Kyle Richards’ daughter says she learned about her parents’ separation on the news
Kyle Richards' daughter Alexia Umansky is opening up about her mom's separation from husband Mauricio Umansky.
In an interview on the April 11 episode of "Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley & Tanya Rad" podcast, Alexia says she learned about her parents’ separation on the news.
“We found out from (an) article,” Alexia said in the podcast, before explaining how they discussed it — or didn’t — as a family.
“The news of my parents separation came out before we had ever talked about it as a family internally,” Alexia first explained. “And then the cameras for ‘Buying Beverly Hills’ were coming the very next day.”
Alexia said, as a family, they would brush things under the rug and were fed up with it.
“We just kind of had a moment, we were like, ‘We need to start talking,’” she said. “And the cameras were gonna be there anyway, so we just leaned in. And that was in July. So a lot has changed since then. But now we talked about everything.”
The conversations the family had are played out in “Buying Beverly Hills” Season Two.
“What was filmed was two of the four big conversations we’ve had as a family,” she explained in the podcast episode. “We had one conversation when the news came out, but my sister Farrah wasn’t there. So the next day when the cameras came, Farrah came and that was the first, full conversation as a family we had. So that was as real as it gets, as honest and open as it gets, which is so crazy.”
Alexia said that they were visibly frustrated "because we hadn't had more conversations."
"That was the first conversation with sisters and just dad that we were like, we need to be doing this more. We feel out of the loop," she said. "We're learning things from TMZ and it doesn't feel fair."
How it played out on 'Buying Beverly Hills'
In the first episode of the new season, out March 22, Umansky sits down with two of the kids he shares with Richards, Alexia and Sophia Umansky, and Richards' daughter Farrah Brittany, whom she shares with her first husband, Guraish Aldjufrie, and gives them an update.
"I had an amazing 26 years with your mom. An amazing 26 years. I wanted to do everything possible to just save it," he says. "So, you know, your mom came and she talked to me, and she said, 'I think I need space.'"
"She said to me, 'Listen, the rules are that you go out, you date, you do whatever it is that you want to do. I'm not going to be asking you what you're doing. I don't want you to be asking me what I'm doing. We are separated,'" Umansky continues.
"This is new terrain," Alexia says.
At that point, Umansky tells his daughters he'll probably go "spend a month in Aspen" to clear his head.
"I mean, our life has just changed so much," Sophia, the youngest, says, wiping tears away from her face.
"I definitely could not have predicted where my life was going to be one year ago ... in all aspects," Farrah adds, also tearing up.
As the camera pans back to Sophia, she says that she and her sisters had only learned there were "any issues" in her parents' marriage "just a few months ago" and now it seems like things are changing so fast.
"I'm sorry we're all going through this," Alexia sighs.
"Me too," Umansky says.
What have Umansky and Richards shared about their separation?
In October 2023, Umansky told People that he and Richards were “separated.”
In that same month, Richards appeared on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” and revealed that she was “the driving force” behind her split with her husband.
“It originated from me,” she said.
On “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Richards went into more detail and explained why she wanted to split from Umansky.
“I sometimes just get frustrated that I don’t feel like I’m being heard. I’m not going to stay in a situation that I’m not happy in," she said. "Things I wouldn’t want my daughters to accept, I’m not going to accept myself.”
After her appearance with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager in Studio 1A in Febuary, Richards elaborated TODAY.com about her comments from "WWHL" — namely, about how her daughters factored into her decision.
“I got to a point in my life where I’m not getting any younger and there’s certain things I didn’t want in my life anymore. And because (Mauricio and I) do love each other and we did not have a toxic relationship and we get along, it made it even harder,” she said.
“I had to analyze this and say, ‘Would I want this for my daughters?’ They’re at an age now where some of them are getting engaged or have serious boyfriends. Would I accept that for them? The answer was no. And I thought, ‘Why am I treating myself any differently?’”
Where do Richards and Umansky stand now?
The reality TV star made it clear that she and Umansky are not divorcing when she attended BravoCon in Las Vegas.
Richards said that she and her hubby are "separated" and she still loves him "very much."
She echoed this same sentiment during a February interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Richards explained that they still live in the same home alongside their kids.
“(Divorce) would be when we can no longer do what we’re doing right now,” she said.
“We were never fighters, we’re not a toxic couple, so we’ve been able to manage that so far,” she added. “It’s gonna go one way or the other, you know? We’re either going to wake up and be like, ‘Oh my gosh! We could actually fix this,’ or it’s going to be divorce. I mean, I just don’t know how sustainable living under same roof as friends and as a family can last. I don’t know how that can last.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
