The Moment
Lisa Rinna just did the reality TV equivalent of slamming on the brakes in six-inch heels.
After jokingly calling Colton Underwood a “stalker” online – a loaded word given his past legal drama with ex Cassie Randolph – the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum took to Instagram Stories to walk it all the way back.
In new posts shared Saturday, Rinna, 62, told followers it had “come to [her] attention” that her comment was “taking on a life of its own” and causing “real problems for Colton,” including reported death threats aimed at the former Bachelor star.
She stressed that she and Colton are “great,” that he’s a “great nemesis” on The Traitors, and that they’ve been texting. Translation: this is about a TV game, not a true-crime podcast. Rinna begged fans to “please be gentle,” adding, “Don’t send death threats or do anything to jeopardize somebody’s family.”
Lisa Rinna asks fans to back off of ‘Traitors’ co-star Colton Underwood after spat with him in the most recent episode: “Don’t send death threats or do anything to jeopardize somebody’s family” https://t.co/a6X9kLLo7N pic.twitter.com/DO6vItghGy
— Decider (@decider) January 24, 2026
The show itself also jumped in, issuing a public statement on Instagram reminding viewers that the cast are real people and asking fans to stop the “unwarranted negativity” and personal attacks.
The Take
I’ll say it: everyone here is playing roles – and the audience just tried to turn improv night into a witch trial.
Rinna flipped into what she herself called “housewife mode” when she clapped back at a fan meme about Colton with, “Let’s talk about you being a stalker…” It’s classic Rinna: messy, quick, and built for GIFs. On a Bravo stage, that line kills. In the real world, where a man has actually faced stalking allegations from an ex, it hits very differently.
But here’s where the fandom lost the plot. You can side-eye Colton’s history – the restraining order, the tracking device claim, all of it – without turning a reality show beef into death threats and harassment. That’s not accountability; that’s a digital mob in athleisure.
Rinna clearly thought she was giving the people what they want: a Housewives-style read dropped into a murder-mystery game show. Instead, the internet took her line, stapled it to Colton’s worst headlines from 2020, and went to war in DMs. It’s like showing up to a costume party with a plastic sword and finding out everyone else brought real weapons.
And yes, Colton’s past is serious. Court filings from 2020 show Cassie Randolph accused him of harassment and alleged he planted a tracking device on her car. The restraining order was later dropped with prejudice, meaning she chose not to move forward, and he has publicly apologized for some of his behavior. You’re allowed to remember that. You’re also allowed to notice that The Traitors is literally built around suspicion and betrayal, so of course producers put Rinna and Colton in the same castle and told them to go nuts.
The problem starts when viewers confuse “villain edit” with “open season.” There’s a big, bright line between discussing a contestant’s past and trying to destroy their present. When Rinna – no stranger to controversy – is the one saying, essentially, “Whoa, this went too far,” you know the fandom has gone off-road.
If anything, this feels like a reminder that we, the audience, are now part of the show whether we like it or not. Our tweets, our comments, our pile-ons are built into the drama machine. The least we can do is not become the scariest part of the episode.
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Lisa Rinna posted Instagram Stories on January 24, 2026, saying her previous “stalker” comment about Colton Underwood was made in “housewife mode” and asking fans to “please be gentle” and to stop sending death threats or jeopardizing anyone’s family.
- Rinna said she and Colton are “great,” called him a “great nemesis” on The Traitors, and said they have been texting.
- The Traitors released an official Instagram statement on January 24, 2026, asking viewers to stop “unwarranted negativity” and “personal attacks,” and reminding fans that cast members are real people who should not be cyberbullied or harassed.
- In September 2020, Cassie Randolph requested a restraining order against Colton Underwood, alleging he stalked and harassed her and claiming he placed a tracking device on her car, according to court filings from that time.
- In November 2020, Randolph dismissed the restraining order with prejudice, meaning she chose not to pursue it further.
- Underwood later addressed his behavior around the breakup in interviews and in his 2021 Netflix series Coming Out Colton, apologizing for some of his actions.
Unverified / Reported:
- The specific number and content of death threats allegedly sent to Colton following Rinna’s comment have not been independently detailed; they are referenced by Rinna and in entertainment reporting.
- The exact extent to which Rinna’s one-line comment directly triggered the backlash is impossible to measure; it appears to be one factor among ongoing debate about Underwood’s past.
Sources: Rinna’s Instagram Stories (January 24, 2026); official Instagram statement from The Traitors production (January 24, 2026); Los Angeles court filings related to Cassie Randolph’s 2020 restraining order; Netflix’s Coming Out Colton (released December 2021); contemporaneous entertainment reporting from January 2026.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you only half-remember these names, here’s the cheat sheet. Lisa Rinna is an actress-turned-reality-star who spent years on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, known for stirring the pot and asking infamous questions like, “Were people doing coke in your bathroom?” Colton Underwood is a former NFL player who led a season of The Bachelor, picked contestant Cassie Randolph, and later came out as gay in 2021.
In 2020, after their breakup, Randolph went to court seeking a restraining order, accusing him of harassment and alleging he placed a tracking device on her car. The order was granted temporarily, then she dropped it a couple of months later, with no further legal action. Underwood later apologized for parts of his behavior and tried to reset his public image.
Now, both Rinna and Underwood are contestants on The Traitors, a hit competition show on Peacock where celebrities lie, scheme, and “murder” each other in a Scottish castle – strictly in-game, of course. The whole premise encourages suspicion, accusations, and dramatic confrontations. So when Rinna leaned into Colton’s real-life history for a quick clapback, fans didn’t just clock the reference; they weaponized it.
What’s Next
This dust-up probably won’t derail The Traitors – if anything, producers are likely clipping this for the reunion as we speak. Expect future episodes, press interviews, and a possible reunion special to touch on how the cast draws lines between “gameplay” and real life.
For Rinna, the Instagram walk-back is strategic damage control. She gets to keep her “I bring the drama” reputation while drawing a boundary: she wanted a storyline, not a scandal involving death threats. Don’t be surprised if she leans into a “we’re actually friends” moment with Colton later to smooth things over.
For Colton, this is a reminder that his 2020 breakup saga is not going anywhere. Any time he signs on for a show that trades in suspicion or romance, that history will resurface. His best move now is probably to stay consistent: acknowledge the past when asked, emphasize what’s changed, and make sure his current behavior doesn’t give the internet new material.
Bigger picture, this feels like another warning shot for fandom culture. Networks and streamers love passionate viewers; they do not love legal departments having to read through screenshots of threats. We’ve already watched other stars – especially women and people of color – log off social media entirely after fan harassment got out of hand. If even a heavily produced game show about fake murder needs to issue a safety statement, we might need to ask why viewers at home are acting more unhinged than the cast.
So maybe the new rule of thumb is this: drag the outfits, debate the strategy, meme the confessionals – but leave people’s safety, families, and private lives out of it. Reality TV is supposed to be messy, not dangerous.
Your turn: Where do you draw the line between holding reality stars accountable for their past and piling on so hard it becomes harassment?
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