For 14 years, Kyle Richards she has gone through many difficult times in her life on television. From the complex and often strained relationships with her sisters, Kim Richards and Kathy Hilton, in her highly publicized split from her husband of 27 years Maurizio Umanskiit looks like nothing is off the table. Its new season The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillswhich premieres on November 12, is expected to be another tough one for the last remaining original RHOBH cast member as Richards sheds light on her breakup and opens up about the impact of frenzied speculation about her friendship with the country star Morgan Wade had on her.
In the season premiere, Richards reveals that speculation about her sexuality not only caused her extreme emotional distress but also made her “think twice” about her sexuality. “I have never, ever questioned my sexuality in my life,” Richards says in a confessional. “But I think all the crazy speculation has made me think twice.”
“That’s not something that would have ever registered in my brain,” Richards further explains to Refinery29. “You’re raised a certain way or, at least for me, just on autopilot, that this is how life is. And [the speculation] it kind of made me go, “Hmm, now I’m wondering about that.”
Ahead, Richards talks about her relationship with the actor Dorit Kemsleyhow she navigates filming with her ex-husband and what she’d like people to understand about her sexuality.
The following interview transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Refinery29: Both you and Dorit have been on somewhat parallel journeys with your breakups. You wish things were better between your relationship where she could be there for you after you broke up with Mauricio and you could be there for her during her separation from PK. Or do you now have the mind to let it go?
I went into this season wanting to fix things with her because not only do I care about her, but I thought we were both going through this similar situation obviously and we could be there supporting each other instead of having this negative energy hanging around us while we shoot. So I wanted to patch things up with her right out of the gate in filming the season and it didn’t go so well. But that was the goal.
We still see Maurice Real Housewives Of Beverly Hillsand it seems that even after the breakup, there is still a lot of love there. How do you navigate filming and the realities of real life as you move forward with your life and he moves forward with hers?
It’s hard because a lot of these times, like the conversations I had with Mau on camera, we hadn’t seen each other and discussed any of this before. So this is the first time we’ve had these conversations on camera because he doesn’t live here. And it is not as we say, we will discuss it today. That’s not how things work in reality. That’s why I was overly emotional in some of these discussions because they hadn’t been discussed yet. So I’ve been holding some of that stuff in, but in a way it’s also weirdly healing because maybe some of that stuff I just wanted to brush under the rug and it wasn’t an option.
At the premiere, you talked about media speculation about your sexuality because of your friendship with Morgan and how it made you “think twice.” What exactly did you mean by that?
There was so much speculation and I was like, “What are they talking about?” This is not something I would have ever registered in my brain. You grew up a certain way, or at least for me, just on autopilot, that this is how life is. And [the speculation] it kind of made me go, “Hmm, now I’m wondering about that.” Going through this journey alone, and while everyone was speculating, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to my daughters and say, “Listen here I am and this is how I feel and I want to share this with you and I’m just being honest because I want to give the example and I hope you know that you can always come to me.” They are my best friends and I was worried that they were embarrassed by any speculation. They just want their mommy to be happy and they know they are so loved and they just want to love me and they want me to be happy.
What would you like people who talk or gossip about your sexuality to understand?
That it’s actually not okay to talk about someone’s sexuality until they’re ready to talk about it themselves. That’s something you just don’t do. It has to be when that person is ready and you have to give them grace. In the LGBTQIA+ world, this is well known. You give that person a favor and let them figure it out on their own and don’t comment until they do that, but that wasn’t happening. And I didn’t even understand some of the titles, and seeing your name attached to these things, I was like, “Wait, what’s going on here?”
You were an early Day Housewife of Beverly Hills, and much of your life has taken place on television. How do you balance showing the difficult parts of your life because that’s your reality, but also protecting your peace of mind?
I know it sounds weird, but I’m a very normal person without filming. When I’m not shooting, I’m hiking with my friends, going to Home Goods and going to the market, and making dinner. I’m just doing normal things and being around loving and supportive people who aren’t part of the world at all. I am basically just who I am. When the cameras are up, the cameras are up, but that’s what keeps you grounded.
The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills premieres November 12 on Bravo.
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