'RHOBH's Crystal Kung Minkoff on Speaking Up in Season 12 and the 'Absurd' Drama That Follows (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

Crystal Kung Minkoff learned a valuable lesson after watching back her first season on : if you don't speak up in the moment, you come off looking like you don't care. «It's hard to explain, but when you watch the show, if you don't say what's in your head, people don't, they can't possibly know what's in your head,» she muses to ET ahead of 's season 12 premiere, her sophomore year.

The combination of that lesson and her now cemented relationships with these women (she came in only knowing fellow newbie Kathy Hilton last year) changed the game for Crystal. «I feel the more I am relaxed and connected with everybody, the more comfortable I am really giving my opinion, sharing what I am, and not holding back,» she says. «It's hard.

I was on the phone with Kyle [Richards] for a while this morning about that and she's like, 'Remember, I started this show and we were all new, but it's so hard to come into a show and the group when everyone has connections and you're not sure...' We were talking about just how each year goes by, you get more comfortable.»«I mean any time I'm arguing with someone or having conflict, it's not fun to re-watch,» she clarifies. «I think that's the part that I was always told by the girls that that's the hardest part, not the filming.

It's so true, because if you have conflict with your friends off camera, it's like you can get through it. You pass it. You don't have to look back on it.»«But [reliving drama thanks to the show] allows you to self-reflect and allows you to learn,» Crystal continues.