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RHOBH star Kyle Richards slams claims that she is faking her separation from husband Mauricio Umansky for attention and a storyline on RHOBH.
Longtime Bravoleb Kyle Richards recently appeared on Bravo’s new podcast, Hot Mic, hosted by RHOBH producer Alex Baskin, where she discussed the recent allegations that her separation from husband Mauricio Umansky is fake and nothing more than a ploy to get their names in the press.
“What do you make of the claim that going back to using your favorite term, that uh, you are fabricating the issues in your marriage for relevance?” RHOBH executive producer Alex Baskin asked.
Kyle Richards bluntly responded:
“What human being would create a story like this for, no offense, Alex, I love you and everybody for the show, with the show, but who would do that for ratings? Put their family through this.”
She continued:
“That is one of the dumbest things I’ve maybe ever heard in these 13 years. I’m going to pretend that I’m separated and torture my children so that people tune in. I mean, it’s just the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Kyle also insists that she has no interest in being “more relevant” or putting her family through hell for a “dumb TV show.”
“I’m already on this show 13 years. Like I said, it goes back to people’s misconceptions. I don’t care about being relevant to my friends and family. Yes, I’m on television, but I’m good. I’m not looking to be more relevant. I’m good. And I would never put my family through this for a dumb TV show. Sorry.
I think sometimes the [RHOBH] cast could be a little bit dehumanized to the audience, but these are real lives that are affected by this. And so I think that’s where the audience can just sort of think about the cast as television personalities, and it’s not the case.
When I see things they’re talking about, [it] couldn’t be any different than who I am. And it’s so annoying to me and so frustrating. I also hear a lot of things online that say, ‘Kyle and Mauricio have an open marriage’ [and] ‘Kyle’s only with him for the money.’ He had no money when I married him. You idiots. He didn’t have any money.
[Or claims] ‘She just stays there and puts up with all this so that she can keep spending his money.’ First of all, it’s our money that he didn’t have before. So yeah, definitely not; I would not do any of that.”
Back in October, during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Kyle addressed the biggest misconceptions about her separation from Mauricio.
Kyle slammed gossip that she and Mauricio’s split was “just for ratings.” She noted that the narrative “bothers” her, to which Andy Cohen agreed, saying: “Yeah, that pisses me off too, actually.”
“What human being would do that to their family? To their children?” Kyle asked. “I mean, that is just… Obviously, those people are very ignorant, but it’s so annoying. I mean, I love you guys [at Bravo] and the show, but not that much.”
Around that same time, Kyle admitted on RHOBH that she “needed a little freedom — freedom and some space” from her marriage.
The 54-year-old also revealed that she was “not quite” herself and was a “little angry” and a “little bitter” while filming season 13 of RHOBH.
In July, rumors about Kyle and Mauricio’s marriage began to pop up on social media. The gossip was further fueled by PEOPLE, who reported that Kyle and Mauricio were separating after 27 years of marriage.
Kyle and Mauricio denied being separated in a joint statement on social media.
By September, Kyle and Mauricio finally confirmed their separation.
“We are currently separated, we are not talking about divorce, and we’re trying to deal with this stuff internally with ourselves privately,” Mauricio told TMZ.
“Divorce is not part of our conversation right now. That is not part of what we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with a separation,” the RHOBH husband reiterated.
The RHOBH couple wed in 1996. They share daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23, and Portia, 15. Mauricio is also stepfather to Kyle’s daughter Farrah Aldjufrie, 34, from her first marriage to Guraish Aldjufrie.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
