BeforeLisa RinnajoinedThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,Harry Hamlinwas concerned that the show might negatively impact their marriage.
In aprofilewith The Daily Beast, published Monday, Hamlin, 68, admitted that he was initially hesitant about doing the reality show, on which his wife of 22 years has now starred for five seasons.
“I have my divorce lawyer on speed dial, and I do,” Hamlin said of what he told Rinna, 56, when she first approached him about possibly doing the show.
“I have had three opportunities to use him; once with Ursula, and two of my ex-wives,” said Hamlin, noting exes Ursula Andress, Nicollette Sheridan and Laura Johnson. “It’s the same guy every time. We send Christmas cards to each other every year.”
“I said to Lisa, ‘You can’t do this. Everybody who does that show gets divorced. It’s a horrible, horrible thing, to do that show,’ ” said theMad Menactor.
So what changed his outlook? A conversation with Rinna’s friend, formerReal Housewives of New York CitystarBethenny Frankel.
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“Bethenny convinced me from a branding point of view it would be a good thing to do. Then I was open to doing it on my own terms,” said Hamlin, who has a clothing brand with Rinna, of speaking with the Skinnygirl mogul.
Since season 5 of the Bravo series, audiences have gotten an inside look into the lives of Rinna, Hamlin and their two daughters:Amelia Gray Hamlin, 18, and Delilah Belle Hamlin, 21.
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But while the famous family has opened up their lives to the world, Hamlin says he only appears as much as he wants to for cameras and never signed a contract.
“I don’t have to do any of it. Sometimes Lisa will say to me, ‘They’re begging me to have a scene with you. If we give them that I get brownie points,’ ” said Hamlim.
And while Hamlin has easy access to his divorce attorney, he has no intention of ever using him again.
“We listen to each other. Really listen to each other. The thing about listening is that it’s not something that comes innately to human beings. Normally we have a tape playing in our heads all the time. It can be hard to allow what other people are saying actually in. That’s what Lisa and I do — we listen,” he said of theRHOBHstar. “And she’s smart, she’s the smartest person I have ever met. She’s smart as a whip. Our favorite thing is to hang out.”
In March, Hamlin and Rinna celebrated 22 years of marriage. And Hamlin has said there were “sparks right away” between the couple.
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Last week, during a sit-down interview with SiriusXM’s Jess Cagle and Julia Cunningham onThe Jess Cagle Show,Hamlin opened up about his adorable meet-cute with Rinnamore than 20 years ago, when she was working at a store selling sunglasses.
“We met in a restaurant. She was working at an eyeglass store doing the night shift selling sunglasses. And I happened to know the owner of the store, I was having dinner with him and she came in to deliver the keys when she closed the store at 10. That’s how I met her,” Hamlin explained.
While Rinna has become widely recognized in the time since, Hamlin noted that their introduction came “before she was acting a lot and before she had sort of broken out.”
TheL.A. Lawactor was immediately smitten.
“It was sparks right away,” he admitted, before recalling the humorous conversation the pair shared upon meeting.
Added Hamlin, “I was enchanted right away.”
source: people.com
