Kathy Hilton — dressed in a black Valentino gown, gold belt, and studded stilettos for a

photo shoot — was begging for some attention.

“Moty!” she cried out from the grand helical staircase in her Bel Air home’s foyer. “Come
up here!” Moty, her eight-year-old Pomeranian-poodle mix, gazed at her with
trepidation and wagged his tail. Ms. Hilton sighed and shrugged.

No bother. The 62-year-old is getting plenty of notice these days from her turn as
unexpected darling on this season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” the Bravo
series that chronicles the catfights and camaraderie of groups of wealthy women. Set
amid a season of heavy legal dramas and lighter histrionic fare, Ms. Hilton’s oddball
asides and eccentric behavior has sent the internet into paroxysms of adulation.

“I was speaking with some of the crew, and I said, ‘I’m curious. How am I coming off?’”
Ms. Hilton said earlier that day, tucked onto a creamy couch in a well-appointed den as
a candle the size of a manhole cover filled the room with a powdery floral scent. “And
the words they used … they said, ‘You’re quirky and refreshing.’” Her sunny face went
dumbstruck. “Quirky?  Me? I’ve been asking my friends lately, ‘Do you think I’m
quirky?’”

“Housewives” fans certainly do. “Thank the Gay Gods for Kathy Hilton,” trumpeted a
headline from Buzzfeed News. According to Slate, her “blissful unawareness lets the
series finally embrace camp,” which would either depress or delight Susan Sontag were
she alive. “After shooting,” tweeted Alex Abad-Santos, a reporter at Vox who has written
about this season, “Kathy Hilton checked into the hospital with severe back pain from
carrying this season of #RHOBH.”

Andy Cohen, an executive producer of the “Housewives” universe and its de facto king,
thought she’d be a natural fit since her two half sisters, Kim and Kyle Richards, have
been longtime centerpieces of the show. Still, even he was surprised by her onscreen
charisma. “One thing you can never predict or manufacture is humor,” he said. “That’s
something that just is. And I had no idea she was this quirky and funny.”

“She has this effervescence mixed with daffiness mixed with self-deprecation and an
easy, breezy charm,” said the actress Casey Wilson, who co-hosts a podcast that treats
“Housewives” minutiae like the Panama Papers. Already she’s spent many episodes
analyzing, and lionizing, the show’s newest cast member. “She’s not invested in
anything, which I appreciate,” Ms. Wilson said. “I have such a love for her.”
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Continue reading the main story

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Ms. Hilton and Moty, her eight-year-old Pomeranian-poodle.Credit...Chantal Anderson
for The New York Times

‘Who is Hunky Dory?’

A list of things Kathy Hilton has done that have captivated her newfound fans:

She mistook a Black co-star, Garcelle Beauvais, for her half sister, Kyle Richards, who is
white. On a girl’s trip to Lake Tahoe, she brought along a boxed fan because the noise it
makes helps her sleep — however she seemingly didn’t know how to plug it in. On that
same trip, she sneaked into Kyle’s bed in the middle of the night and then proceeded to
eat from a crinkly bag of chips, crack open a Red Bull, and leaf noisily through
newspapers at 1 a.m. During a round of the game “Two Truths and a Lie,” Ms. Hilton
simply told three truths. She mistakenly put ear drops into her eyes. She crafts glittering
Christmas wreaths which inexplicably feature small plastic baby doll figurines.

At a dinner party, when a castmate who was in the throes of a petty squabble said she
would not pretend that things were “hunky dory,” Ms. Hilton looked around the table in
confusion and asked “Who is hunky dory?” During an Instagram Live to promote the
show, she had to be reminded which network it aired on (Bravo, Wednesday nights at 8
p.m.). When it was revealed that a cast mate, Erika Girardi, with whom she had
socialized on multiple occasions, was being implicated in a legal battle, Ms. Hilton
immediately distanced herself from the situation, expertly deploying the choice
phrase, “I don’t know her.”

On Bravo, the most iconic personalities are usually a deft combination of combativeness,
pride, and ostentation. Yet Ms. Hilton has thrived despite lacking these essential traits,
ones many would assume she possessed in spades.

She’s often a peacemaker, or busy pulling impish pranks while her co-stars trade barbs
or watch their marriages dissolve into legal fiascos. She’s airheaded but earnest, caring
yet kooky. While the other women arrive at casual gatherings in four-figure designer
outfits engulfed in logos, Ms. Hilton prefers low-key T-shirts emblazoned with slogans
of female empowerment.
Image
Ms. Hilton has stood out among co-stars in her debut season on “The Real Housewives
of Beverly Hills.”Credit...Nicole Weingart/Bravo

Ms. Hilton recalls her “Housewives” initiation by fire, an invitation to a barbecue hosted
by Dorit Kemsley, a castmate.

“Now I put on what I love to wear in California — a pretty, long, silky-cotton dress with
espadrilles, which were brand-new and very cute,” she said. “Well, each one of them
walks in wearing Pucci, Gucci, Fiorucci … it was like a mix between Fashion Week and
an Oscars party! It was gorgeous. Now, I didn’t feel insecure — I thought I looked nice —
but when the showrunner interviewed me about what I was wearing compared to them,
I said, I thought I looked fine!”

Watching Ms. Hilton move through the world serves as a reminder that the truly
affluent don’t operate by the same rules as the rest of us. She often seems unaware of or
unconcerned by certain societal norms, or confused by life’s more menial drudgery. She
keeps rich-person hours, going to bed as late as she pleases and happily sleeping in,
even if, on “Housewives,” that means missing out on a planned group activity (and,
crucially, more screen time).

Her co-stars like her because “they know I’m not coming for their jobs,” she said. (In
fact, Ms. Hilton is technically not an official housewife at all but, in Bravo parlance, a
“friend of,” meaning her role is a supporting one.)

“I think people fell in love with her because she’s one hundred percent authentic,” her
daughter Nicky Hilton Rothschild, 37, wrote in an email from Capri. “The most
endearing part is that she doesn’t even know she’s being funny. It comes so naturally.”
Image
“I think there’s a lot of wisdom that she brings to this group that gets lost in the humor,”
Andy Cohen said.Credit...Chantal Anderson for The New York Times

Nicky said she was wary of her mother joining “Housewives” because of the frequent
fighting on the show, but has been pleasantly surprised. “My friends are constantly
sending me funny Kathy memes,” she said.

For “Housewives” obsessives, the addition of Ms. Hilton helps flesh out an offstage
drama that is oft-hinted at but rarely seen. A central story line was the ongoing trials
and tribulations of Kim and Kyle Richards, as Kim struggled with addiction issues; her
and Kyle’s acrimonious battles were a linchpin of early seasons. In recent years, Kyle has
obliquely referred to times when she and Ms. Hilton were not on speaking terms, so
when it was announced that Ms. Hilton was joining season 11, Bravo devotees were
intrigued.

“She’s like the ghost that’s been wandering around, haunting the housewives,” Ms.
Wilson said. “We were missing a key piece.”

“Kyle and I have had our ups and downs,” Ms. Hilton said judiciously. “After that first
season, I was so angry and hurt, so I stopped watching the show.” However the sisters
began to make amends a few years back. “We started repairing our relationship and it
really flattered me that Kyle wanted me to be on the show.”

“My sister and I tease her that if there wasn’t a global pandemic going on and she wasn’t
locked down in her house bored for a year she never would have signed on to this in a
million years,” Nicky wrote.

Mr. Cohen agreed. “The truth is, also, as funny as she is, she’s got a lot of interesting
perspective about living life in the public eye and surviving, and thriving, through
scandalous situations. I think there’s a lot of wisdom that she brings to this group that
gets lost in the humor.”
Image
“The most endearing part is that she doesn’t even know she’s being funny. It comes so
naturally,” Ms. Hilton’s daughter, Nicky, said.Credit...Chantal Anderson for The New
York Times