Crystal Kung Minkoff Says ‘RHOBH’ Chat About Her Eating Disorder Left Her Feeling “Embarrassed” and “Uncomfortable”

Crystal Kung Minkoff is addressing recent uncomfortable scenes on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in which her cast mates pushed her to discuss her past with disordered eating, and revealed what the Bravo cameras didn’t show.

Minkoff, whose costars made jokes at her expense about her experience with an eating disorder after she shared her own struggles with body dysmorphia, shared further details with The Daily Beast after the latest RHOBH episode aired on Bravo.

“I felt embarrassed. Like suddenly the show didn’t exist, and I just felt embarrassed,” she told The Daily Beast. “There’s a feeling of embarrassment being on the show, the idea of being filmed. And then, you know, I got made fun of, as a child, for being chubby. That’s how it felt.”

In one scene, RHOBH star Erika Girardi advises Minkoff to take laxatives to “get rid of” food she’s eaten and feels guilty about consuming. Girardi also joked that Minkoff could not eat a chicken tender at an event.

Minkoff directly addressed Girardi’s comment with The Daily Beast, describing the moment as “very uncomfortable for me.” She added, “Because when she mentioned the laxative, I actually explained that my best friend suffered from that. And I’d discovered that later and she didn’t know it was an eating disorder. She had always known about mine… And then I found out she was doing that. And I was like, you know that’s a problem. So I explained that story.”

Kyle Richards, another RHOBH star, also pushed Minkoff to share personal details, asking if she binged and “threw up,” then claimed she was allowed to ask such questions because of her own past with disordered eating.

Minkoff told The Daily Beast that she tried to draw a line with her cast mates, but the moment wasn’t included in the episode.

“I said to them, this is starting to feel a little too graphic for me,” she said, adding, “So when people are like, asking me directly, ‘Do you do that? Throwing up?’ I’m like, ‘Ugh, you guys. This is a lot. I’m an open book. But try to be a little more gentle.'”

Minkoff also defended herself against viewers asking why she didn’t “clap back” at the other Housewives.

“This is not something you ‘clap back’ at. This is not, like, you’re making fun of my clothes. This is so deep and painful and rooted in, like, my view of life and my view of myself,” she said, adding, “I have to protect myself when it comes to this. Because when the show is over, I still have my eating disorder.”

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.