Sutton Stracke Explains Her Genuine Tears Before Teddi’s Retreat on ‘RHOBH’: “I Was Scared”

Sutton Stracke will say exactly what she’s thinking, as we’ve learned already this season from the new friend of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And while she didn’t hold back her opinions, with the most recent episode, she did hold back her tears before jumping into Teddi Mellencamp’s big retreat. It was a new side of Sutton and one I got an even better glimpse of when we spoke on the phone this week. She’s strong-minded and she’s Southern but she’s also got a soft and sweet side to her.

Here, we discuss what was going through her mind before the retreat and during Denise’s profane pizza party, and what everyone needs to know about drinking Fireball.

Decider: How has the experience has been for you so far, from the time that you were filming the show to now that it’s airing?

Sutton Stracke: Well, that’s what I’m starting to realize, that there are two parts: there’s one, the filming part, and now there’s two, the watching part. And the first part is really very easy. I didn’t really think of it as a show, we were just living our normal lives, which are extraordinary normal lives, so that part was really fun. It was tiring at times, it was emotional, but for me, it was a really great experience. Watching it is just an entirely different planet, so that’s been fun too. It’s cringeworthy but fun. But you know, I’m enjoying it just like everybody else. 

Have you felt your life change at all? Have there been any noticeable differences or pretty much business as usual?

Well, no. I think since we’re on, what, week nine, my life really hasn’t changed in over eight weeks so it’s pretty much status quo here. I cook, clean the kitchen, cook, clean the kitchen, cook, clean the kitchen, and yell at people to do their homework but that’s basically my day every day. So I haven’t experienced what it’s like to be outside in the world.

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Watching tonight’s episode like… – #RHOBH tonight at 8pm on @bravotv

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I was reading that Lisa Rinna commented on an Instagram post recently and said that the group “needed Sutton, period.” 

I saw that too, she put a T, periodt. 

Yeah, she really meant it.

I saw that yesterday. I don’t know, it took me a while to meld in and maybe they did need to be reminded that there are normal people out there. I mean, this is a group of actresses and people in that sort of Hollywood life and I’m just not. 

How did you and Lisa Rinna become friends?

We bicker over this for some reason. I remember meeting her through our friend Cameron Silver at Decades, but she [says], we have another mutual friend, Joey Maalouf, who also kind of connected us. So we had degrees of separation all around us. We knew a lot of the same people.

I want to talk about the retreat because it was eventful. Tell me about the moment when you found yourself on the verge of tears in the car right before you got out to go to the retreat. What was happening there?

I felt so badly that I had made this woman cry. I didn’t know about fertility problems or anything like that. I made a bad sarcastic joke because we all think that pregnant women are boring but I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings at all. It takes a strength to show up and be there, it took a lot out of me. I was scared. I didn’t know how she was going to receive me, and so I panicked at the last moment like, “Maybe I’ve made the wrong decision, maybe I should be staying home.” It was a litany of emotions happening and I kind of didn’t want to get out of the car. I thought, “Should I do this?”

Were you ultimately glad that you went? 

Of course, and I spent the night, I went to the class the next day too. What was unfortunate at Kyle’s dinner was I don’t think Teddi was really hearing what I was saying, which was, “I’m so impressed by you and what you’re doing.” Because we had had a dinner the night before and I was learning all about what Teddi does so I really wanted to see this and how exciting that is for her. And for me starting a new business, I was just soaking everything in and then also really being there was so impressive. It was so well organized, so well done. The classes were great. The group of women that came were from all over the country and hearing their stories was inspiring. I mean, I really had a truly wonderful experience there.

Oh good! Overall the whole event looked like very positive vibes and like almost everyone wanted to be there. 

Yeah, there’s always gonna be a little bit of drama with us girls because we’re, let’s face it, probably all narcissistic weirdos, but at the end of the day, we were there. We showed up and we wanted to be there and support Teddi and I was glad that Teddi and I were able to kind of move on.

Were you two able to become closer friends after?

I don’t even think we had a relationship before that. That, to me, was our beginning of a relationship. Before it was just like, whoa, it was a bad start to a car engine. We needed to reset and I think we accomplished that.

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We are *all* Sutton. 🚫🥊

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And one other thing that I wanted to ask you about was the boxing, that didn’t really seem to be your jam.

[Laughs] They punch it to you! Yeah, it was very scary. We did other things besides boxing but I’m just not that kind of girl. Honestly, boxing gloves in your face was a challenge for me because I was so confused by the whole thing. And they make you move really fast, it was, oof, crazy. It was fun though.

At Denise’s pizza party, I wanted to get your take on her diamond ice sculpture, what did you think about that?

I gotta tell you, when I got to Denise’s house I didn’t even notice it. I really didn’t. It wasn’t like a wing of the party or anything and I didn’t quite understand why there was a deal made of it, just you know, it’s an ice sculpture on a bar. 

What did you think about the conversation that was happening at the table? Were you aware that sometimes these ladies could get into some very frank sex talk or was that a surprise to you?

Well, frankly if I can be honest, I find having sex talk around the table, um, talk about boring. That bores me. There are so many other things that we could all be talking about besides sex. Who cares, because I don’t care. Do what you wanna do in your room and I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do in my room. But yeah, I was a little surprised because it wasn’t talked about at Kyle’s dinner party and it wasn’t talked about at Kyle’s fashion show dinner party so I’m like, “Why all of a sudden are we talking about sex? But okay, let’s go with it.” I’ll just be in awe of these ladies’ sex lives. 

I’m guessing it’s probably not the last time it comes up either. I also wanted to ask you about Kyle’s dinner: is bringing the bottle of Fireball your go-to hostess gift? 

No, there’s a story behind that one. After Kyle’s dinner in New York, a few of us went up to the bar upstairs and I had brought some extra Fireballs just in case we needed to liven up her dinner. I showed her and she was like, “What is that?” Her daughters were just confounded that she had never heard of Fireball, so we ordered them at the bar and had Fireball shots. But the next time I saw her was at her house so it was just a little nudge, wink-wink, I remembered, you know, Fireball’s like our thing. No, if I come to a party I’m gonna bring something whether it’s a bottle of wine or a bottle of champagne. Maybe now it might be a bottle of Fireball. Sometimes I send flowers ahead of time which I think I also did for Kyle’s party, so it was just like a little insider joke.

Yeah, it’s a good one though. Honestly, I gave it to my boyfriend’s father, he’s 92. I brought it over to his house a couple of years ago and he is obsessed with it now and he keeps a bottle in his freezer. It’s really good frozen. When you get it really cold, that’s the way to do it. It’s pretty yummy.

Oh, yeah. It’s dangerous, I mean it gets a party started, that’s for sure. 

Well, that’s what I had told Kyle in New York. I said you can only do two, max. Otherwise, no…

And based on the conversation that you and Kyle had at the dinner, I have to say I also love yacht rock. 

Thank you. It’s on Sirius and on Pandora, I mean who hasn’t heard of yacht rock? 

Do you have a couple of essential yacht rock songs that you would put on a playlist, maybe for Kyle or somebody who didn’t know what it was? 

Well I love like Bob Seger’s “Maybe You’ll Accomp’ny Me,” that one is good. And then also anything Ambrosia, I dig it. America’s good. It’s funny because my boyfriend hates yacht rock so we have this battle. I play it whenever he’s not around. It’s a good background thing. It makes you feel good, it’s like feel-good, relaxing music.

I was gonna say, it’s so easy to listen to, it’s so harmless.

Exactly! It goes with leisurewear. 

In thinking about how it would have been the Met Ball this week, who are some of your favorite stylish celebrities? From the ones that you think take awesome risks to ones that share a style similar to your own, who do you pay attention to?

Well, especially at the Met, always a standout was Sarah Jessica Parker and she takes serious fashion risks. She doesn’t play around. I guess because we all love her from Sex and the City, she gets away with it but she wears really outlandish things. So I love her style. Cate Blanchett’s style is beautiful, probably more in my arena. Especially at the Met Gala, Beyonce kills it every time, I just wanna see what she’s wearing. And that event is so, you know I’ve seen it from when it was really just a social event to now what it’s become, just a fashion, almost Vogue event. The best people-watching that you can ever see, amazing. Yeah, it’s a fun party.

Obviously your Southern ties are a big part of you who are and I know it’s something that you and Erika bonded over a bit, but what do you think it would be like if you were ever to take this group of women to the South? Who would adapt and do well there and who do you think would be totally lost?

You know what, honestly I live for this day. I want to take them so badly. I think they’re all gonna love it. Now the thing is, it’s not fancy. Augusta’s a beautiful town but it’s not glitz and glamour. Also the food is different, there’s gonna be a lot of fried food and bad for you food. I think everybody would like it. I think everybody would embrace it. I can’t think of one person that wouldn’t enjoy it. I just wanna see them do it. I wanna take them down to the river and stuff. They think I’m so fancy but I’ve got Southern roots in me, we’re not that fancy. But we do have table manners, that’s for sure. 

Is there anything else you’re excited for us to see this season?

The whole season, it really is up and down and up and down. There are moments when we’re crying, there are moments when we’re laughing and having fun and being completely silly, and then there are some really really serious, gritty moments, and that’s what brings you closer to people. To come full circle like that with all of those different emotions happening in a friendship group is what makes friends stronger. 

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

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