Why You Don't See All Of Sutton Stracke's Kids On RHOBH

Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have watched several cast members' kids grow up right before their eyes. Kyle Richards' youngest daughter, Portia Umansky, has appeared on the show since she was 2 years old. And Garcelle Beauvais' twin sons, Jax and Jaid Nilon, were part of a major storyline in Season 12.

But the same cannot be said for the kids of Sutton Stracke. When the newcomer joined the cast of the Bravo reality show in 2020, her kids weren't part of the package at all. Stracke shares daughter Porter and sons Philip and James with her ex-husband Christian Stracke, but early on, she rarely talked about her children on the show. Recently, the Sutton Concept owner mentioned her youngest son, James, who is a high school junior, in the season 13 episode, "Ring Around the Rumor."  In a scene shot with Kyle Richards, Stracke said her ex was moving to London for a new job and that he was considering taking James with him. The former couple ultimately decided that James would continue to live with his mom in Beverly Hills. But that doesn't mean the teen will be making any cameos on her reality show.

When she joined "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Sutton Stracke had hoped to share with viewers a look at her full life at home with her kids, who at the time were aged 17, 15, and 12. But the Stracke children weren't seen on camera at all during that first season, and their mom was even demoted to "friend of" status because of it. In 2020, Stracke explained the situation during an appearance on the "Watch What Happens Live Aftershow." After host Andy Cohen said Stracke's kids were originally supposed to be on the show, but her ex-husband said he was "not into it," the mom of three replied, "Yeah, it kind of made it difficult, honestly, during the whole fall because I was constantly dealing with that. And it's hard on me. You know — it weighs on me."

Stracke elaborated in the "Reality Life with Kate Casey" podcast. "My ex-husband just was adamant that they could not film with me, and I totally get it," she dished in May 2020. "It was hard. It was a hard blow because, you know, it's exciting to do. And I wanted also viewers to see me with my kids and me at home."

Things changed once two of Sutton Stracke's kids turned 18. In 2021, Porter Stracke appeared in a "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" scene with her mother and co-star Lisa Rinna. Mama Stracke told Page Six that it was "really fun and sweet" to film the scene with her daughter, who was home from college at the time. "She's kind of soft-spoken and she can be a little shy as well. But she loved doing it," Stracke said. "So it wasn't like, 'I don't want to be here.' She was pretty forthcoming and wanted to do whatever we could do."

In 2022, both Porter and Philip Stracke appeared in the season 12 RHOBH episode "Rosé Colored Glasses." In the scene, Stracke made chicken salad sandwiches for her kids and mentioned that her youngest son, James, wasn't eating with them because he was at Boy Scouts. Later in the scene, Stracke also revealed that her oldest son was joining the military.

As of this writing, James Stracke still has not been seen on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," most likely because he is still a minor and must follow his father's rule about not appearing on the show.