Erika Jayne said her lawyers told her to quit 'Real Housewives' amid her ongoing legal drama but she refused

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Erika Jayne said her lawyers told her to quit 'Real Housewives' amid her ongoing legal drama but she refused
Erika Girardi and Andy Cohen appear on part one of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" season 11 reunion. Nicole Weingart/Bravo
  • Andy Cohen kicked off "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" reunion by grilling Erika Jayne.
  • Jayne said she refused to quit the show amid her ongoing legal drama, despite her lawyers' advice.
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"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" reunion started off with a bang on Wednesday night as Andy Cohen immediately began asking Erika Jayne about her ongoing legal drama.

Cohen asked Jayne if her lawyers advised her to quit the show after news broke in December that her estranged husband Tom Girardi had been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the widows and orphans of plane-crash victims.

"They did," Jayne told him. "And I said no, because I have nothing to hide."

Jayne said her lawyers had warned her that anything she said on the show could be used against her in court. "Whether it is true or not, it almost doesn't even matter at this point," she said.

"But I'm not a quitter," she continued. "And I wanted to honor my commitment. I wasn't going to run away from what's coming at me."

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Cohen then asked Jayne if one of the reasons she decided to stay on the show was that she no longer had Girardi's income to support her.

Girardi's law firm, Girardi Keese, filed for bankruptcy in December. According to a bankruptcy filing obtained by Insider in August, the firm is more than $100 million in debt.

Erika Jayne said her lawyers told her to quit 'Real Housewives' amid her ongoing legal drama but she refused
Jayne filed for divorce from Tom Girardi in November. Steve Eichner/NameFace/SIPA USA

A bankruptcy trustee also stated in a court filing that Girardi had transferred $20 million in loans from his law firm to Jayne's company, EJ Global. A judge then ruled that Jayne will be liable to pay three of her husband's former clients, who are owed $11 million dollars.

Jayne confirmed to Cohen during the reunion that "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" is now her main job.

"Back then, when we were shooting the show, I was literally trying to survive," she added.

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But Jayne maintained that she was innocent, hitting back at viewers who thought she should be fired from the Bravo series.

"Why should I be fired?" she said. "Why are you presuming I've done something? Why aren't we letting the legal process play out? Give me a chance to defend myself. I'm ready for the challenge, watch me do it."

The reunion wasn't all serious. When Cohen asked Jayne what look she had been going for with her outfit, she replied: "Hot. Single."

Cohen then asked Jayne what kind of man she was looking for.

"Somebody with a big penis," she quipped. "I would like some hot sex."

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In a preview for part two of the reunion - which airs next week - Cohen also asks Jayne about her claims that Girardi had been cheating on her before she filed for divorce.

"I said to Tom, 'If you're in love with someone else, divorce me and go be with her,"' she told Cohen, adding that Girardi said "nothing" in response to that.

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