Tensions in Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky’s marriage were on full display on Wednesday’s season 13 premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
The episode ended with a curt conversation between the pair, which appeared to surface some of the challenges that have led to their separation, news of which broke back in July.
“I mean, sometimes you’re married and they can do no wrong. Other times, they breathe and you want to punch them,” Kyle, 54, explained in confessional. “Right now, I’m irritated.”
Kyle walked into her chat with Mauricio already irritated, admitting before he was even able to get off the phone with his assistant that she was frustrated. “As soon as you can wrap up your golf schedule, let me know,” she sarcastically said to him.
“I can’t with this whole day,” she added to herself. “I hate everything, sorry!”
That annoyance carried through her entire interaction with Mauricio. “Mo and I have had a challenging year together,” she told the audience. “He has been working non-stop. I’ve been working. When you have to schedule a meeting to go over your schedule, you know it’s a problem.”
For his part, Mauricio, 53, seemed unaware of the nature of Kyle’s frustrations during their talk. He began by asking Kyle if she wanted to do a family trip to Portugal, where he had to be for a business trip that coincidentally fell during their 15-year-old daughter Portia’s spring break.
“Sounds like you’re really booked up,” Kyle said, before denying Mauricio’s idea to turn his work getaway into a “fun” getaway. “I have stuff I have to do here, I don’t know that I’ll be able to go anywhere like that. I can’t go to Portugal. Not during that window, no.”
With their schedule being a no-go, Mauricio moved on to address the impact Kyle’s newfound workout regimen was having on her. “On another note, you look amazing,” he said. “I mean, you’re going to go work out right now. You look so good.”
“Thanks,” Kyle simply responded to his compliment.
“You’ve been working out like a beast right now,” Mauricio continued. “You’re eating well, you’re not drinking. Like, you’re changing your life. You look amazing.”
“Oh, thanks,” Kyle reiterated.
In an interview, Kyle opened up about why she dove into fitness, explaining that it was inspired by not only what she was going through with Mauricio but also the drama that erupted last season with her RHOBH costars and her sister Kathy Hilton.
“When you go through painful times in your life, it changes you as a person,” she said. “My sister, feeling let down by my friends, feeling disconnected from my husband — you have to find an outlet. I feel good about it. And I hope, I hope Mo does, too, because here I am!”
Kyle’s newfound confidence has inspired her to expand her collection of tattoos, something she and Mauricio also discussed. When asked by Mauricio how many tattoos she has now, the mother of four proudly showed off her ink, telling her husband she has “five.”
“Seriously?” he asked, noting that he “forgot” about one and “only knew of three.”
“Well … maybe you should be looking at my body closer,” Kyle quipped, telling the audience, “This is clearly a big symptom of not spending time together. Years ago, he would have noticed a freckle on my body. Now, he doesn’t know that I have two more tattoos!”
But Mauricio wasn’t exactly happy about it. “I think that’s enough, yeah?” he told her. “That’s enough. Five tattoos is a lot.”
“Mmm … I don’t know. I think I’m going to get another one,” Kyle told him. “If I want to, I will.”
“I will not allow that,” said Mauricio.
“You didn’t even know how many I had, so … if I want one, I’m going to get one,” Kyle said. “It’s my body.”
“Love Bean, stop that,” Mauricio said. “You don’t need any more tattoos.”
But Kyle wasn’t budging. “You don’t have a choice,” she told him firmly, knocking back another objecting by repeating directly, “You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m at a point in my life where I don’t have to explain anything to anybody — including you,” she continued. “I went from doing everything my mom wanted to do, to being a mom myself and having to be a good example to my girls. And I just realized, you can do all that and things can still go to s — -. I don’t know if it was what happened with my sister, or what. But I just don’t feel like I have to answer to anybody.”
“Well you don’t, but don’t become a rebellious person and do it out of rebellion,” said Mauricio. “Do it because you want it.”
Rebellion had nothing to do with it, though, according to Kyle. “Listen, I am very f — -ing clear right now. I’m not rebelling,” she told him. “I’m just really clear.”
Kyle and Mauricio have been married since January 1996. The pair, who first met at a nightclub in 1994, share daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23 and Portia, 15, as well as Farrah Brittany (née Aldjufrie), 34, from Kyle’s first marriage to ex Guraish Aldjufrie.
A source close to the pair told in July that Kyle and Mauricio “have been separated for a while now but are still living under the same roof. They remain amicable as they figure out what’s next for them and their family.”
Following report about their separation, the reality stars released a joint statement indicating that “any claims regarding divorcing are untrue.” However, they acknowledged that they “have had a rough year.”
“The most challenging one of our marriage. But we both love and respect each other tremendously,” they continued. “There has been no wrongdoing on anyone’s part. Although we are in the public eye, we ask to be able to work through our issues privately. While it may be entertaining to speculate, please do not create false stories to fit a further salacious narrative. Thank you for the love and support, Kyle & Mauricio.”
Mauricio later told that the two are still “not yet throwing in the towel.”
“We’re having a bit of a rough patch,” he said earlier this month, after competing on Dancing with the Stars, noting that “sometimes life throws you different things” and “you’ve gotta work through it.”
He went on to ask fans to “give us time” to sort things out. “We promise you we will let you know,” he said. “We’re not hiding anything from you.”
Mauricio has since been spotted in cozy photos with his Dancing with the Stars partner Emma Slater.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
