There’s absolutely no denying that Kara Alloway was the name on everyone’s lips this season on The Real Housewives of Toronto…

Kara on Her Fashion This Season 

Q: What were your favourite moments from the series?

A: It was nice doing a scene with my mom because someone else who I know who did a reality show said you’d have that in perpetuity. I like that because life is short and I’ll always have that nice scene with my mom.

Q: She was great on the show and gave some great advice. Did she influence your love of fashion?

A: Yes, always. It’s so funny, I can remember being a little girl and sitting in the changing room at Creeds and she would show me things and teach me about prints and fabric and quality. She was definitely very much a huge influence on my fashion growing up.

Q: Did you have any other favourite moments from this year?

A: No, not really.

Q: Looking back, how do you view your fashion choices from season one?

A: I won. [Laughs]

Q: I think your confessional look with the sparkly pink top and slicked hair was one of my favourite looks. Can you tell us about that?

A: It was actually a dress. I knew this before from working in magazines, but it’s very different in television; stuff reads different [on TV]. In magazines it might look fabulous on the rack, but it wouldn’t read so well in print or digital media – but it’s a whole different ball game for television. I always try to incorporate something that would have texture and movement in every outfit that I picked.

Q: Sometimes when people watch themselves back on TV they have that moment where they think “oh my god I can’t believe I wore that,” did you have that at all?

A: I loved the outfit that I wore when Joan visited me at the cottage, but I had one friend that said to me “what the what Kara – it looked like Mrs. Roper!” And you know what, that’s how I dress at the cottage – sorry!

The way I [dress] in Muskoka is that you never want to look like you’re trying too hard, so literally what you see on the show is how I dress in Muskoka, and it’s entirely different than how I dress in Toronto. Same for Florida – when I’m in Florida I have been known to go on the golf course in Lilly Pulitzer. I would not be caught dead walking around in Toronto or New York in Lilly Pulitzer. I always find that fashion is very transient that way; you have to change depending on your environment.

Q: Have you always been known in your circle of friends as that friend whose outfits were always en pointe?

A: I’ve always been known in my circle of friends as being the one who takes a risk. I don’t know that everyone would say that it’s “en pointe,” but I’m definitely always game for taking a risk.

Q: Where do you think that comes from?

A: Oh my goodness, I need to lie in my psychiatrist couch for this one… I think fashion needs to be fun. If it’s stagnant, it’s boring. Take a risk… and sometimes it’ll flop.

Kara on Social Media

Q: Have you been looking at social media at all? How has the response there been for you?

A: Well after the show [premiered] I went private because my number one concern is my kids. So I literally went to my social media and I kicked everybody off that I didn’t know. So I scaled myself all the way back to only people that I knew. Then recently I hired a publicist that said “Number one – we’re going public,” so I felt like my kids were ready for that… I was really concerned about them seeing some of the negative stuff that would come up, and I wouldn’t want that to hurt them. So I went public, and you know a lot of bad stuff comes in, but I had somebody tell me that [it’s] Monopoly – just move on.

It’s funny, when I was in LA, Lisa Rinna took me by the shoulders and said “what are you doing, don’t look at your Instagram!” So I don’t really look at my Instagram, which is hard for me because I would communicate with my friends that way, and I had to get my head around [the fact] that it’s not to communicate with [my] friends, it’s more of a marketing tool… it’s a little bit out of space for me but I understand it’s all in my best interest so I’m cool with it.

Q: How Does it feel having to think this way – where you’re more like a character or a brand now?

A: Another psychiatrist couch question. I don’t want to be trite and way “oh it’s a loss of privacy” because that’s stupid. It’s a loss of privacy the second you sign your contract, so you have to anticipate that’s coming. But you find other ways to communicate with your friends. At the end of the day it’s not an Academy Award winning movie, it’s a reality show.

Q: When you signed that contract, where you expecting the season to be the way it was?

A: No.

Kara on Her Relationship with Kyle Richards and Kathy Hilton

Q: How do you know Lisa Rinna, and how did you ladies end up hanging out?

A: Lisa knows Kyle [Richards], and Kyle and I went out for sushi. Lisa was there and Kyle introduced me. They actually kind of laughed at me a little bit because I had just gone public on Instagram and was reading my comments. I got the same thing from Camille Grammer, I got the same thing from Heather Dubrow, I got the same thing from Adrienne Maloof, and my friend Kyle [Richards].

Q: Can you walk us back through how you and Kyle Richards met?

A: Kyle and I met in acting class in Beverly Hills… and we just hit it off. At the time she was a single mom and we lived together for I think, two years or three years. I was working at Allure magazine at the time. And before I worked at Allure magazine when I was living with her… I worked at a restaurant as a private party coordinator in Beverly Hills, and then I met Kathy [Hilton] and I worked at her store The Staircase for a while, and then I ended up working at Allure.

You know when you’re young and out of high school or university and you do whatever job you have to do?

Kara on Season One

Q: What’s it been like to watch this season back?

A: Interesting but I’m glad it’s over.

Q: Do you keep in touch with any of the other women right now?

A: No

Q: Was there anything that shocked you watching this season back?

A: I’d have to say how shiny we all were. It was a really hot and I guess there were a few times where I should’ve used more powder.

Q: What does it feel like to be the most talked-about topic of the season on The Real Housewives of Toronto?

A: It’s interesting, but I’m glad it’s over.

Q: Was it hard for you to watch at all?

A: Hmmm. No.

Q: Would you say you’re pretty thick-skinned, or it just wasn’t that serious to you?

A: All of the above.

Q: Do you think there’s anything you would’ve done differently this season?

A: Not to sound like a broken record, but no, I’m glad it’s over.

Q: When you were going into that lunch in Gusto with Joan, how did you see that panning out?

A: I don’t know, I’m glad it’s over. It’s a fine line because you understand what the show is about. You understand the show needs drama. So you want to be yourself, but at the same time – we used to say in the magazine business “it’s not a yearbook;” you don’t open a magazine to see a yearbook, you open a magazine for a little bit of escapism and voyeurism. And that’s how I approached this, and that’s how I approached the entire season. It’s not a yearbook, people don’t want to see me brushing my teeth.

Q: I would say you gave the people what they want then?

A: [Laughs] Yes.

Q: Have you learned any lessons from this whole experience?

A: I’d say I learned that everybody has a story, so just remember that if you’re talking to someone and they seem like they’re not reacting in a normal way, then there’s usually more to their story than what you’re seeing on the surface.

Q: Do you think you’ve grown from this experience?

A: 100%! You can’t ever go through anything and not look at it as a learning experience. I would never say that, that would be foolish – what a waste of time. You have to always look at it positive and say “I’ve grown, I’m a better person for it,” and then move on.

Q: Would you ever come back for season two to see how your character plays out?

A: No.