Kyle Richards Teases What to Expect in Dramatic Season 12 Premiere of 'RHOBH' : 'There Was So Much'

"You just cannot even make this stuff up," Richards tells PEOPLE about the drama between the ladies in the upcoming season

Kyle Richards promises season 12 of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will not disappoint when it comes to the drama.

In fact, the storylines are so intense that RHOBH executive producer Andy Cohen called the upcoming premiere "the best first episode" he's ever seen.

"I would have to agree with Andy," Richards, 53, tells PEOPLE during a recent hike with vitamin and supplement company GoBiotix to celebrate National Nutrition Month. "A lot of seasons, we start up and we're just catching up with the women from where we left off last year."

"But this year, there was so much going on with everybody right out of the gate, that it was just automatically drama from day one," she adds. "It's just so interesting how life is... people always say, 'How does all this stuff go on?'"

Kyle Richards. David Livingston/Getty

A lot has gone on in the lives of the women since viewers last saw them at the season 11 reunion. Between Erika Girardi's ongoing legal battles, Dorit Kemsley's burglary scare and Lisa Rinna's family loss, the ladies had a lot to talk about.

"Dorit had the home invasion," shares Richards, who participated in the hiking event alongside former Housewives Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge. "And then all this stuff with Erika. You're going to see a much lighter side of her, a much more open side of her. But you'll see what I mean when it airs."

"Everybody had all these crazy, different things going on," she continues. "Lisa Rinna lost her mom, and I don't know. Crazy lives make good TV, I guess."

Another highlight for fans will be the cast's trip to Aspen, which has already gotten a ton of buzz on the internet. When asked if it was just as wild and crazy as being reported, Richards was quick to answer.

"Yes," the Halloween Kills star says. "I would have to say that and Amsterdam. That's when it starts. When it starts getting like that, that was the not fun times for me because I live there part-time, which people don't really know that. I don't really talk about it, but now everybody knows that."

"So bringing all these women to my second home, which is my quiet, peaceful, happy place, all of a sudden, it wasn't anymore," the mom of four adds. "Now I just went back and took some sage with me."

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One person fans won't be seeing as much of this season is Richards' sister, Kathy Hilton, she reveals.

"She doesn't show up as much this season because she was busy doing [daughter] Paris' wedding and all of that," Richards explains. "But she's definitely there and she's always funny."

Since Hilton's role will be smaller, fans will get to meet a new cast member this season: Diana Jenkins.

"Diana's great," Richards says of her new castmate, who officially joined the series in December. "She's extremely smart, opinionated, outspoken, beautiful."

"She's somebody who you look at her, and you think, 'My God, this woman. Talk about over the top.' She's very extra," she continues. "She admits that herself, but she also is someone — she comes from Bosnia. She's someone who's been through war and seen all that — so she's a very multi-dimensional woman and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her."

Bravo has yet to announce a premiere date for season 12 of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.