Entertainment

Yolanda Was Way Different On Her First 'RHOBH' Ep

by Marenah Dobin

It's crazy to think that Yolanda Foster has been a cast member on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for four years at this point. Time really does fly when I'm being entertained, and I just love me some Yolanda. Real talk, Yolanda is one of the best Real Housewives of all time. One reason that I love her so much is because we have seen her greatly evolve over the years, which you can really see if you compare her from her first episode to now.

I'm going to keep it real. At first, I didn't really know what to make of Yolanda. I had no idea who she was. She had more money than I could ever dream of, she put so much thought and effort into organizing her refrigerator, and she threw stuffy dinner parties with sing-alongs led by Grammy winners. I really did not know if I was going to like her, but all of those things that I just mentioned ended up having nothing to do with her character.

And as I watched the seasons, I saw that the 51-year-old was a lot more than the bullet points. Sure, she is a rich model with a perfect home, but over the years we have seen her peel back the layers to show us more of who she really is and we've gotten to experience so many big changes in her life.

1. She Went From Being Happily Married To Announcing A Separation

It's unclear how much we will see leading up the Fosters breaking up on this season of RHOBH, but it's clear that we will not see them back in their flirty ways in future seasons. Yolanda and David were the happiest, most affectionate couple. It's going to be interesting to see how she will be as a single woman in the upcoming seasons, but I have no doubt that she will pull through, as usual.

2. She Used To Show Off Her Wealth & Celeb Connections & Now She Focuses On Other Things

In the beginning, Yolanda was name dropping left and right. She even invited Grammy-winning singers to provide entertainment at a low-key dinner party. She put so much time and effort into her house and being fabulous, which there is nothing wrong with, but there is so much more to Yolanda than these great privileges that she has. She stopped leading with these things and now we get to see more of who she is as a person. She is far richer in character than she will ever be in money, and this woman has a lot of money.

3. She Went From Being Caught Up In The Cliques To Making Her Own Social Rules

When Yolanda started on RHOBH she was thrown into other people's drama from the previous seasons. She didn't really know how to navigate that scene and ended up getting a little cliquey. She infamously put hearts next to some name cards at an event and not others, signifying her preference for some women in the group. She even used the phrase "dream team." She later made up for this by getting "dream team" T-shirts for everyone in an effort to be more inclusive. Now, she is the voice of reason and does not get caught up taking sides in petty drama.

4. She Was The Epitome Of Health & Now She's Struggling With Lyme Disease

When we first met Yolanda on the show, she was waking up at dawn to work out and bragging about her super healthy diet. Now, she struggles with many everyday tasks as a result of having Lyme disease. But don't you worry; she may be down, but she's not out. Yolanda is doing everything in her power to take care of herself and be healthy these days.

5. She Was A Party Pooper & Now She Respects People's Right To Have Fun

I want to stress that I loved Yolanda from the start, but I was pretty surprised during her first season when she claimed to dislike "drunken women." Had she never seen the show before? These women drink at every function possible, so I have no idea what she was expecting from them. But over the years, Yolanda went from a critic to a shoulder to lean on, and this role is much more suited for her.

6. She Evolved From Seeming Like A Stage Mom To Letting Her Kids Do Their Thing

Yolanda went from being super hands on with her kids' careers (both of her daughters, Gigi and Bella Hadid, are successful models) and schooling to taking a step back and having the confidence in her children and how she raised them. She is still involved and caring, but isn't picking out every single thing in their apartments or staying on them for their diets. She has struck the perfect balance.

Yolanda was pretty fabulous from the start and that hasn't fleeted one bit, but she has evolved into a more well balanced person and has no qualms about trying to better herself every single day. Yolanda knows how to learn from her missteps and that makes her a great role model for all of us.

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