Lisa Rinna has opened up about her daughter Delilah Belle Hamlin’s battle with a serious autoimmune disorder.
In her new book You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It, Rinna, 62, revealed that Hamlin, 27, battled PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) for almost a decade.
Hamlin was diagnosed with the condition, which is triggered by an immune malfunction and causes a sudden onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder, at age 11.
According to Rinna, Hamlin started to have ‘expansive panic attacks’ and would ‘scream, yell, and pound on the windows of our house, trying to get out’.
Things got so bad that Hamlin soon was unable to ride the school bus, use elevators, or fly, and refused to go to school unless her father, Harry Hamlin, sat outside of her classroom for hours at a time.
‘I would drive her in the car, like how new moms drive babies around, to self soothe,’ Rinna wrote.
Lisa Rinna has opened up about her daughter Delilah Belle Hamlin’s battle with a serious autotime disorder
Hamlin battled PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) throughout her teen years after being diagnosed at age 11
‘At night, the panic would creep in, almost like the sundowning patterns dementia patients exhibit,’ she continued.
‘I would sit with her and pull her away from the windows as she was screaming and pounding on them to try to get out.’
Rinna added, ‘It was almost like she was possessed by the devil.’
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star described it as ‘the worst time’ in her family’s life.
Hamlin’s health woes continued, with the then-teenager also getting diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis, better known as ‘mono’, which left her bedridden for an entire month.
‘She was as sick as you’ve ever seen anybody. We felt we’d lost our child,’ Rinna reflected.
Throughout the years, Rinna and husband Harry sent Hamlin to ‘every doctor imaginable’, including therapists, medical specialists and more.
‘Delilah was melting down and everything in our lives revolved around taking care of her,’ Rinna said, before admitting that as a result, their younger daughter, Amelia Gray, ‘felt a bit left out’.
Hamlin started to have ‘expansive panic attacks’ and would ‘scream, yell, and pound on the windows’ of her house to try and escape
Rinna admits that her youngest daughter Amelia (left) felt ‘left out’ as a child because Delilah’s health woes became the family’s focus
‘Nobody meant to neglect Amelia, and I don’t think we did, but our focus was on Delilah,’ Rinna said.
As a result, Amelia would often stay with her housekeeper and nanny in Inglewood while her parents were dealing with Delilah’s issues.
Hamlin’s health woes continued into her early 20s, with the model spending time in rehab on two separate occasions in 2018.
She is now sober after receiving treatment, which she says also helped with her anxiety and depression.
Hamlin opened up about her battle with PANDAS in an emotional Instagram post back in 2023.
‘I’ve been struggling with autoimmune/chronic illness issues that I’ve been silently battling and overcoming. It’s definitely been tough mentally alongside physically,’ she wrote on Instagram at the time.
The Hamlin sisters are now working as professional models, but Delilah also has a side hustle as a budding singer
The sisters are pictured on an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills during their teenage years
Her younger sister Amelia has also had her own share of struggles, with the supermodel, 24, battling an eating disorder as a teenager.
Despite her hardships, Amelia has gone on to become one of the most successful models in the industry.
She’s booked multiple Vogue magazine covers and has fronted fashion campaigns for brands like Valentino and Givenchy.
Her big sister also works as a model, but is focusing more on her burgeoning music career these days.
Hamlin also starred alongside mom Rinna in the Lifetime TV movie Mommy Meanest.
Meanwhile, Rinna is currently on the promotional trail for her new book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
The soap legend is dishing all the dirt in the tell-all tome, including who she believes is Hollywood’s ‘biggest bully’ and what she really thinks of her old RHOBH co-stars.
Rinna is also fresh off her appearance on the most recent season of Peacock’s The Traitors.
During the promotional rounds for her book, the Days of Our Lives diva found time to link up with her Traitors co-star Rob Rausch, who ended up winning the show.
In a bid for attention, Rinna even dressed up in Rausch’s signature blue denim overalls as she strutted her stuff on a New York City sidewalk alongside the Love Island hunk.
She later changed into a number of different looks, including an oversized brown men’s suit and an equestrian-inspired designer ensemble.
Rinna linked up with her Traitors co-star Rob Rausch in New York City on Friday
In a bid for attention, Rinna even dressed up in Rausch’s signature blue denim overalls
She later changed into a number of different looks, including an oversized brown men’s suit and an equestrian-inspired designer ensemble
Rinna is currently on an exhaustive press tour to promote her new memoir
Rinna recently claimed she was roofied during The Traitors premiere party last month at the West Hollywood nightclub The Abbey.
The actress alleged during an interview with Fox 5 New York that she had fentanyl and ‘high levels of amphetamines’ in her system.
‘I had fentanyl in my system. Yes. I’m not kidding. I had fentanyl, high levels of amphetamines and other things, but I can’t talk a lot about it because we’re still dealing with it. It was leaked and my team is dealing with it now.’
When asked if she could identify who she believed was the responsible for the drugging, she replied: ‘I can’t say, but it was at the Abbey in West Hollywood.’
‘Luckily my husband was there and was able to get me out of there quickly,’ she said.