Peter Larsen/Bravo/NBCU Photo BankFrom poop hats to her penchant for Jesus Juice, Brandi Redmond has managed to make her mark on the Bravo landscape in the seven brief weeks that The Real Housewives of Dallas has been on the air with her refreshing lack of pretension.
But it hasn't been all fun and games for the former Dallas Cheerleader. Not only has she found herself on the receiving end of some scorn from fellow Housewife LeeAnne Locken—it turns out fart jokes don't fly with everyone in Dallas—but Brandi's home life has found itself tested in more ways than one. Her marriage to high school sweetheart Bryan has become strained thanks to his constant work travel, she learned that her life-long estrangement from her grandfather didn't quite begin as she'd always thought, and in tonight's episode, her PTSD-striken brother Michael, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, tried to take his own life.
To get a better understanding of the roller coaster ride we've seen the mother of two endure so far—and to get a few hints at what's still to come—E! News got Brandi on the phone for a candid chat. What follows is that conversation.
E! News: I wanted to start with maybe one of my favorite things I've ever seen on The Real Housewives: This poop hat that's had everyone talking. When you were coming up with this idea for Mad Hatter's, did you have any inkling that it would cause the drama that it generated afterwards?
Brandi: No, I didn't. I came up with the idea because the event was "April in Paris" and having attended the event many times—my husband has sponsored it many times with his company—I knew how extravagant and outrageous these hats were, so I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. And it was only one little hidden turd on it, so I just thought it was funny. Even Sarah Jessica Parker stepped in dog poo in Paris in Sex and the City. [Laughs] I had no idea that it was going to cause LeeAnne to run around and tattletale on me.
We've seen LeeAnne go after you and your BFF Stephanie [Hollman] and now, this week, she's set her sights on Cary [Deuber.] What is it about you guys that's made her so combative towards you?
You know, I actually, really don't understand her. In this episode, you see [her boyfriend] Rick…kind of nails her on the head there, like, "You're gossiping." Maybe the stories about Cary are true or not true. I've never heard those things come out of her mouth, so I support what Cary tells me because that's her truth. So anything that LeeAnne has to say or Heidi Dillon has to say, I think it's just gossip.
In this first half of the season, we've seen you be remarkably open with several struggles within your family, between your marriage and your relationship with your grandpa and, this week, with what happens with your brother. Were you nervous about being so honest with all of America about all of this?
I went into it knowing that I was going to open up about my life. With my children and husband, you don't realize because it is that you're living in that moment and I had no idea that things were going to unravel the way that they did and there's no control over it. We're living a normal, everyday life—it's just around cameras. I don't have any regrets. I want to be authentic who I am and for the world to see, I think that's the most important thing—that you're just yourself and you're living in the moment. In the scene with Bryan and I when he was so upset, when I was upset, as I'm watching it, I'm thinking, "Oh my God, maybe I should've been honest and talked to him what I was going to talk about," but then I was like, "You know what? Then it wouldn't have been authentic and we wouldn't have gotten the reaction that we did." And hopefully I'm now relatable to people that have had a moment like that in their relationship…I would rather be me and authentic.
Talking about Bryan, we do see him apologize to you this week when you meet for lunch. Has he been making more of an effort in relation to your concerns or is that a struggle we'll continue to see?
I can honestly say, if anything, this has made us stronger. It's allowed him to reflect on who he is and the way that he treated me. It's actually made him emotional at times. People have not been friendly to him through this process. It's been really, really hard on him and I think that's been difficult for him. He normally is the life of the party. Everybody loves him so this is the first time he's been called a jerk a thousand times. But it's been really good. When we watched our season, we actually went with him on his tour of all of his properties during summer. We actually just traveled with him. To do even that with him made it a lot more fun, spending time together. I feel like he has just made such a turn around to include us more with his busy schedule, as well.
I'm so sorry about what we see this week with your brother. I can't imagine how hard that must've been for you. How is your brother doing today?
You know, he's doing really good. Going into it, with everything that was going on with Michael, I thought it was important to ask permission [of] Michael and my parents. Michael was 100 percent on board. If anything, he wanted to raise awareness and let people know that there are so many people out there struggling. And it's not something [where] there's a cure overnight. It's a disease and it's something that he's struggling with daily…It's something that people need to be aware of…A lot of people don't really realize the sacrifice [soldiers] make. It not only changes their mentality, it changes their lives forever.
When LeeAnne hears about it in this episode, she sort of warms to you and sort of sets aside her feelings that she'd been having towards you. The preview for next week shows you two sitting down together. What's your relationship like moving forward throughout the season? Does it soften or is there still that contention that we've seen so far?
It definitely softens. For me, wanting to sit down with LeeAnne, it was just like, there's so many more important things in life than fighting over a poop hat. It's just a ridiculousness that comes from my being immature and silly, and I know that that's what she thinks about me. She doesn't think that the way I behave is appropriate in functions, but I am who I am and I like to have a good time. But I think she starts to accept me for who I am and I think we're going to see a silly side to her as well. It definitely softens.
That Frito Pie party that Heidi throws in the episode looked pretty awkward. Was it as uncomfortable there as it seemed to us?
Honestly, it was awkward. When I left the party, I literally called my mom and said, "I need a Batmobile to get me out of this party."
What's your take on Heidi? She comes in this week and she's ready to throw some gossip out there. Did you know prior to the party?
No, I did not know Heidi. Heidi's never been rude or said anything about me. She did not get to know me before she said those things. You know, she was nice and cordial to me, but as far as the gossip, I think it's shocking that something like what she said about Cary came out of her mouth. And I thought it was very insulting when she said that Cary was going to show us what to do on a corndog. I thought, "Oh my God, she's at your party!"…And if I were Cary, I would've taken the corn dog and shoved it in her face and said, "That's what I'm going to demonstrate."
What can we look forward to for the rest of the season? The Housewives are known for their trips they take together. Will you guys travel this season or will you just continue your crazy adventures throughout Dallas?
No, we actually take a trip. Stephanie and I, and our families, we have a lake house on Lake Travis in Austin together. That's our trip. We're going to head that way and I'm going to host a birthday celebration for all of the birthday girls. We have three Geminis in the group.
Lastly, I can't imagine how this first season changes your life, the way that people reach out to you on social media and respond to you. What's it been like this first half of the season, fielding that public reaction to your actual life?
I'm somebody that always takes something with a grain of salt and I'll make a joke about somebody if they want to be negative towards me. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I put myself out there, so I'm ready for the good and the bad, but the one thing that I think has been the hardest is when people attack my children. That's like, you know, please don't go there. Other than that, they can say anything about me that they want, and my marriage. I get it. It's the price you pay when you're putting yourself out there. But I can take it. I'm a big girl.
The Real Housewives of Dallas airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on Bravo.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)