Garcelle Beauvais is done with “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
“It’s been a wild ride. I mean, some of the most amazing things have happened, and some hard things have also happened. But it’s been a ride nevertheless,” she said in a video posted Tuesday on social media, adding later that she had “the most exciting projects” lined up for the future. “CHEERS TO THE NEXT CHAPTER,” she wrote in the caption.
The five-year show veteran was the first Black woman in the “RHOBH” cast when she joined in 2020. She leaves behind full-time cast members Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Kyle Richards, Sutton Stracke and Bozoma Saint John and part-time friends of the show Kathy Hilton and Jennifer Tilly.
After transitioning from modeling to acting in the mid-1980s, starting with minor roles in “Miami Vice” and “The Cosby Show,” Beauvais, 58, put together a robust career. She had recurring roles on “NYPD Blue,” “Franklin & Bash” and “The Jamie Foxx Show” plus parts in movies including “Coming 2 America” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” But when the “Housewives” offer came, her manager told her to stay away from it, she told The Times in November.
Instead, the single mother of three sons — one of whom is grown — jumped in with both feet.
“The reach of this show is so different and across the board. I didn’t realize the scope of it, of how the fans are invested. I remember my friend texted me [during my first season]. She’s like ‘You’re trending.’ For what? I’ve done so many things, I’ve worked with incredible people in the industry,” the Haitian actor-producer told The Times in November. “But it wasn’t until this show that everything blew up.”
That explosion has not been 100% unicorns and rainbows, of course. During the 2022 season, Jax, one of her twin teen sons, decided he was done with the spotlight and took a break. “Middle-aged women spamming me with racist and crude comments about my family is not what I expected for my first week of high school,” he posted on his mother’s Instagram account last August.
Still, Beauvais has managed to be herself on “RHOBH,” executive producer Andy Cohen told The Times in November.
“But also I really relate, as a viewer and as a parent, to what she shares about raising the boys,” he said. “And in terms of a group dynamic, she is someone who absolutely does not break a sweat when sharing her feelings and opinions, and that is the hallmark of a great Housewife.”
By the way, fans, Beauvais and Cohen appear to be parting ways on good terms.
“Andy says I can come back any time I want,” she said in Tuesday’s video. “The door will always be open.”
Times staff writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.
