Kyle Richards addressed potentially leaving the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, her drama with Dorit Kemsley and what Dorit did that really upset her, Erika Jayne’s hurtful comment, and her recent encounter with sister Kathy Hilton at the reunion (which Kyle hinted was her “most difficult”).
Throughout the season, Kyle was questioned about her marriage with Mauricio Umansky, with whom she’s now separated from. Even castmates who appeared to be her friends were seemingly happy to prod and poke.
In an interview with ET, Kyle suggested she’d be fine leaving the show – even if it’s not on a high.
“It was not easy shooting this season, and it’s certainly not easy watching it all back and having to relive it all again,’ she explained. “I’m just sort of waiting for it to be over, to be honest … I feel like I’ve gotten through, like, the hardest parts, but then I have a little break… and then more difficult stuff comes up.”
“I was honest you know with everybody [this season], I just didn’t want to go into details on camera, which I was still working out the details in my head — and with my therapist,” Kyle went on. “This season, when I was struggling so much personally and I felt like people were coming at me when I really just needed friends and support, I really thought, how can I continue to do this? … Why would I put myself through this? I was already struggling so much in my personal life, why would I want to be tortured in front of the cameras, and then have to relive this again in six months? But, obviously, one day the time will come where I say enough is enough.”
According to Kyle, after every season, she wonders if she should really return.
“Every year it’s like, should I? Should I?” she stated. “I remember years ago saying, after season 5, I’m not doing any more. Here I am. But, you know, right now it doesn’t sound so great. But I hate to even say that because who knows what I’m going to feel like in a month or two? I don’t know … Every season, like, do you leave on a high note, or was your season so bad you don’t ever want to come back again? … I don’t know. I don’t have that answer.”
She then addressed a rumor she is moving away.
“Oh yeah, that was another headline: ‘Kyle’s leaving California!’” she said. “Portia will be 16 on March 1 … I can’t go anywhere until she’s done with high school, and then I will reevaluate everything and see where I’m at, but for me, to be living somewhere away from paparazzi and the spotlight, obviously, I have to make some life changes, but that’s when I’m most at peace.”
“I’m at a point in my life where I don’t really know what’s next,” she added. “I’m open to many things.”
Kyle then mentioned her drama with Dorit who, in an awkward car ride early this season, questioned her relationship with Mauricio.
“I didn’t love being asked about things about my marriage from her, because we’re closer, with the camera that’s this close to my face in my car driving,” she said. “I understand that we signed up for this job, but I can only say that so many times … Just watching the season, and some of the things that are said in the interviews, set me back sometimes, because I’m thinking to myself, I’m already struggling so much. If you’re my friend, don’t make it more complicated for me.”
She suggested the reunion, which they filmed a few weeks back, was her hardest.
“Leading up to that day, if I heard one more person say, ‘This is going to be your most difficult reunion ever…’ I thought I was going to scream, and I did know that,” she said. “Although I was like, ‘Well, season 5 was pretty brutal…’ you know, seeing that split screen with my sister, Kim, and me, I will never forget. But, I did leave there feeling better than I went into it.”
“After last season, that was my goal,” Kyle continued. “I want to leave here feeling better about things than I do going into it. And I got to say my piece to everybody, and I got to answer a lot of questions.”
In a recent interview, Kyle’s friend Erika shared her wish for Andy to “eviscerate” her and the cast in the same way he did Erika in previous seasons.
“There was also a lot of talk about that, but I love Erika and I know that she wants the best for me,” said Kyle of the comment. “I wasn’t offended by that. I was a little hurt at first, to be honest, ‘cause I was like, what is this? But she did give me a heads up and, for me, it was her saying, ‘I was just dragged last year, let’s treat us all fairly’ … I knew that she did not want to see me hurt … I always know that about Erika.”
“Andy asked me a lot of difficult questions [at the reunion], and I’m in a place in my life where I really, I don’t care,” added Kyle. “I answered as honestly— not as honestly as I could, I answered very honestly, and some of the things I think about I’m like, I’m really surprised I said that. Wow. I wouldn’t— I mean, Kyle two years ago never would’ve said or answered these things.”
Though she shared what she needed to share, Kyle claimed certain costars did not.
“A couple people left some things unsaid,” said Kyle, “and you’ll have to see why and what happened.”
She then addressed the appearance of her sister Kathy, with whom she recently reconciled after their feud from last season.
“She’s just been so supportive through everything I’m going through,” she said, “and really made a point to say, ‘I’m here for you, I love you, you’re my baby sister — whatever you need, you know I’ve got you,’ so having her be there in what was supposed to be my most difficult season ever gave me some security.”
“Everybody wants to see the three sisters [as castmates next season],” Kyle went on. “It’s so funny because they’ve seen us fight so much, but they really love the three sisters together. Of course, when the show that was originally going to happen with Kathy, Kim and Kyle, way before the Housewives, nobody really knew the dynamic of our relationship. So now it’s like, OK, now people want to see for another reason.”
“But we are all in a good place right now, so that makes me happy,” she said. “[Fighting with my sisters] is something I just do not need on my plate right now, so that makes me feel very grateful.”
Regarding a call for a cast shakeup (by certain fans), Kyle seemed to discourage it.
“I don’t think there is a shakeup that needs to happen,” she said. “I know that there was a lot of talk about Annemarie [Wiley], but I think people, you need to get to know someone better and she was thrown in the middle of a season and with difficult circumstances; she’s never been in a situation like this. It can be very jarring, very deer-in-the-headlights situation So, I don’t know… I think that we have a great cast, you know? The seasons depend on what’s going on in people’s lives. So, I don’t know, I think, no matter what, it’s going to be a very different season next year.”