Kyle Richards focused on transforming her body while she was struggling with several personal problems – including a rocky relationship with Mauricio Umansky.
“When you go through painful times in your life, it changes you as a person,” Richards said in a confessional on the Season 13 premiere of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” on Wednesday.
The longtime “RHOBH” star explained that in addition to problems with her sister, Kathy Hilton, and her friends, she also has been “feeling disconnected from my husband.”
“You have to find an outlet,” she said of her increased workout regimen. “I feel good about it, and I hope [Mauricio] does too, because here I am.”
Richards and Umansky sat down for a candid conversation about the status of their relationship after Richards admitted they’ve had a “challenging year together.”
“He has been working non-stop, I’ve been working,” she said in a confessional. “When you have to schedule a meeting to go over your schedule, you know it’s a problem.”
Umansky, 53, praised his wife, 54, for her body transformation and gushed that she looks “amazing.”
“You’re like working out like a beast right now, you’re eating well, you’re not drinking, like you’re changing your life,” he told her.
Richards coyly thanked her husband for the compliments while looking to the ground and futzing with the bottom of her leggings that drew attention to a crescent moon tattoo and stars on her ankle.
“How many tattoos do you have right now?” Umansky asked her.
Richards revealed that she has five tattoos as she showed Umansky each one. He looked puzzled and shocked, admitting he “only knew of three.”
“Well, maybe you should be looking at my body closer,” she quipped.
“This is clearly a big symptom of not spending time together,” she added in her confessional. “Years ago, he would’ve noticed a freckle on my body and now, he doesn’t know that I have two more tattoos.”
Umansky suggested that five tattoos is “enough,” but Richards didn’t seem to appreciate his comment, since she clapped back and said she wants to “get another one” — “if I want to, I will.”
“I will not allow that,” Umansky firmly responded.
Richards fired back that he “didn’t even know how many” she currently has, and even if he did, it’s “my body.”
“Love bean, stop that, you don’t need anymore tattoos,” he doubled down.
However, Richards tripled down and reiterated several times, “You don’t have a choice.”
“I don’t know. I mean sometimes, you’re married and they can do no wrong and other times they breathe and you wanna punch him,” she said in a confessional. “Right now, I’m irritated.”
Richards then began to get emotional and told him that she’s “at a point in my life” where she doesn’t “have to explain anything to anybody anymore –– including you.”
“I went from doing everything my mom told me to do, to being a mom myself and having to be a good example to my girls, and I just realized that you can do all that and things can still go to s–t,” Richards said with tears in her eyes. “I just don’t feel like I have to answer to anybody.”
Umansky acknowledged his wife’s feelings and said that she doesn’t have to do that, but she also shouldn’t “become a rebellious person and do it out of rebellion.”
“Listen. I am very f–king clear right now. I’m not rebelling. I’m just really clear,” she said before the episode ended.
Just hours before the episode aired, Richards took to Instagram to admit she was “struggling” to film the “challenging” season amid her marital woes with Umansky.
The dramatic trailer showed that several of her cast members question her relationship, and the former couple even have an emotional discussion with their four daughters over the status of their marriage.
“We are a very strong family, and we always will be, always will be. You know nothing can change that,” Richards told her daughters as they cried.
Richards and Umansky each individually confirmed they had separated after 27 years of marriage less than a month ago.
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
