From RHOBH to Memedom: Taylor Armstrong's Most Intimate Moments Go Viral. Her True Thoughts on Online Fame Revealed - lulu

Taylor Armstrong.Credit : 

Victoria Sirakova/Getty; bravo

Taylor Armstrong never imagined a heartbreaking moment from her time on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills would become a viral TikTok trend. But that’s exactly what happened with her emotional line, “Baby, there’s no plane.”

The now-viral moment occurred during one of the most difficult chapters in Armstrong’s life, when her marriage to husband Russell Armstrong was unraveling and she had to explain the situation to their daughter, Kennedy Armstrong.

In a candid conversation with PEOPLE, Taylor opens up about the moment. “Russell and I had a plane, and when everything fell apart, Kennedy asked, ‘When can we go on the plane again?’ And I had to tell her, ‘Baby, there’s no plane,'" Taylor says of the scene from season 3, episode 9. In the clip, she's describing her situation to costars, including Brandi Glanville.

Russell, who was Taylor’s husband for six years and the father of her only daughter, died by suicide in August 2011 — just one month after Taylor filed for divorce and publicly accused him of physical and emotional abuse.

Taylor Armstrong's Viral ‘Baby, There’s No Plane’ Meme.

Bravo

More than a decade later, the emotional scene has resurfaced as a trending TikTok audio with fans re-enacting it — and even Kennedy, now 19, joining in. 

“She and her friend did a version of it where she falls on the ground and covers her face — it’s hysterical,” Taylor says of Kennedy. “I was like, ‘These kids have way too much time on their hands.’”

But it’s not the first time the public speaker and author has become a viral sensation. Years earlier, she unexpectedly found herself at the center of one of the internet’s most enduring memes — “woman yelling at cat.” 

The viral image splits a photo of Taylor sobbing during a tense dinner party on RHOBH in season 2 with a confused-looking white cat, named Smudge, sitting at a table.

“People always ask me why I was so mad at that cat. There was no cat!” she says, laughing. “I wasn’t yelling at a cat. But I’ve given up trying to explain it.”

Taylor Armstrong and Kennedy Armstrong.

Taylor Armstrong/Instagram

She still doesn't understand the viral sensation it caused either, when it was created in 2019.

"I sent it to Kyle [Richards] and I'm like, 'I don't get it.' She's like, 'I don't get it either,'" says Taylor. "And then I just thought it would disappear. And here we are in 2025 and I still see new ones all the time. I've been saying that for six years now. I don't get it."

Still, Taylor has learned to embrace her internet fame with a sense of humor, even noting that “WYAC” (short for “woman yelling at cat”) now trades as a cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain. 

“Everyone else has made money off it,” she says. “At this point, I think I’m more famous for that meme than I am for Housewives.”

She does hope her work post-Housewives inspires a different legacy for herself.

"I joke that I'm fortunate to be able to have a voice for women and children and men that are in abusive situations or survivors or victims, whatever stage they're in. But I say, but probably on my tombstone, it's going to be 'Smudge and me,'" Taylor says of the viral cat.

But she knows her work offscreen is making a difference. "I have people approach me on almost a daily basis and say that my story had an impact on them, whether it be they left a relationship they were in, or they were able to see my story and help another person through something or inspire someone to move to the next phase of their life," she says.

Taylor is so dedicated to helping others, she created a six-week course, The Comeback Club, where she will coach people on recognizing red flags and relationship issues. 

Taylor Armstrong in 2023.

Victoria Sirakova/Getty 

“In my course, I tell people all the things I did wrong along the way, so hopefully they will bypass all of those things in the maze that I did incorrectly and get to the finish line more quickly,” Taylor explains of the courses, which are expected to begin this summer.

She also hopes to show people there is a way out.

"I want people to see my journey and know that there's life after, says Taylor, who has visited domestic violence shelters and worked with marriage and family therapists and social services. "When you're in it, it's very hard to believe that if you actually leave, there's going to be a future for you that's brighter than where you are right now. Hopefully in six weeks [through the course], I can move you a little further down the road to the future that's waiting for you."

In addition to her work with domestic abuse survivors, Taylor is embracing her life off camera (she appeared for one season as a "friend" on Real Housewives of Orange County in 2023) and her empty nester title.

She admits dropping off Kennedy, now a freshman in college at the University of Arizona, wasn't easy, but she felt joyful in the moment, too.

“She’s independent and strong,” Taylor says of Kennedy. “I was so involved in her cheerleading and her childhood, but I always wanted her to be self-sufficient. And she is.”

Now, Taylor is rediscovering herself. “This next chapter is about me, too. I’ve started traveling more and focusing on what I want,” she says.

Taylor Armstrong and Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon Dr. Nicholas Nikolov during her visit to receive CellSound aesthetics treatments.

Taylor Armstrong

One thing she did to focus on herself is pay a visit to Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Nicholas Nikolov to receive CellSound, a technology aimed to stimulate cells, enhance collagen production, and target fat cells without causing tissue damage or requiring downtime. It was a treatment she heard about from Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks and Glanville.

“I wanted to get my abdomen done. I feel like bikini season is upon us,” she says. “I’ve only had one treatment but I've heard great things about it. So I'm going to do five more and I just look forward to seeing the results.”

Prioritizing wellness is another aspect Taylor is embracing. "I'm trying to force myself to workout more and do a little external self-care along with all the internal work I've done,” she says. “I really prefer to walk outside, go walk on the beach and listen to a lot of Tony Robbins and try to be motivational in my life on moving forward to my next chapter. And part of that I think is going to be feeling good on the outside and on the inside.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.