Lisa Rinna Talks Sexuality And The 'Scary' Thing That 'Changed Everything'

Lisa Rinna is known for speaking her mind and not being shy about it. In a recent interview for Cosmopolitan's special digital issue, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum dishes all the truths around her sexuality.

From how pole dancing helped her after postpartum depression to how she's handling menopause symptoms, Rinna spills the tea about anything and everything revolving around her sexuality.

When talking about her sexuality, Rinna, 60, told Cosmopolitan that she wasn't always so open and in touch with her sexuality. In fact, she said she "grew up very repressed." She explained how she morphed into the sexual persona she's now known for, starting with suffering with postpartum depression after her first daughter's birth. Rinna said she lost her "mojo" thanks to postpartum depression.

"I didn’t know I had it for the first 15 months of Delilah’s life, and then once we figured it out, I was treated for it, and I was ready for it when I had Amelia," she said.  "I went on an antidepressant, which helped tremendously. Without that, I don’t know how long it would’ve taken. I’m very positive and a very happy person, and I felt completely hopeless. And that’s pretty scary when you’ve never had that happen in your life."

Once Rinna got back on track, she wanted to "figure out how to get that sexuality back" and she credits something "scary" for helping to bring her back.

"Once I got myself back on track, it took a minute for me to figure out 'what do I do?' I think it’s hard after you have children to figure out how to get that sexuality back. I was asking the universe to show me a sign," she said.

"There was an article in the Los Angeles Times about Sheila Kelley doing a pole-dancing class. She had done this movie about strippers, and she was a fellow actor I knew—her husband was on ‘The West Wing’ and Harry knew him. This article made me think, ‘Wow, that’s scary, and that would be really interesting to do, and maybe I should do it. I think I should do it.’"

So Rinna started to take pole dancing classes and ended up going for two years. She said that "changed everything."

"It changed my whole perception and fear about sexuality and expressing yourself. I did it for a good two years, and I don’t think I ever looked back," she explained. "Then I was just able to really be open, really share it. Harry was thrilled, obviously. I mean, I learned a lot of really good tricks."

And now fast forward to years after the days of postpartum depression and there's menopause taking over. For Rinna, like many other women, menopause brings about many different symptoms and questions on what's the best way to handle them.

"So I think it’s really interesting when you go through menopause. I know it’s a drag for people to talk about menopause, and it’s like, 'Oh, it’s a dirty secret and we don’t want to talk about it.' But the truth is, you change," she said.

Taking hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, was something Rinna was really afraid to do because both her mother and sister had breast cancer and there were thoughts around the HRT being the cause.

"My mom took HRT for years and years and years, and they think her breast cancer had something to do with it. That was really terrifying because I thought, 'Well, I can't take hormones,'" she said.

"I didn’t take hormones in the beginning of menopause, and I was really suffering. Everything you can go through, I was going through it. I couldn’t sleep, the hot flashes, everything, and I was anxious and angry and just a mess."

The actress and reality star went to an Eastern-Western medicine doctor and he asked her about why she's not on HRT around the age of 52. He explained to her some things that could happen if she doesn't go on hormones so she decided to give it a try.

"We figured out the right mix. My doctor said it was safe for me personally and was actually going to protect me from breast cancer and ovarian cancer and other things," she shared.

"That was eight years ago, and I haven't looked back. And listen, if I'm going to have a better life by taking them, I'm going to do it. If you took my hormones away, I would kill you, probably. I really think they're helpful in so many ways."