually had talent,” the family friend explains, “so to watch her niece, Paris become huge for doing nothing was especially difficult. It ate her up inside.”

The pressure of dealing with disappointment, along with the sudden new-found interest in her personal life due appearing on a hugely popular reality show pushed Kim to drink again. “She’s a closet drinker who uses alcohol as a way to escape from pressure,” the relative reveals.

And despite Kim’s ex-husband Monty Brinson‘s optimism that this time rehab will work for the struggling star, her relative is dubious about her potential for long-term success. “It’s good that she’s taking responsibility. But she won’t really get better unless she quits TV altogether.”

[Photo Credit: WENN.com]

THOUGHTS ON THE ARTICLE? DO YOU BELIEVE KIM WILL TRULY GET THE HELP SHE NEEDS AND BEAT ADDICTION? SHOULD KIM LEAVE THE SHOW?

X