Lisa Rinna Says THE TRAITORS Provided Therapists to Help Cast Cope With Lying

Lisa Rinna revealed on a recent episode of THE MORGAN STEWART SHOW that THE TRAITORS provided on-set therapists to help cast members cope with the psychological strain of the competition, telling host Morgan Stewart McGraw that mental health professionals checked in with contestants on every day off. Rinna, who appeared as a Traitor on the show, said the constant lying took a significant toll, describing the experience of deceiving fellow cast members she had grown close to as genuinely difficult. She also noted that participants had their phones confiscated for the duration of filming and were limited to roughly one scheduled call with family per week, leaving them largely cut off from the outside world for the duration of production.

The conversation aired on THE MORGAN STEWART SHOW, the podcast hosted by Morgan Stewart McGraw, the former star of E!'s 'Rich Kids of Beverly Hills,' 'Daily Pop,' 'Nightly Pop,' and 'Necessary Realness.' The episode is available on the SiriusXM app and wherever podcasts are available.

Lisa Rinna Says There Were Therapists on the Set of THE TRAITORS

Morgan Stewart McGraw opened THE EXCHANGE by noting the intensity of the filming schedule: 'You're basically filming 24 hours a day.'

Rinna confirmed the difficulty: 'It was really hard. You film so much, and they take away all of your stuff. You don't have your phone or anything.'

When Stewart McGraw asked whether Rinna went without speaking to her family for three weeks, Rinna clarified: 'You do, but only about once a week. It's a scheduled call. You're taken completely out of YOUR WORLD and dropped into another one, and that was difficult for me.'

Despite that, Rinna said she found an unexpected upside: 'But I loved not having my phone. I absolutely loved it.'

She elaborated on her relationship with her phone before the show: 'Probably more than you'd think—and definitely more than I realized. Once I didn't have it, I was like, 'Hallelujah. Goodbye. Praise Jesus.' I had no responsibility. I loved it.'

Rinna added that she saw strategic value in the policy: 'And I think it's really smart that they take your phone away because it forces you to focus on the game. At the end of the day, it's a game.'

When Stewart McGraw asked whether Rinna ever got in her head during filming, Rinna pointed to her role as the source of the strain: 'Yeah. I was a Traitor, so I was lying to everyone 24/7. I think that's what really takes its toll. At least it did on me.'

Stewart McGraw then asked whether psychologists were made available to cast members. Rinna confirmed they were: 'They do. They actually come and check in with you every time you have a day off.'

She praised the production's overall approach to cast welfare: 'This show is handled so well. You're really supported throughout the process.'

Stewart McGraw noted that not every reality show operates that way, to which Rinna agreed: 'I definitely know. But this one was incredibly supportive, and that made the experience so much better.'

Rinna summed up her overall feelings about the experience: 'I loved it. It was fun, and because it's a game, it never felt like life or death. That's what I enjoyed most. That said, it's hard being a Traitor because you're lying to people you're actually getting close to.'

Lisa Rinna on Leaving RHOBH

Rinna also spoke at length about her departure from THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS. Stewart McGraw brought up a widely reported detail — that Rinna's late mother, Lois, appeared to her in a dream and told her to leave the show.

'You've shared that Lois came to you in a dream and told you not to continue with the show. She said, 'It's time to go.' Do you vividly remember that dream?' Stewart McGraw asked.

Rinna said she did: 'Oh God, yeah.'

She described the dream: 'I was in my living room at home, and she just came in and said, 'It's time for you to leave the show.' That was it.'

When Stewart McGraw suggested it sounded like a visitation, Rinna agreed: 'It really did happen.'

She added: 'What's interesting is that I heard her more than I saw her. The sound of her voice was so real that I just thought, 'Okay.''

Rinna said the dream came approximately two months after her mother's passing. She had not been thinking about leaving the show at the time: 'No. I was just in a very painful place. My mom died, and three days later I went back to work.'

She reflected on that decision: 'I should never have done that. I should have said, 'I need some time. I can't come right back to work.' But there was a trip to Mexico, and they needed me.'

Rinna explained her thinking at the time: 'In my mind, I had a contract. You go to work or they'll sue you—that's literally how I think. I knew they were in a situation where they needed me. There was a lot of pressure, and I knew they needed me to help carry those scenes. So I did it.'

She said in hindsight it was a mistake: 'It was a big mistake. Looking back, I should have taken a year off. Not that everyone can just take a year off, but in hindsight, I absolutely should have taken a break.'

Rinna said she worked through the entire four-month filming season before reaching a breaking point: 'It wasn't until I finally cracked. There's a moment on the show where you actually see me completely fall apart.'

She offered her own interpretation of the audience reaction during that period: 'What I learned from the whole experience is that grief is incredibly painful for people to watch because everyone has experienced it, and nobody really knows how to handle it. I think I ended up representing everyone else's grief—the audience's, the women on the show, everyone. It was just too painful.'

Rinna continued: 'I think that's why people reacted the way they did. They were saying, 'I don't like her anymore. I've had it with her. She's the devil. She's evil.' My feeling is that I represented pure grief, and people didn't know what to do with that. I understand it now.'

She said the show's producers never addressed it with her: 'No. Of course not.'

Rinna clarified THE TIMELINE of her decision to leave: 'Well, you film the show, and then it doesn't air for a couple of months. It was after the season aired—and after the reunion—that I knew I had to go. Even though my mom had already come to me in that dream and told me I needed to leave, it wasn't until the season aired that it really became clear. That period was incredibly painful.'

On the question of support from her castmates during that time, Rinna said: 'Not at all. None. Even the women on the show—except for Erika.'

She said she has had no regrets about leaving: 'None. I've never looked back. I've never thought, 'I wish I could go back.' Not once.'

Rinna added: 'Once I decided, 'I have to leave,' that was it. And listen, it was mutual. No one was begging me to stay. No one was saying, 'You can't leave.''

THE TRAITORS franchise continues to expand, with an all-civilian version set to debut on NBC. BroadwayWorld previously reported that THE TRAITORS: NEW BLOOD Sets September Premiere with Civilian Contestants.

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