Kyle Richards: ‘It’s Actually Not Okay To Talk About Someone’s Sexuality’

For 14 years, Kyle Richards has had many difficult moments of her life play out on television. From the complex and often strained relationships with her sisters, Kim Richards and Kathy Hilton, to her highly publicized separation from her husband of 27 years Mauricio Umansky, it seems nothing has been off the table. The new season of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, which premieres November 12, is expected to be another difficult one for the last remaining original RHOBH castmember as Richards sheds light into her separation and opens up about the impact the frenzied speculation about her friendship with country star Morgan Wade had on herself.

In the season premiere, Richards reveals that the speculation about her sexuality not only caused extreme emotional distress but also made her “think twice” about her sexuality. “I have never, ever questioned my sexuality in my life, ever,” Richards says in a confessional. “But I think all the crazy speculation actually did make me think twice.”

“This is 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] did kind of make me go, ‘Hmm, now I’m wondering about that.’”

Ahead, Richards opens up about her relationship with castmate Dorit Kemsley, how she navigates filming with her ex-husband, and what she wishes people talking about her sexuality would understand.

The following interview interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Refinery29: Both you and Dorit are on somewhat parallel journeys with your separations. Do you wish things were better between your relationship, where she could be there for you after your separation from Mauricio and you could be there for her during her split from PK. Or are you of the mind now of just letting it be?

I went into this season wanting to repair things with her because I not only 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’re shooting. So that’s why I wanted to repair things with her right out of the gate in shooting the season and it didn’t go so well. But that was the goal. 

We do still see Mauricio on Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, and it seems that even after the separation, there’s a lot of love still there. How do you navigate filming and the realities of real life as you move forward with your life and he moves forward with his?

It’s difficult because a lot of these times, like the conversations I had with Mau on camera, we had not seen each other and discussed any of this prior. So these are the first times we were having these conversations with a camera because he doesn’t live here. And it’s not like we’re saying, we’re going to discuss this today. That’s not how it goes in reality television. That’s why I was overly emotional in some of those conversations because they had not been addressed yet. So I’ve been holding some of that stuff in, but in a way it’s also oddly therapeutic because maybe some of these things, I would want to just brush under the carpet and it wasn’t an option.

In the premiere, you talked about the media speculation about your sexuality because of your friendship with Morgan and how it caused you to “think twice.” What exactly did you mean by that?

There was so much speculation and I was kind of going, ‘What are they even talking about?’ This is not something that would have ever registered in my brain. You’re raised a certain way, or at least for me, just on autopilot, that this is how life is. And [the speculation] did kind of make me go, ‘Hmm, now I’m wondering about that.’ Going through this journey on my own, and while everyone was speculating, I wanted to take that opportunity to talk to my daughters and say, ‘Listen this is where I’m at and this is how I’m feeling and I want to share this with you and I’m just being honest because I want to lead by example and I hope that you know you can always come to me.’ They are my best friends and I was worried they were embarrassed by any speculation. They just want their mom to be happy and they know that they are so loved and they just want to love me back and want me to be happy. 

What do you wish people who are talking or gossiping about your sexuality to understand?

That it’s actually not okay to talk about someone’s sexuality until they are ready to speak about it themselves. That is something that you just don’t do. It has to be when that person is ready and you have to give that person grace. In the LGBTQIA+ world, that’s a very known thing. You give that person grace and let them figure it out on their own and don’t comment on it until that person does, but that was just not what was happening. And I wasn’t even understanding some of the headlines, and to see your name plastered with this stuff, I was like, ‘Wait, what is happening here?’ 

You’ve been a day one Beverly Hills Housewife, and a lot of your life has played out on television. How do you balance showing the difficult parts of your life because this is your reality, but also protecting your peace?

I know it sounds weird, but I’m a very normal person without filming. When I’m not shooting, I’m walking on hikes with my friends, going to Home Goods, and going to the market and making dinner. Just doing normal things and being around people that just love me and support me that aren’t not a part of the world at all. Basically it’s 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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This article was originally published on refinery29.com.