Meanwhile, the actress sings the praises of costar Heather Locklear.

Lisa Rinna reveals why she ‘butted heads a lot’ with Melrose Place costar Jack Wagner: ‘Don’t f--- with me’

Meanwhile, the actress sings the praises of costar Heather Locklear.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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on March 2, 2026 6:48 p.m. ET

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Lisa Rinna and Jack Wagner. Credit:

Monica Schipper/Getty; Michael Tullberg/Getty

Lisa Rinna is spilling the tea about her days on *Melrose Place*.

In her newly released memoir *You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It*, Rinna looks back at the complicated start of her tenure on the nighttime soap opera and reveals how she set the tone for her relationship with costar Jack Wagner.

"I had to make out with two different guys in back to back scenes," Rinna recalls. "Thomas Calabro, who played Dr. Michael Mancini, and Jack Wagner, who played Dr. Peter Burns. That was a first and a last."

In her book, Rinna claims that "Jack and I butted heads a lot. While he was singing, 'All I Need,' all I needed was for him to stop bossing me around and controlling me."

The *Traitors* star alleges that the tension finally came to a head when they were prepping for a scene together. "We were in a trailer rehearsing one day when I had had enough and barked at him, 'Don't f--- with me,'" she recounts. "It worked. He backed off. I gained back my respect by sticking up for myself, and he never did it to me again. Jack was so nice to me from that day on."

EW has reached out to Wagner's rep for comment.

Jack Wagner and Lisa Rinna on 'Melrose Place'.

Paramount Television/ Courtesy Everett

The *Real Housewives of Beverly Hills* star joined the cast of the Fox prime-time soap opera in 1996, during its fifth season. She starred as the conniving Taylor McBride, the former sister-in-law of Peter Burns (Wagner), who was husband to Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward. But while the two women often clashed onscreen, Rinna had nothing but kind words to share about her now longtime friend, Locklear.

"Heather was a huge mentor to me," Rinna writes in the memoir. "I was only on *Melrose Place* for two years, but they were very informative years. Heather led by example and took me under her wing. She showed me what it was like to be a hard working, professional actress who walked onto that set every day with class and dignity and knew her lines."

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Rinna adds that Locklear's on-set demeanor "set the tone beautifully for everyone" as she "always came on with [a] smile and she was never mean to anybody."

She gushes, "I learned everything about how to carry myself on set from her. There's so much jealousy in our business. Women are often taught that there's only one seat at the table and you better fight like f---ing hell for it. It's just not true. There's room for everyone to succeed. We just have to keep saying that out loud."

Heather Locklear and Lisa Rinna.

Lester Cohen Archive/WireImage

In fact, Rinna notes, "My biggest issue on *Melrose Place* wasn't the women, it was the men."

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This isn't the first time Rinna has reflected on the awkward start to her *Melrose Place* storyline that saw Taylor pursue both Peter and Michael. During a visit to the *Grindr Presents: Who's the A------?* podcast last month, Rinna admitted that filming one intimate scene after another "freaked [her] out."

She added, "I'd never done that before and I've never done it since."

All that said, Rinna has made it clear that she would jump at the chance to play Taylor again. Following news that a *Melrose Place* revival is in development, Rinna told PEOPLE that she would happily join, adding, "I haven't been approached or anything, but I would love to see what Taylor McBride is up to 25 years later. Wouldn't that be something?"

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