- Nicky Hilton and Paris Hilton have each critiqued "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
- Their aunt Kyle Richards and mother Kathy Hilton are on the show. Richards is an OG housewife.
Kyle Richards rejected claims that "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" has lost its "light-heartedness."
"We do have so many laughs on the show," Richards told Insider in a new interview promoting her partnership with Jack in the Box.
Her nieces, Nicky Hilton and Paris Hilton, have each publicly criticized the Bravo reality series in recent weeks.
"I used to love the light-heartedness and escapism of the program," said Nicky about the Bravo reality series in an interview with E! News on October 16. "I feel like, recently, it's become a bit mean-spirited and negative."
Nicky's sister, Paris, dubbed the women's behavior on the show "so unkind" in a tweet on September 8.
—ParisHilton (@ParisHilton) September 8, 2022
"When I watch one of those shows, I want to laugh," Nicky told E! News. "I don't want to be sad. So, hopefully, they could be a little kinder."
Richards told Insider that the laughter is what keeps her returning to the cast.
"Obviously people always ask me, 'How do you hang in there all these years?' — 12 years for me — and what keeps me hanging in there is the laughter and the fun that we do have," Richards said.
Richards values "some of the relationships I have with these women on camera and off camera." Viewers of season 12 saw Richards laughing and shopping for customized cowboy hats with her fellow cast members including Crystal Minkoff, Lisa Rinna, Sutton Stracke, and Garcelle Beauvais.
It also saw her primping at themed costume parties and trying on lavish diamonds with Dorit Kemsley and Erika Jayne.
"I always prefer to have fun," she added.
"I know the audience loves drama, and some seasons are more dramatic than others," she continued.
Kathy Hilton, mom to Paris and Nicky and sister to Kyle, has been a huge part of that drama this season. The aftermath of the dramatic group trip to Aspen led to Rinna accusing Kathy, who's a friend of the show and not a main cast member, of threatening to destroy Richards and her family.
Richards has been forced to stop watching the series for the first time in her tenure as an original housewife. "For me, anything that causes anxiety, I don't want in my life," she continued.
She "had to take a step back" because of how much she was personally affected. "I just love being able to be with the girls and laugh and yes, we'll have drama," she continued. "I just hate to see it go to a dark side."
Richards said she copes with the stress the way many people without access to extravagant parties, giant diamonds, or private chefs do — through fast food.
"I like to get Jack in the Box tacos with extra hot sauce, I love the curly fries, and I have to have a Coke, so that's always my go-to automatically," she told Insider.
"I sometimes have to get four tacos because I just sometimes need to have a lot of them," the reality star said. She also praised the chain's seasonally available Monster Tacos, which are available until November 1.
Richards, who also stars in the film "Halloween Ends," has partnered with Jack in the Box to screen the legendary horror film "Carrie" and hand out as many tacos as possible to passersby at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery before the Monster Taco is laid to rest for the season.
"I'm very flattered that they came to me knowing how much I love the Jack in the Box tacos," said Richards, who's been posting on social media about her love of Jack in the Box for years.