Rita is fairly self-centered and has a real sense of entitlement. She and Helen have been at each other's throats since, presumably, day one. There is no evidence regarding who is older.

She has had a string of boyfriends, and was married at least twice. Among her beaus have been a sculptor (whom she dumped), a sky-diving instructor named Roger (he fell on a cow and died), someone named Bruno (incarcerated) and Paul Meyerson, an old friend of Jake's who became very successful but proved to be no better a catch than her other men. Somewhere along the lines she had one daughter, Erin.

Rita has been favored by her parents to a great extent over Helen and Amy, the youngest sibling. For instance, she was given an MG to drive while Helen was provided with a Dodge Dart, and broke the bank on her wedding six months before Helen's (with the result that Helen and Jake had to pay for their own). This is another source of ongoing turmoil.

Following the wedding blow-up, Rita and Helen end up sobbing in each other's arms, drunk out of their skulls.

Rita contacted Helen a couple of times after the wedding fiasco to vent about Erin and Brian's marital problems - she even asks Quinn for advice on the matter, which shows how desperate Rita is to have someone else make her decisions for her. When Erin and Brian start talking divorce, Rita calls Helen to handle the legal end of things, and eventually comes to visit so she can get Erin's interests down on paper. The visit turns into yet another sibling blowout, despite a last-minute attempt to bond by making cookies - and an appearance by Amy which just makes things worse. When Quinn and Daria show their aunts and their mother how ridiculous they're all being, Rita and Helen hug and make up (much to Amy's faux dismay as she gets dragged into the group hug as well).