Mauricio Umansky has walked back his recent comments about reconciling with wife Kyle Richards.
“Kyle and I are human beings. We have emotions, we have feelings, we’re going through a really hard time. We are currently separated,” Umansky, 53, told TMZ on Friday, September 29. “We are not talking about divorce. We’re trying to deal with this stuff internally, with ourselves, privately.”
He continued: “It’s very hard when people interpret everything you’ve said. When I answered the question on that podcast about where we stand, the question was, ‘Did Kyle and I plant the story in order to create ratings?’ And the answer was we did not plant the story.”
Umansky appeared on his The Agency’s “Red Mic” podcast on Thursday, September 28, where he claimed that the couple were “not separated” and “not divorced.” He is now clarifying that he meant that he and Richards, 54, had not been separated when news broke that they had split.
“As a matter of fact, at the time that the story came out, Kyle and I were not separated even, and that’s what I was referring to, and we were dealing with our own issues,” he told TMZ photographers on Friday, noting that having “conversations” with their daughters and other family members have since brought them “closer together.”
“That’s been really, really nice to have that situation, but we are having our issues,” Umansky added, noting that his Dancing With the Stars season 32 experience has been “super therapeutic” in coping with the drama. “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. It could not have come at a better time.”
Us Weekly confirmed in July that Umansky and Richards had hit a rough patch after two decades of marriage.
“Kyle and Mauricio have been separated for a while, but are still currently living together,” a source told Us, adding that the duo “are amicable while they figure out the next steps.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills couple — who share daughters Alexia, Sophia and Portia — subsequently released an Instagram statement, noting that they are not divorcing.
“We have had a rough year. The most challenging one of our marriage,” they wrote later in July. “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.”
Weeks later in August, a second source told Us that the pair — who went on multiple family vacations with their kids this summer, including Richards’ daughter Farrah from a previous relationship — were building “back up their foundation.”
News of their separation fueled speculation that Richards had been unfaithful, with rumors surfacing that she was involved in an affair with country singer Morgan Wade. (Richards has repeatedly denied the claims.)
“There is no doubt in my mind that Kyle has not slept with, or cheated, with Morgan Wade,” Umansky said on Friday. “They are really great friends, they are filming stuff together, they’re doing stuff together [but] they are not in a relationship.”
As Umansky and Richards continue to work on their marriage, he joined the cast of DWTS season 32. Umansky told Us exclusively earlier this month that Richards had “adjusted [her] calendar” to attend the live shows. Richards and their daughters were spotted in the front row during the Tuesday, September 26, premiere.
On Friday, Umansky added that he hopes that he and Richards can work through their struggles. “Divorce is not part of our conversation right now,” he said. “We are dealing with a separation. … We’re not ready to throw in the towel yet, we’re trying to deal with it.”
