Kym Johnson-Herjavec Goes Way Back With NeNe, Denise, and Another ‘Housewives’ OG (EXCLUSIVE)

Actor and dancer Kym Johnson-Herjavec plays a Housewife in Lifetime’s Hunting Housewives. The movie seemingly won’t follow The Real Housewives franchise’s tradition of fights over the biggest room or gossip account scandals, but there will be enough twists and turns to keep viewers intrigued.

In Hunting Housewives, Kym, Melyssa Ford, Denise Richards, and NeNe Leakes play four BFFs planning a weekend getaway.

The plan inevitably goes awry when they wind up stranded in the woods.

In an exclusive interview, Kym told Distractify that no pretending was required while playing her co-stars’ friends, especially NeNe or Denise’s. The Dancing With the Stars champ also told us what working with the former Real Housewives stars was like and how they formed their friendship.

Kym and NeNe had a common thread as they were both on highly successful reality shows. Before landing their starring roles in the film as Joli Symons and Rebel Carron-Whitman, respectively, Kym said the pair had been friends for years after meeting on Dancing With the Stars.

Kym starred in the celebrity dancing competition for 17 seasons and left in 2017 after meeting her husband, Robert Herjavec. She also met NeNe, who came in 7th place during Season 18. Kym said seeing NeNe again brought back many “flashbacks” of how their friendship began and said her friend “brings it” in the film.

“She’s got such a great personality, and like she really brings it,” Kym told Distractify. “She can deliver a line like nobody. She's so funny. And she and I play very good friends in it. And we just have a great connection. So we have some really good moments in the movie.”

Additionally, Kym shared with us that she and Denise became tight after the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum danced alongside Maksim Chmerkovskiy in Season 8. She shared that knowing the ladies beforehand was another reason she was glad she accepted the role, saying it felt “natural and great.”

“Obviously, they were in my world when they did Dancing with the Stars,” she said. “And now, I was stepping into this. But they were so supportive of me, and they really helped me out.”

Kym isn’t just a “friend of” within the Housewives franchise. She told us she is a fan of the Real Housewives universe and said it’s an undeniable “guilty pleasure” — and named The Real Housewives of New York City and RHOBH her favorite ones to indulge in. However, she prefers the version starring her pal, RHONY OG LuAnn de Lesseps, to the reboot that aired in 2023.

“I love LuAnn. She's actually a friend of mine,” Kym said. And she's a great person. I love her. I love the Housewives of Beverly Hills as well. I think they're so great.”

Although the Mirrorball trophy winner is in the Housewives’ inner circle and has good TV taste, playing anything other than Lifetime’s version of a “Real Housewife” isn’t an option. The wife and twin mom believes her life wouldn’t be interesting enough to discuss all season long.

“I would never do it,” she professed. “I think I'd be too boring.”

While we’re sure those who watched her on DWTS would love to see her as a Housewives star, she said she’s perfectly OK with being a fake one for now, stating Hunting Housewives is the perfect mixture of the franchise and Survivor.

However, if she ever changed her mind about throwing shade in a confessional interview, she said she had a tagline in mind.

“I love the taglines,” Kym said. “I remember I loved Lisa [Rinna’s Season 10 tagline], and I feel like that would have been my own way back when she was like, ‘dance like everyone's watching.’ That would have been mine completely.”

Hunting Housewives premieres Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.