Kyle Richards raised eyebrows when she deleted a post supporting husband Mauricio Umanksy on Dancing With the Stars.
In the since-deleted Instagram post from September, Richards, 54, shared a promo shot of Umanksy, 53, and Emma Slater with the caption, “Tonight!! @dancingwiththestars premiers with @mumanksy18 & @theemmaslater 💥 HOW TO VOTE 💥 YOU CAN VOTE UP TO 20 TIMES.”
While it’s unclear exactly when Richards deleted the upload, eagle-eyed fans noticed it was gone one day after Umansky was seen holding hands with DWTS partner Slater, 34, on Sunday, October 22, following dinner in Beverly Hills.
Despite the post’s disappearance, Umanksy took to social media on Tuesday, October 24, to reveal that he was dedicating his upcoming DWTS performance to Richards.
“Tonight’s Dance on @dancingwiththestars is about life and how it’s not always perfect and when you think it’s impossible to move mountains and you’re at your lowest moment and you think all doors are closed you need to rise up and rise unafraid and move mountains,” he wrote via Instagram alongside photos of Richards and their kids. “My time was 1996 when Kyle and I got married and Alexia was born, we had Farrah and Alexia. I was 26 when I was fired from my job and was broke. Kyle was my rock and together we rose up and we rose up 1000 x and we moved mountains a lot of them. It’s been an incredible journey. Tonight’s dance is dedicated to Kyle and my family.”
Us Weekly confirmed in July that Richards and Umanksy — who share daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23, and Portia, 15 — had separated after 27 years of marriage. (Richards also shares daughter Farrah, 34, with ex-husband Guraish Aldjufrie.)
One day after the news of their separation broke, the pair admitted to their marriage woes — but denied any plans to divorce.
“In regards to the news that came out about us today … Any claims regarding us divorcing are untrue. However, yes, we have had a rough year,” the twosome said in a joint Instagram statement at the time. “The most challenging one of our marriage. But we both love and respect each other tremendously. There has been no wrongdoing on anyone’s part. Although we are in the public eye, we ask to be able to work through our issues privately.”
In October, Umansky revealed that he and Richards were still trying to figure out their marriage.
“We’re in the middle of dealing with our life and our marriage and we have not thrown in the towel,” he exclusively told Us. “We are still working on it. And it’s hard and it’s hard in the public eye and it’s hard while everybody’s asking because the reality is that when a couple’s going through the times that we’re going through right now, what you need is time.”
Umansky added that Richards is still his “best friend” despite their ups and downs.
“We’ve been married for 27 years and she’s been my best friend forever,” he noted. “And it’s just a lot of years and there’s a lot of stuff and we just need to figure out if we are going to spend the rest of our lives together or we’re not. And that’s the transition that we’re in right now and that’s what we’re dealing with.”
As far as his dynamic with Slater, Umansky told TMZ in September that being part of DWTS season 32 has been a “super theraputic” experience while coping with the drama in his personal life.
“I feel like I’m 15 years old, having the time of my life and it’s been really good for me to be dancing and to be dealing with all the stress of everything I’m going through,” he told the outlet. “It could not have come at a better time.”
