“I don’t have a very good poker face, so a lot of the things that happen with my husband, you see I’m not thrilled or happy,” the ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star admitted.
Kyle Richards is open about her separation from husband Maurici Umansky.
During The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills panel at BravoCon 2023, the 54-year-old reality star said she doesn’t “expect anyone to bring up anything about my marriage on camera” during the upcoming season of the Bravo series.
“I didn’t even know how to move without a camera… So it was really hard for me and my family and that’s what threw me off at first,” she shared.
Kyle Richards.
Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Kyle Richards Focuses on ‘Being Strong and Feeling Strong’ Amid Split from Maurici Umanski (Exclusive)
“What we were going through was something new for me,” she added. “From the beginning of the show, even today, we are still under the same roof and I didn’t know how to solve it. And I’m also someone who can’t pretend. I don’t have a very good poker face. So a lot of the things that are going on with my husband, you can see that I’m not thrilled or happy.”
Richards called the filming of the upcoming season RHOBH “hard,” adding, “The producers said, ‘Something new is here, Kyle. We haven’t seen this in 13 years.”
The Bravo star broke down in tears as she discussed her personal struggles while filming the new season.
“I told the girls at the beginning that it was difficult for me and that I had to figure it out myself. I would also come out of a very difficult period [at] meeting my sister Kathy again, that was very painful,” she said. “I also lost my best friend to suicide…I had a lot of things going on and I was just trying to keep it together.”
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Portia Umansky, Mauricio Umansky, Kyle Richards, Farrah Aldjufrie, Alexia Umansky and Sophia Umansky attend the grand opening of Kyle Richards’ boutique ‘Kyle By Alene Too’ on July 21, 2012.
JB Lacroix/WireImage
RHOBH: Kyle and Mauricio are ‘out of sync’ as a bombshell confession to his mother sends him on the run
“We love each other very much and we are a family no matter what happens and we have a very strong family unit,” she continued. “My 3 girls still live at home… he was busy with that DWTS so he hasn’t been around that much, but we’re trying to figure it out. We know we love each other.”
Fighting back tears, she continued: “I just want to say that a lot of people are thinking ‘Pull yourself together’. Fix it’ Obviously, that’s what I’d like. This is not my idea of my fairy tale, clearly… Anyway, I appreciate all your support.”
Richards also admitted that she doesn’t appreciate talking about her marriage on camera, saying, “If they had called me on the phone and asked me in private, I would have been a lot more open, but in front of the cameras, I felt like I was on the defensive… I felt like that everyone is coming at me.”
“I didn’t think it was necessary to mention it in front of the cameras,” she added. “My marriage and my family are one of my greatest achievements, so it’s still hard for me to admit.”
Mauricio Umansky says he ‘went through a lot’ after that DWTS Running, but Kyle Richards ‘supports’ (Exclusive)
Her RHOBH actress Garcelle Beauvais said she understood Richards’ reticence about sharing her relationship problems, but felt she had to recognize she was part of a reality show.
“I feel sorry for Kyle and everything he’s going through, but we’re on a reality show,” she said. “That’s part of our job, to ask each other questions… So I don’t want to feel like we’re the bad guys for asking questions.”
“It’s not the questions, it’s the way the questions were asked that could have been in a sympathetic way – less because of you than because of Sutton,” Richards replied. “I have shown much of my life in these past 13 years, but it could have been asked with more compassion.”
For more information on PEOPLE’s BravoCon, click here.
During a later panel on Sunday, Richards was asked to clarify any ambiguities regarding s RHOBH panel, she replied, “People say to me, ‘What’s the biggest misconception about your current situation?’ and I’ve seen on the Internet so many times that we made this up for ratings. I think everyone knows we’ve had a 13-year show.”
She continued: “First of all, what human being would do that to their family? Put them through it? And we don’t need help with grades because we get excellent grades. This is not a fictional situation for me, this is a very real situation that is very difficult and very painful, and trying to navigate it with the cameras, but with the outside world weighing in… It was very, very difficult, but everyone was extremely supportive. ”
She also shared the advice she would give herself as a Housewife on Day One, saying with a laugh, “Don’t do that show.”
“I can’t really blame the show, it’s not about the show… I personally think if you’re thinking of going on reality television and you have cracks in your marriage, your marriage will never survive,” she explained.
She added: “We were very happy for a very long time… I’ve changed so much in these last 13 years and I’m always trying to grow and develop… I don’t like conflicts, I had to be more confrontational. I am proud of the person I will grow into.”
Richards’ comments come after PEOPLE exclusively broke the news of Richards’ split from Umansky in July.
At the time, the couple denied rumors that they were divorcing in a joint statement posted on Instagram: “Regarding the news that came out about us today… All claims about our divorce are untrue. However, yes, we have had a difficult year. The most challenging in to our marriage. But we both love and respect each other very much. No one was wrong.”
Richards and Umansky added that “even though we’re in the public eye, we’re looking to be able to deal with our issues privately.”
“While it may be fun to speculate, please do not create fake stories to feed into a further broken story,” they concluded. “Thank you for your love and support. Kyle & Mauricio.”
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The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM ET on Bravo. BravoCon 2023 runs through Sunday at the Caesars Forum in Las Vegas.
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