‘RHOBH’s’ Newbie Crystal Kung Minkoff Opened Up About Her Eating Disorder Recovery
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The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills added Crystal Kung Minkoff to the cast for season 11.
The mother of two is the first Asian American on the franchise.
Crystal is an entrepreneur and founded Real Coco, which makes a wide range of coconut products.
This may be Crystal Kung Minkoff’s first season on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but she’s already proving she's a pro at navigating all the drama. The season 11 newbie is the first Asian American to star in the franchise. She and her famous fam seem more than ready to take on everything the Housewives can dish out.
Crystal isn't holding back. In fact, she opened up about recovering from an eating disorder on camera mid-season. "I’m a recovering bulimic," she told her co-stars. "And I say recovering because I don’t know what it’s like to be any other thing."
To be sure, she has big shoes to fill following Denise Richards and Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave (or maybe not) exiting after a tumultuous season 10. As the highly anticipated season heats up, here's everything to know about Crystal Kung Minkoff, her family, and her lucrative business ventures.
Crystal is an entrepreneur.
Her company, Real Coco, has a range of coconut products, including milk, water, coffee creamer, and chips.
Crystal hinted at a new venture in a recent Instagram post.
Crystal's brother, Jeffrey, also runs Real Coco alongside her.
And her brother is a pop star.
Jeffrey Kung may be Crystal's brother and business partner—but he's also a pop star in China, according to her Bravo bio. Jeffrey recently appeared on an episode of RHOBH, along with a clip of the music video for his latest song, "双人飘移 Slide." He also sings covers of popular songs, including "Ain't No Sunshine," which Crystal shared on her Instagram:
Jeffrey is a proud uncle to Crystal's kids, and he posts their adventures on his own Instagram.
"I hear that I am on #rhobh tonight so that means to many of my new friends I may be known as Mannie Jeff. ❤️," he wrote in a recent caption. "Thanks @crystalkungminkoff ;) Nice to meet you all and thanks for supporting my sister."
Crystal has opened up about her health struggles.
At Kyle’s election night party, Crystal revealed she struggled with an eating disorder as a teen to the Housewives. Her recovery is ongoing, but her bulimia is "under control" now.
Crystal explained that she’s struggled with disordered eating since she was 11 years old. “I love food," she revealed on the show. "And I always wanted to say I loved it. And that was really hard. I couldn’t admit liking food because I had so much shame around food."
She says she is no longer "suffering on the daily" with it. “I just want the girls to know how hyperaware I am of my weight and sort of the struggles I go through,” she said in a confessional.
Crystal is married to a Hollywood director.
She's married to filmmaker Rob Minkoff, and he's 22 years her senior. The couple celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary Sept. 29, 2020. He directed the original Lion King movie, nbd. Since then he's worked on Stuart Little 2, The Forbidden Kingdom, and others.
"13 years ago we got married. Best decision I've ever made," she wrote alongside a throwback wedding photo on Instagram.
They have two children together.
She has one son Max, 8, and one daughter Zoe, 5. The family of four goes on plenty of fun adventures, like horseback riding.
Crystal cooks with her kiddos, too.
She calls the Instagram series, "Cooking Kids," and it's adorable to watch them whip up sweet treats, like blueberry lemon tarts and cheesecake.
It all goes down in her gorgeous home and gourmet kitchen.
Crystal and her family take pretty epic vacations.
They've been skiing in Aspen, boating in Italy, and walked the Great Wall of China, just to name a few. It's more than checking off destinations on her bucket list, though. She wrote in one vacation caption: "I’m grateful to pass this special tradition of visiting this historical and culturally significant part of our family heritage with our Littles."
And, there’s a warrant out for her arrest in Arizona.
Don't expect the fam to venture to Arizona anytime soon. In an interview with Teddi on her podcast, Teddi Tea Pod, Crystal admitted that she has a warrant for her arrest in Flagstaff, Arizona. "I can't drive there or I'll get arrested!" she told Teddi.
Of course, fans went crazy for the news, which Crystal quickly clarified on Twitter. "Omg you guys are hysterical," she wrote. "I'm loving all these memes about my warrant story. Unfortunately, the real story isn't that exciting and it happened 22 years ago, but love that you're all enjoying it."
— Crystal Kung Minkoff (@ckminkoff) June 1, 2021
She gave followers the whole story behind the mix-up, sparing no details: "I was at a graduation at Northern Arizona U and as I drove onto campus, the campus police said it wasn't my turn to go thru the intersection at a 4-way stop and the officer got pissed," she tweeted.
"So instead of giving me a regular ticket I was cited for using my car as a weapon 😂🤷🏻♀️," she continued. "Once I got back to L.A. I got the citation in the mail and I called the judge. The judge thought it was absurd and said, 'Do you plan on driving here again in the next 6 years?' I said, 'No.' (I was 16 with my dad and brother in the car.) And he replied it was such a hassle for you to come back to Arizona for a hearing to have it dismissed so instead just don't come back!"
"So there's the story," Crystal finished her post. "Sorry it's boring."
Followers loved Crystal's down-to-earth explanation: "Tell your husband to make a movie about this," one user replied. "The biggest box office movie of all time 😍😍😍."
And, she adds punny captions to her photos on the ’gram.
"Tropic like it’s hot. 🏖🔥"
Crystal is into fitness.
She plays tennis with her friends and sports chic Beyond Yoga 'fits.
She also trains with Rashad El Amin and does Foxy and Fierce kickboxing. Perhaps the rest of the RHOBH cast should take note and prepare accordingly.
Crystal isn't stuck sweating inside, she also goes hiking.
Finally, she doesn't shy away from showing off her bod dancing around in a bikini. One commenter wrote, "I think she's going to give Rinna a run for her money (new housewife on RHOBH)"
She’s getting mostly positive reviews from the other Housewives.
Kyle Richards seems to be a fan. “I like her, you know, I've met her a couple of times now, and I think she's going to be just great," she said on SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show in October 2020. "She's very outgoing and confident. And I think that she's very smart and she's beautiful. I think that she's going to be really good for the show. You really have to be a strong, confident person. You know, it's really hard coming into this group. I don't know. I mean, I could say I totally get it, but I don't because when I came into the show, you know, 11 years ago, we were all starting together for the first time. I can't imagine what it feels like coming into this group of this, you know, show that's successful all these years. It must be so strange, so you really have to have a lot of confidence and be very opinionated and outspoken and not afraid to speak up. So I think she fits all that.”
Crystal gave a sneak peek of which Housewives she connected with:
But Garcelle revealed that Crystal holds the biggest grudges.
Crystal’s net worth is $$$.
Both Crystal and her husband have some lucrative business ventures, and their combined net worth is up to $15 million, per Distractify. His film, The Lion King was one of the highest-grossing at the time, raking in a whopping $968 million at the box office, Newsweek reported.
Her coconut biz is no slouch, either. Real Coco raised $3 million in a 2017 seed round, per Pitchbook.
I, for one, can't wait to see more of their gorgeous 90210 home on RHOBH.
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