Getty/ABC Kyle Richards; Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater
Kyle Richards was front and center in the audience her husband Mauricio Umansky made his debut on “Dancing With the Stars” on September 26, 2023, but fans zeroed in on footage of her clapping – and they noticed she left she left something at home.
In September 2023, Umansky was announced as a cast member for the 32nd season of ABC’s celebrity ballroom competition alongside pro partner Emma Slater. The news came just two months after Umansky and Richards issued a joint statement to deny that they were getting a divorce after People reported that they had separated after 27 years of marriage.
On DWTS premiere night, Richards showed her support for her husband as he danced a jive with Slater, but the Bravo star’s wedding ring did not appear to be on her finger.
Here’s what you need to know:
A Fan Account Shared a Video of Kyle Richards Clapping for Mauricio Umansky in the DWTS Audience With No Ring on Her Finger
On September 26, 2023, Umansky made his DWTS debut with Slater. In a pre-taped opening package, The Agency founder gave an update on his marriage to Richards.
“We’ve had a rough year,” Umansky said. “I’m hoping ‘Dancing With the Stars’ will help take my mind off it.”
Fans may have been a little more encouraged when they saw that Richards, along with the couple’s daughters Farrah, 34, Alexia, 27, and Sophia, 23, were all in the audience.
Umansky’s pal, PK Kemsley. was also in the audience. The husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Dorit Kemsley posted a video in which he jokingly asked Richards who she planned to vote for on DWTS. “Mauricio!” she said.
But a post shared by the Facereality16 Instagram account later showed a zoom-in of Richards clapping in the audience and her ring finger was bare. “Not seeing a ring on Kyle,” came the caption. In the clip, Richards appeared to try to cover up her ring finger with her other hand when she realized the camera was on her.
The fan site previously did a deep dive of Richards’ ring-wearing habits and pinpointed that she stopped wearing her wedding ring on a regular basis by February 2023, a full five months before her separation was announced.
In an Amazon Live shot four days before the DWTS premiere, Richards said she was excited to root for her husband in the ballroom. “Yes, I will be there cheering him on with my girls,” she told her fans on September 22. “And I feel like he’s gonna do great, and he’s very excited. He’s really, really enjoying that. I will be there cheering him on for sure.”
On show day, Richards also shared voting information with her 4.2 million Instagram followers and urged them to vote for Umansky and Slater on DWTS.
Many fans were happy to see the show of support from Richards.
“So glad you’re supporting him … I hope you guys work everything out,” one fan wrote on Instagram.
But others weren’t sure what to think. “Y’all are so confusing🙃, “ one commenter wrote to Richards.
Kyle Richards Previously Revealed Why She Stopped Wearing Her Wedding Ring
Richards previously spoke out about why she has been spotted without her wedding ring over the past year. She addressed the situation during an Amazon Live in July 2023 and made it clear that it had nothing to do with the state of her marriage.
“You guys may know there was a picture of me without my ring on,” Richards told fans. “And people must assume now, ‘Oh, because Kyle and Mauricio have been going through a hard time, that’s why I didn’t have my ring on.’ And that is not why I didn’t have my ring on.”
The RHOBH star explained that she takes her ring off when she goes to the gym.
“I didn’t have my ring on because I lift weights,” Richards said. “And it will bend the ring, ruin the ring, and it hurts. So I take my ring off when I lift weights and I was working out, lifting weights in the gym.”
She went on to claim that paparazzi snapped her photo when she was in a rush and forgot to put her ring back on, adding that the snap “sparked a lot of stuff…that actually wasn’t even true.”
“It is not because Mau and I have been having a hard time, that has nothing to do with why I didn’t have a ring on my finger,” Richards added.
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Kyle Richards Supported Mauricio Umansky in DWTS Audience, But Something Was Missing