Everything You Need to Know About The Real Housewives of Beverly Hill's Kathy Hilton

Kathy Hilton has always been a fixture on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. How could she not be, given her connection to original stars Kyle and Kim Richards? This year the third sister is ready to show even more of herself though as a friend of the housewives (more like family member, but whatever), and we can’t wait to see what kind of antics she has in store.

While we don’t yet know if she has a party trick like her split-throwing sister Kyle, or even how far into her personal life we’ll get given that she’s just starting out with a “friend” status, one thing is for sure: Kathy is here to shake things up. Here’s everything you need to know about the personality that ex-housewife Teddi Mellencamp once called “TV gold.”

Kathy has previously said she’d never do the show

Every year when RHOBH wraps and producers look ahead to the next season, rumours of Kathy joining the show seem to spring up. It makes sense, considering she’s showed up in Kyle and ex-housewife Kim’s own storylines so much over the past decade. However Kathy has also always said she would never do the series, so the fact that she agreed this year has everyone super excited and curious to see what has changed. As far as we can tell most of her storylines will involve her sister, but with this group of ladies you just never know anything for sure.

She’s got a famous family

You’re probably already aware, but Kim and Kyle Richards aren’t the only famous females in Kathy Hilton’s brood. The personality also happens to be the mother of two other very famous femmes, Paris and Nicky Hilton. (She also has two sons, Barron and Conrad Hilton.) Naturally everyone wants to know what Paris and Nicky think of their mom joining the often-controversial and always drama-filled cast. The pair discussed it on Paris’ podcast, This Is Paris, and while Paris says she doesn’t know what to make of it, Nicky flat out admits that if someone were to ask her whether she’d want her mom involved she’d easily say no. Does that mean we won’t see her daughters on-camera? Time will tell…

Sisterly disagreements run in the family

Think back to the early days of the series and one of the major sources of drama (aside from anything involving Camille Grammer) was the constant conflict between Kim and Kyle. While we always want those sisters to make up and stay in a good place, it will be interesting to see how Kyle and Kathy’s relationship differs. We already know the pair have a history of big feelings. Who doesn’t remember when Kyle produced that show loosely based on their mother’s life and Kathy stopped speaking to her for six months? How solid they actually are these days is bound to come up in the season, as are updates about their relationship with Kim.

Kathy is originally from New York

Very few people living in Beverly Hills (or Los Angeles for that matter) are actually from California, so it’s not surprising to learn that Kathy Hilton is actually from New York City. She was born there on March 13, 1959, which makes her 62 years old. However she was also raised in Beverly Hills, so she can definitely walk the walk when it comes to navigating Rodeo Drive and other 90210 hot spots with her new co-stars.

She too was an actress

The series has definitely brought up Kim and Kyle’s acting careers in the past, but they weren’t the only family members who were raised in front of a camera. As a child Kathy had small parts in series like Bewitched, Happy Days and The Rockford Files. She quit the game in 1979, but in 2005 she appeared in front of the camera again to host the one-season flop, I Want to Be a Hilton. Maybe doing RHOBH is a way for Kathy to get back into the game on a more-permanent basis. After all she will star in an upcoming scripted series called Booked, a comedy that revolves around the campy world of soap operas.

She was good friends with Michael Jackson

Kathy and late singer Michael Jackson had more in common than naming their daughters Paris. The pair first met in high school, where they became good friends. They stayed in touch through the years and knew each other’s families, and remained friends right up until the singer’s death in 2009. In 2018 some people wondered why Paris Jackson had a seat of honour beside Kathy at her birthday, proving that the families are actually a lot closer than anyone may have previously thought.

She and her husband are worth a lot of dough

Kathy Hilton married her husband Richard Hilton, of the iconic Hilton hotel family, in 1979. Together the pair reportedly have a whopping net worth of $350 million, which easily makes her the richest of all her co-stars. We can’t wait to see what kind of lavish lifestyle Kath and Rick enjoy on that kind of coin, but if we’ve come to expect anything on RHOBH it’s seeing ladies living all kinds of high lives.

Kathy is also a designer

Just because Kath is worth serious cash doesn’t mean she only sticks to the socialite lifestyle. The personality has made a name for herself as a fashion designer over the years with the Kathy Hilton Collection, and she’s also spent time on QVC home shopping network, hocking a skincare line. That gives her at least one thing in common with current housewives Dorit Kemsley and Lisa Rinna, but whether that creates a sisterhood or a little competition remains to be seen…

She’s a philanthropist at heart

Kathy has lots to celebrate in her life, so she’s sure to give back where she can. In the past she’s worked with or supported a slew of charities, including Los Angeles Mission, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Los Angeles. Earlier in 2021 Kathy was named the first-ever CASA of LA Ambassador, and she even received an honour for her work with the charity, which helps improve the lives of children in the foster care system.

Kathy has one friend in new cast member Crystal Kung Minkoff

Kathy isn’t the only new face on the 11th season of RHOBH. Her friend Crystal also joins the series as a bona fide diamond holder, and it seems as though it may have been the Kath-connection that got Crystal in the door. Whether the pair team up to tackle some of the more outspoken housewives (Crystal and Sutton Stracke definitely get into it in the trailer!) remains to be seen. But even the tightest of friends have had major falling outs on this series (ahem, Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle), so at this point we can and should expect anything to go down.