Denise Richards’ return to Bravo for Denise Richards & Her Wild Things, a half-hour “comedic” docuseries that captures the ups and downs of her life with her husband, Aaron Phypers, and her three daughters, has been widely documented. In between navigating the mom-boss balance with her two oldest daughters, Sami and Lola (whose father is Richards’ ex, Charlie Sheen), Richards chatted with us about the show’s plastic-surgery scenes, skin care and why it was important for her, as executive producer, to “keep it real” as she gets ready for tonight’s finale.
What were your thoughts reentering the ‘Bravoverse’ and reality television again? What did it take for the family to decide to do this show?
Alex Baskin approached me about doing a family show and talked to the family. Sami was really excited because she always says that we need to have cameras around. Lola was a little hesitant at first. But she is so involved in her faith and felt it would be a great opportunity for her to be able to share that. The older girls have always lived in the shadows of Charlie and me, and it’s nice for them to have their own voice and have people get to know them as their own person instead of “the daughters of.”
That’s kind of how we approached it. One of the things that I did tell my family is, ‘I just want everyone to be themselves—don’t try to be something else.’ And I was actually pleasantly surprised when we first started filming just how easy they did forget about the cameras—almost too much to be honest! I was like, ‘You might want to reel it in a little bit!’ But I’d rather it be this way than them try to be somebody that they’re not because I think people see through that.
Was there any prep work you or the girls did before it started filming, or did you just kind of wing it?
Well, I did prep work in that I am also an executive producer. I had to figure out what we had going on and what we were able to shoot and that kind of thing, but otherwise, you kind of just go with it. People have asked me if I sat down with the kids and my husband and said, ‘Okay, we’re not talking about this.’ That wasn’t the case. I wanted it to be [as] real as possible, and so I just said, ‘Let’s go with it.’ That was the extent of the prep work for the family.
The hard thing for the girls is that I am technically their boss on the show, and I’m also their mom. If there was a day they were tired or didn’t feel like filming, I had to say, ‘Well, you have to show up,’ and they would pull the, ‘Well, I want my mom’ card.
I just had to say, ‘Hey, as your mom, I would tell you, you have to show no matter where you work. You have to show up.’ My mom would say the same thing to me—you always have to show up, no matter what. You can’t just go, ‘Hmm, I’m tired today.’ There’s days where I’ve been tired or not feeling great or whatever, but you have to show up. I think for them, at times, they felt like, ‘I just want my mom, and not the producer mom.’ Of course, that’s the fine line; I’m sure Kris Jenner dealt with for many years with her family!
Your girls come across as very open, and they definitely have the dynamic of two sisters close in age. Your oldest daughter, Sami, was very open with her rhinoplasty on-camera and it was nice to see how much she loved the result. Can you talk us through what made you decide to film that part?
That was all her. She wanted to film it. She’s very open. This generation is so different. I had implants when I was 19 years old, and I never told anybody. I was so private about it for so many years…and then, finally, I admitted it on Howard Stern. He was the only one who ever really asked me. He was the only one that had the balls to ask me! My closest friends knew, but I was so private with all of that…it’s so interesting how this generation talks about everything. Like, if they get lip fillers, if they do this or that, you know. It’s just so different from when I was their age.
Her reaction to the result was great. It was so heartfelt.
It was really hard for me. I did not want her to do it at all. The more I said that, the more she got upset with me, so I just had to go back when I was 19, and my mom did not want me to get implants…I had to remember my 19-year-old self. Even though my mom didn’t agree with me, I wanted her to support me, and that’s how I had to approach it with Sami.
I know you can’t share everything, but the show has a much-discussed Charlie appearance. Is there anything you can hint at to what we will see next?
Well, I’m glad that he was part of it. I told him, ‘Look, we’ve been so supportive of you all these years in everything, and it would be nice for you to support the girls.’ This is their first show, besides when they were really little, and they barely remember that. And Housewives is more about the women’s friendships than the family—you see a little bit of our family, but not much. This is really their first thing as adults and them making that decision, and so I’m so grateful to him that he decided to do it. People have been so curious about our relationship, the ups and downs all these years. We’ve been in the tabloids so much…so I think it is a nice scene for people to see that we are a family.
Overall, I think the entire show is a nice reintroduction to our family and the dynamic. I also have a sister; we’re 18 months apart, and Sami and Lola are 15 months apart, so I understand that sibling rivalry. It’s a hard dynamic. I’m the total opposite of my sister, too, but we shared a lot of the same friends, same with Sami and Lola. And so, even though they’re very different from each other, they do have a lot of similarities, and I think this season wraps up really nice.
That’s amazing. Aaron and you are very into wellness and fitness. What do you do when you do have downtime to relax?
I love to cook, but he says I’m a tornado in the kitchen, and I am! I wish I could get better at cleaning as I cook. He actually wants to give me a lesson, but I can’t do that! What if I still need that pot or that cutting board? I am not organized in that way. But I love cooking, and I’m obsessed with Food Network and HGTV shows—all the home building and interior design and stuff. Our relaxing is pretty much cooking together. I cook, and he cleans [laughs].
Since we’re into beauty, and I know you’re really into skin care and products, is there anything that you’re liking right now that’s in your bathroom?
I’m obsessed! I know these phones must listen to us because I am obsessed with skin care, and I think I buy every damn new product on Instagram—all of those “shop now” things that pop up. But I’m getting smarter; I’ve started really looking at the comments to see if this shit works before I buy it.
Aaron’s like, ‘Where are you getting all this stuff?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, Instagram.’ He’s said, ‘Stop buying all this crap, there’s no more room!’ I haven’t tried it yet, but I just got the Luxene Firmaglow body tool. It’s like a diamond thing, and it’s supposed to exfoliate. It looked really pretty on Instagram, and it does look pretty in person, too.
To be honest, it’s mostly the packaging I go for. You can definitely get me on the packaging. I haven’t tried it yet, but I just bought Noble Panacea. It’s this serum and these mini little individual packets, which I love for travel because they don’t spill. It has beautiful packaging, and it feels really heavy. And I also just bought Angela Caglia. I have to try it, but I’m already kind of obsessed.
Both good ones.
You know them? Okay, so I have both of those. Like I said, I’m kind of obsessed with them, and I can’t wait to use them. But I have to tell you, I had this female driver the other day, and I told her that her skin looked so good. She goes, ‘Do you know what I’ve been using? Castor oil.’ I was like oh…maybe that’s the secret to it all.
