"I’m less afraid. I’m less guarded:" The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Rachel Zoe opens up about her re-entry to reality TV

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills veteran star Rachel Zoe is officially back on Bravo with fewer filters and far less fear this time.

In a candid new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the fashion icon opens up about why now felt like the right moment to return to reality television.

She further opened up on how her separation from husband Rodger Berman shaped her decision, and why joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills feels different from anything she’s done before.

More than a decade after The Rachel Zoe Project, Zoe says she’s entering this chapter being herself as she navigates divorce, motherhood, and reinvention in the public eye.

“There may be moments where I’m too honest, but it is who I am now. I think it’s who I’ve always been, but now I’m less afraid. I’m less guarded, she says.”

Here's what The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills said about her divorce, motherhood, and reality television in the interview

Rachel Zoe admits she never expected to return to reality TV, revealed that Bravo had been asking her to come back for years, but the timing never felt right until now.

“People have been asking me to come back to TV and specifically to Bravo for the last decade,” she said. “The stars aligned. It felt right for a myriad of reasons.”

One of those reasons was her very public separation from her husband of 26 years, Rodger Berman. Zoe said she felt an overwhelming need to share what she was going through.

“I do feel an overwhelming desire and need to share what I’m living and going through,” she explained, adding that ending a marriage can mean something different to every woman watching.

The decision also came quickly. Zoe signed onto the show on June 6 and began filming the very next day.

“I signed in the car on the way to my son Sky’s middle school graduation,” she recalled. “Bravo announced it, and I was shooting the next day.”

What stands out most in Zoe’s interview is how deeply personal this season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is for her. Unlike her first Bravo series, where she felt responsible for protecting designers, clients, and colleagues, this time the focus is squarely on her own life.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star acknowledged that being unaware of the cameras can be both a strength and a vulnerability, adding:

“Sometimes I’ll get home from shooting and be like, ‘What did I just say?’"

Zoe described her life during filming as “unraveling in real time,” and said she felt a responsibility to show that honestly, both for viewers and for the women she was meeting on the show.

Talking about her children and motherhood journey, Zoe was clear that her children were central to her decision to return. In fact, she said they encouraged her to do it, stating, “They wanted me to do it. They were like, ‘It’s time for you to go back to doing you, Mom.’”

She emphasized that while her separation from Berman is discussed on the show, her priority is protecting her kids’ emotional well-being, adding:

“I don’t speak badly about their dad to them. My dream is that they have the best relationship with their dad.”

At the same time, she acknowledged how challenging it is to be so open when her teenage son “hears and sees everything adding, "that’s the biggest challenge of doing this entire thing,” especially because the show touches on the end of her marriage.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills tagline: “I’d die for fashion, but now, I’m living for me,” perfectly sums up Rachel's mindset this season, as she explained: “This was the one I can hear myself maybe saying out loud.”

Her entrance into the franchise was intentionally bold, and Zoe says everything she said during that moment was genuine.

“I am, for better or for worse, unapologetically myself,” she said, laughing. “I can’t act. I just tried to really be me and be honest.”

While she entered knowing Kathy Hilton and Kyle Richards, Zoe said she was surprised by how close she became to Erika Jayne, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “She is so direct and so fearless. I’m attracted to people like that.”

When asked whether she’d return for another season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Zoe didn’t hesitate, saying, “Yeah. I would. Definitely,” noting that some of the women now feel like family.

She also described herself as being firmly in a “Yes era,” both personally and professionally.

“The time of me questioning and overthinking everything to death is long gone,” she said. “I’ve laughed more in the last year and a half than I’ve laughed in a really long time.”

Stay tuned for more updates.