Heavy/Getty Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards.
Mauricio Umansky gave an update on his marriage to Kyle Richards — and his story initially differed from what has been playing out in the media.
In July 2023, a source told People that the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” stars, who married in 1996, “have been separated for a while now” but were “still living under the same roof.”
But in a September 2023 interview, Umansky debunked the separation story. And then days later, he changed it again.
Here’s what you need to know:
Mauricio Umansky Said He is Not Separated From Kyle Richards & is Not Getting a Divorce
On September 28, 2023, Umansky spoke out on the “Red Mic” podcast for The Agency Dallas to give an update on his 27-year marriage to Richards.
“We were dealing with our own things, kind of, super quietly and internally, just our own issues,” he said. “I mean, certainly, we’re not separated. We’re not divorced at this point. We are not any of that stuff.”
The Agency founder did not deny that things have been rocky in his relationship over the past year.
“We’re still dealing with our marriage,” Umansky said. “We’ve been married for 27 years now. It’s been an amazing 27 years and it’s been a difficult, you know, it’s been an amazing 26 years and it’s been a difficult one year. But Kyle and I are blessed where we actually had 26 years that we did not have a bad year, and I know most marriages have bad months, bad weeks, bad years.”
Umansky also made it clear that no one planted a fake breakup story to get press.
“I’m not going to destroy my life to put a plant in the news so that people can get more entertainment,” he said. “That was an absolute blow. I keep hearing that, the paparazzi keep asking me that. I’m like, if people actually think I’m that smart… or that conniving.”
As far back as April, Umansky revealed there were rumors about his marriage. “We’re not getting divorced,” he said on the “Two T’s In a Pod” podcast. “[There’s] that one stupid story that came out there and then the girls all, you know, decided to talk about it on the Housewives and so now it’s a storyline. So there’s definitely some stories out there and Kyle and I address it and we’ll take it from there. It is what it is.”
Umansky and Richards also previously denied they were getting a divorce in a joint Instagram statement posted in July just after news of their “separation” was leaked online. “In regards to the news that came out about us today…any claims regarding divorcing are untrue,” the statement read. “However, yes, we have had a rough year. The most challenging one of our marriage,” the longtime couple added, before noting that there was “no wrongdoing” on either side.
Mauricio Umansky Gave an Update to Admit That He is Separated From Kyle Richards
Days after the “On the Mic” interview, Umansky was caught by TMZ and he admitted he needed to clarify what he said in the podcast. “I woke up to a bunch of text messages from all of the speculation, interpretations about something that I said on a podcast, and I received a text message actually from Kyle, you know, asking me what I said.”
“Basically, I want to clear things up,” Umansky shared. “Kyle and I are human beings, we have emotions, we have feelings. We’re going through a really hard time, okay? We are currently separated. We are not talking about divorce, and we’re trying to deal with this stuff internally, privately.”
Umansky also clarified something about the People magazine story that originally leaked his family’s personal business. “We did not plant the story,” he said. “As a matter of fact, at the time that the story came out from People.com, Kyle and I were not separated, and that’s what I was referring to, we were not separated.”
Umansky said the situation actually forced them to have conversations about their marriage. “But we are having our issues and I hope that sets the record straight,” he said. “Where we end up, we don’t know at this moment. That’s why we’re separated, to try to figure out where we’re going to end up.”
Umansky added that whoever spread the original story to People should be fired.
“If it’s somebody in our camp that works for us they deserve to get fired. If it’s a friend of mine, they are no longer my friend,” he said. “That was something personal that was sold… somebody that was clearly inside our life that shared that.”
He also reiterated that, despite the separation, there are still no plans for divorce.
“Divorce is not part of our conversation right now, that is not what we’re dealing with,” Umansky told TMZ. “We’re dealing with a separation. We’ve had 26 amazing years we’ve had a really tough year. …We’re not ready to throw in the towel yet. We’re, you know, trying to deal with it.”
On October 1, 2023, Richards was caught by paparazzi at Los Angeles International airport. In a video reshared by @facereality16, she also confirmed that she is separated from Umansky.
“We are, we’re separated,” she said. “I’m sick of hearing about it, I’m sure everyone else is sick of hearing about it.”
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