‘Real Housewives’ Tapes Suicide Special After Driving Man to Suicide

Two weeks ago, Russell Armstrong committed suicide by hanging himself.  The estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Taylor Armstrong, Russell was $1.5M in debt and was deeply concerned about how he’d be portrayed on the coming season, reportedly saying things like, “they’re just going to crucify me this season” and “I don’t know what to do. I’ll never survive it.”

Well the bad news is that he didn’t survive it. The good news is that he’s going to be portrayed a lot better than he expected, because Bravo has filmed a special about Russell’s suicide.

The ladies of the show — Lisa Vanderpump, Camille Grammer, Kyle and Kim Richards, and Adrienne Maloof–filmed the special Monday; Taylor was not present. It’s unclear if the special will air before or after the premiere of the show’s second season.

An individual close to one of the ”Housewives” said the ladies were not given specifics as to how things would unfold during their sit-down and that it was intended as a way to get their reactions to what happened. [LA Times]

I heard that Andy Cohen was particularly devastated by Russell’s death. Devastated that Bravo didn’t get the suicide on camera. So, you know, Plan B: gather the women in a circle, have them talk about it, and milk it for another episode. That’s what Bravo does best.