Lisa Rinna Says 'Everything Housewives Has to Go Away for a While' in First Interview Since 'RHOBH' Exit

Lisa Rinna is ready for a fresh start after her exit from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The television personality revealed that she is looking forward to taking a step back from the Bravo series after eight seasons.

"I think everything Housewives has to go away for a while, which is good. I don't need to hang out with anybody," Rinna, 59, told Interview Magazine, while noting she plans to stay in touch off-camera with costars Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley and Kyle Richards.

"It's time for a break," she added. "Not a pause, I don't go on pause. You don't put me on pause. I go bye-bye. You know what I'm saying?"

The former reality star admitted she "f—ing hated" the past year as she dealt with the death of her mother Lois and feuded with Kathy Hilton following their drama-filled Aspen trip. She noted, "The story just didn't get told as two-sidedly as I would've liked."

"It was unfortunate that there weren't cameras in Aspen," she continued. "It was something that happened so spontaneously. In the moment, I didn't think to turn on my voice memos."

"When somebody's having a nuclear breakdown, you don't think, 'Oh, I should be filming this,'" she added, referring to Hilton's meltdown. "That doesn't come across your mind."

Despite their feud, Rinna said she respected Hilton for attending the RHOBH season 12 reunion.

"I give her a lot of credit for showing up to the reunion, because she could have run like Lisa Vanderpump did," she said. "But she came and she fought."

She continued, "She's got balls and I respect that she stood up for what she wants people to believe and what she believes in."

Rinna also revealed that her husband Harry Hamlin encouraged to start a conversation with Hilton at this year's People's Choice Awards.

"Harry said to me, 'You really should just say hi to her and just try to move on from this because it's not going to do either one of you any good,'" she recalled. "So at the People's Choice Awards, I saw her. We had already had moments together where we didn't talk and didn't even acknowledge one another. And I said, 'Hi Kathy, how are you? You look great.' And it broke the ice."

Rinna confirmed her departure from RHOBH in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Jan. 5.

"This is the longest job I have held in my 35 year career and I am grateful to everyone at Bravo and all those involved in the series," the Rinna Beauty founder said. "It has been a fun eight-year run and I am excited for what is to come!"

Following the departure news, Andy Cohen said Rinna "has been really a huge part of Beverly Hills" and expressed his desire to see the actress return someday on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live.

"I really do hope that this is a pause. I hope she will come back. I really do," he said. "I've talked to Tamra [Judge] about this a lot. Tamra, ultimately said to me before she came back to this, she said, 'You know what? My time away from the show kind of helped me as a person.' And she said, 'I think it was actually really positive to leave and get some air and step back.' So I just hope that Lisa will humor us and comes back."