Bozoma Saint John shared new details about how she found out she lost her Malibu home to the Palisades wildfire in January 2025.
On January 21, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” and revealed that she learned of her loss after seeing a video of the devastation on Twitter, now known as X.
“I was in Zambia and saw my house on Twitter and that’s how I found out,” Saint John told Bravo host Andy Cohen. “So it was devastating and I felt so helpless. There was there was nothing I could do, you know? You can’t send anybody to go get anything or anything, and so I just tried to make my way back as quickly as possible.”
Saint John revealed she had the house for about four years but “worked 25 years” to get it. According to Traded, Saint John paid $5.2 million for the beachfront Malibu home in 2021.
Bozoma Saint John Said Her Family & Friends ‘All Lost a Home’
On January 9, Saint John posted to Instagram to reveal that she lost the gorgeous beach house she had once “prayed for.” “This is the house I wanted,” Saint John wrote. “The house I prayed for. The house I worked in blood, sweat and tears for.”
She elaborated on “Watch WHat Happens Live,” telling Cohen she was in “deep grief” over the loss, which has also greatly impacted her family and friends.
“I try not to compare grief to anybody else’s or anything like that,” she shared. “But the hard thing is that it was more than just a house. It was not just my home but a home for my family and my friends. I had a keypad on the house, not a keyhole, so that people could just put in a code and go in whenever they want. And so we all lost a home.”
“It’s a difficult time because there are so many people who have lost everything,” Saint John told Cohen. “And it makes me wonder, you know, about just how we can be resilient and how you can continue to go on when things like this happen. And I’m trying my best.”
Bozoma Saint John Said the Trip to Zambia Left her in a ‘Place of Peace’
Saint John fully believes that her trip to Africa prepared her for the devastation back home. Days after the fire, she posted to Instagram to share images from the trip. The marketing executive shared footage of her “communing with elephants,” which are a symbol of good fortune.
“I felt such abundant calm and happiness and love,” Saint John wrote of the trip she took with her boyfriend Keely Watson. “Every aspect of my visit – from my arrival to the serenity of the hotel- I believe was in preparation for what I had to face on my return back home.”
Saint John added that she counts it all as “joy.” “And I will take the lessons knowing that this visit was foreshadowing,” she wrote.
She also said she would look at the new year with strength and wisdom despite her loss. “Thank God for Zambia,” she captioned the post. “I’m in awe of God’s goodness that I was able to experience this utopia before the devastation of losing my home in Malibu. I’m forever grateful… and I’ll never forget this peace.”
