Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky have no plans to clarify details about their shock split – because the estranged couple are planning to let it all play out on screen, insiders have exclusively revealed.
Indeed, the couple has remained extremely vague about their decision to separate after 27 years of marriage – which they announced in a joint statement in July.
At the time, they insisted that ‘any claims regarding us divorcing are untrue’, but a few months later Kyle broke down in tears as she referred to their split as a ‘divorce’ in front of a crowd at BravoCon.
Now a source appears to have shed light on the confusion, claiming it is because they plan to let the drama play out on their respective reality shows, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Buying Beverly Hills.
‘RHOBH has started airing and everyone is dying to see Kyle and Mauricio’s marriage fall apart and they both know this,’ the source told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘This is going to have people tune in to Mauricio’s show – especially since their daughters also star in it.
‘So with both Kyle and Mauricio on very successful reality TV shows, there needs to be drama to stay on air.’
The source added: ‘This is the perfect solution and it is why they are being so vague and aloof about everything.’
Season 13 of RHOBH is currently airing on Bravo, while there is still no set premiere date for the second season of Buying Beverly Hills – which wrapped filming in July.
Discussing the future of their marriage, the insider claimed the most profitable decision the pair could make is to stay married.
‘Their marriage has been on the rocks for years,’ they dished. ‘But they are not going to divorce not when there is $100 million up in the air. They could double that by staying together.’
Kyle, who has sought comfort in close friend Morgan Wade, previously shut down speculation that her marriage breakdown was a ploy to create drama for RHOBH.
Speaking on the Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast last month, she told host Alex Baskin: ‘What human being would create a story like this… who would do that for ratings?
‘Put their family through this. That is one of the dumbest things I’ve maybe ever heard in these 13 years.’
Despite her denials, fans have continued to call out the pair for the unending confusion surrounding their split.
They have each found themselves being romantically linked to other people, with Kyle and female country singer Morgan alleged to have been dating – something she has repeatedly denied.
The dating rumors hit an all-time high back in August after Kyle joined Morgan in her music video for her single Fall In Love With Me, which featured the two women pining for each other and climaxed with a passionate kiss between the two.
However, the musician previously admitted that she and Kyle were just trying to ‘troll the trolls’ with the video.
Elsewhere, Mauricio had to shut down rumors of a romance with his Dancing with the Stars partner Emma Slater.
The pair made headlines after Mauricio was spotted holding hands with the professional dancer after a dinner date in Beverly Hills.
But the pair quickly dismissed all talk in an Instagram story posted on Emma’s account.
‘For full clarity, we are not dating,’ Mauricio said. ‘We are really good friends, we’ve been dancing together now for six weeks, four hours a day, every single day.’
Emma, 34, added: ‘Guys, it’s intense. Like you really form a very, very special bond and I think we have similar personalities, so we’ve got a super supportive – last week was extremely emotional – so super supportive relationship, we definitely there for each other. It’s beautiful, that’s a great thing!’
Mauricio insisted the whole thing was overblown as he explained what had transpired: ‘We’re really good friends, and just to clarify we went to a restaurant to go get some sushi right after rehearsal, we were in our rehearsal clothes. Lots of the stories are wrong, lots of them.
‘Yes, it’s a very intense week, a very emotional week, we were talking about the week during dinner, and when we came out of dinner, we were recapping and I reached out to grab Emma’s hand and she grabbed my hand, and then we walked to the cars, you know just recapping and summarizing, and then the paparazzi caught that moment and it’s become a blown out moment.’
‘And then all of the sudden we’re dating,’ Emma joked.
‘That’s it. Hope that clarifies. That’s the end of that story,’ Mauricio said.
Shortly after, Kyle admitted on Watch What Happens Live that she was hurt seeing the photos.
‘I was taken aback,’ she said on the Bravo talk show. ‘That was very hard to see. Yes, that hurt my feelings. I just don’t think you hold hands like that.’
‘They are in Beverly Hills,’ fellow show guest Teddi Mellancamp, 34, said. ‘It’s not like they are in some remote location. They are in the middle of Beverly Hills. You know that photographers are going to follow you.’
‘I don’t know if anything happened yet but obviously there is something there,’ Kyle said. ‘Listen, I love him very much and we are amicable, but that really did hurt me.’
Kyle recently admitted she can sympathize with confusion over their current status.
‘We are good friends and we love each other, so we are very fortunate in that aspect,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘I think that’s why people are confused and sometimes question if it is even true that we’re separated. I even have a hard time believing that we are as well, so I can understand.’
She continued: ‘But we’re lucky in a sense, we don’t argue, and we can have a peaceful environment in our home and all give each other that space.
‘So I’m just trying to keep, we are just trying to make sure our girls are happy, even though three of them are adults and Portia is just 15 and a half.’
The Bravo star then emphasized that the wellbeing of their children is their ‘biggest concern.’
‘When we’re all watching movies and hanging out at home, it feels good. We can do this even though we go into this hard time,’ she dished at sister Kathy Hilton’s DIRECTV-sponsored Christmas party.
Kyle and Mauricio wed in January 1996 and 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.
As it stands, the estranged couple – who still live together under the same roof – are yet to lawyer up or take steps that would indicate they are ready to divorce.
According to TMZ, should they decide to, the pair would have to figure out how to divide their assets since they don’t have a prenuptial agreement in place.
Mauricio has reportedly acquired a net worth of $100 million, with nearly $5 billion in real estate sales since he first joined the hit reality series.
Meanwhile, Kyle has amassed a reported net worth of $100 million, thanks also in part to her time on RHOBH.