Fans who were disappointed in the lack of insight into Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards‘ split on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills should consider tuning in to season 2 of Buying Beverly Hills.
The second installment of the Netflix reality show centered around Mauricio’s brokerage, The Agency, started streaming on Friday, March 22, and kicks off with Mauricio talking to his daughters (who also work at The Agency) Farrah, Alexia and Sophia about the split.
“I had an amazing 26 years with your mom. An amazing 26 years. I wanted to do everything possible to just save it. So, you know, your mom came and she talked to me and she said, ‘I think I need space,’” Mauricio said in the first episode. “I need to have, you know, some time and a clear head, and maybe I’ll go spend a month in Aspen.”
As all three girls get emotional, Sophia notes that their lives have “just changed so much,” adding: “We only even found out there was any issues just a few months ago and now it’s just, like, things change so quickly.”
The screen then fades to black and jumps to six months earlier, kicking off the season.
Buying Beverly Hills is streaming on Netflix. Keep scrolling for more of Mauricio’s quotes about Kyle — including how the rest of that aforementioned conversation with his daughters went. (Spoiler alert: they found out two major updates about their parents through the media.)
Under Pressure
“I’ve been so stressed and the travel, obviously, affects, you know, us,” Mauricio told Kyle in the premiere after his mental breakdown at the office. “And you’re working hard and we’re just busy as can be. It’s just been so stressful. … I had a whole breakdown the other day at the office. … I lost my s–t.”
Marriage Takes Work
While discussing Farrah’s own relationship issues with then-fiancé Alex Manos (its revealed in the finale that Farrah and Alex called off their engagement over his lack of willingness to wedding plan), Mauricio shares his perspective about marriage.
“It really feels like the relationship has kind of stalled right now,” he said of Farrah and Alex. “I know Farrah wants the fairy tale, but the reality is marriages are difficult and I’m really glad and proud that Farrah is taking her time trying to figure out what to do because marriage is a huge commitment and even the best marriages sometimes don’t work.”
The Hilton and Hyland of It All
“I think I got kind of f–ked by Hilton and Hyland,” Mauricio said of working with Kyle’s brother-in-law, Rick Hilton, at the beginning of his real estate career. “And when I say f–ked, you know, like today, I’m happy. But, there were 100 agents at Hilton and Hyland. They did $1 billion for the first time a year — I was 19.6 percent of their production. Then I went home and I talked to Kyle. I go, ‘This is really going to cause a lot of stress between you and your sister and your family. And I don’t want to do this move of leaving and starting a company if you’re not comfortable. She was 100 percent supportive.”
Kyle Checks Out
By episode three, it’s clear that there is something off with the one-time Bravo golden couple.
“With Kyle, I’m starting to feel like she’s a little bit checked out. I certainly have reached out and wanted to kiss her and she kind of said no,” Mauricio told Netflix cameras. “I’m starting to see that and feel that and I’m not there. I am still, you know, 100 percent fighting for our relationship and I am still thinking that I’m going to be married to her for the rest of my life. … We’ve gone to couples therapy now three times with the intention of trying to work on the marriage to try to understand and communicate with each other. So that I can understand a bit more what’s really bothering Kyle with me. But we have not yet spoken to our daughters about what’s going on.”
During the next scene, Kyle discussed her plans to go to Nashville to be in her friend Morgan Wade‘s music video. (There has been endless speculation about the nature of Kyle’s friendship with the country singer.)
“I’m sitting here and I’m realizing that perhaps Kyle is no longer in love with me, right?” Mauricio added in a confessional. “And doesn’t love me the way she used to love me and yeah, I mean, it just hurts. There’s no question it hurts.”
How the News Broke
In July 2023, People magazine reported that Kyle and Mauricio were separated. The family was on a vacation in Aspen at the time, and the news came as a complete shock to Farrah, Alexia, Sophia and Kyle and Mauricio’s youngest daughter, Portia.
“I first found out about the article when my family and I were paddle boarding in Aspen and I see my mom look at her phone and I see her face shift and I see this panic come over her,” Alexia recalled. “And then my dad came out and he just had phone call, text message, phone call, text message.”
In her own confessional, Sophia said that as far as she knew, her parents were “not separated.” She continued: “I was like, ‘Oh my God, is there something I don’t know?” Farrah, however, said what makes things different “this time” (the twosome have weathered split rumors before) is there is some “truth” to it.
“Before the news broke, we had really not talked about issues with the family. … [We] kept it away from the kids,” Mauricio noted.
As Kyle and Mauricio subsequently prepared dinner for their daughters, Mauricio noted that he and Kyle have started “looking at things differently,” explaining: “She’s really chosen a super healthy lifestyle. She’s completely stopped drinking. Kyle is wanting to be home, wanting me to not be the big personality that I am — the partying and having fun, getting home late. I’m still a very social person. I’m not ready to slow down that part of my life right now.”
The family dinner gets tense, with Kyle revealing that she has to go back to Beverly Hills to film scenes for RHOBH because of the split news.
“Kyle and I have always had the dream of growing old together and being grandparents together and watching our grandkids play,” he said in a confessional. “The thought of Kyle and I maybe not being together and separating is definitely something that is sad and is hard.”
During episode 10, the show resumes the scene with Mauricio, Farrah, Alexia and Sophia and it’s revealed that it was filmed in September 2023 after Mauricio told TMZ that he and Kyle were indeed separated. Their daughters reveal that they didn’t know anything was official and are upset that they found out another aspect of their parents’ marriage in the news.
“I thought that was already said to you by your mom and I apologize for that,” he said.
The Rules of the Separation and Lack of Communication
“Your mom came and she talked to me and she said, ‘Listen, I want us to be separated. The rules are that, you know, I’m not going to be asking you what you’re doing. I don’t want you to be asking me what I’m doing. You go out, you date,'” Mauricio told the girls in the finale.
Mauricio acknowledged that he “caused [Kyle] some pain” and he “wanted to do everything possible to just save [the marriage].” While he said he tried to do something about it, their daughters weren’t convinced.
“Mom and I have really not had any conversations in the past two months, at all,” Mauricio told them as they pressed about why they haven’t spoken more about the split. “I have reasons why we haven’t communicated, but I don’t want to say that.”
The Morgan in the Room
“So Morgan Wade’s a country star. There are lot of rumors that are going around that Kyle is sleeping around with Morgan,” Mauricio said in a confessional in episode 8. “I gotta tell you, I don’t believe she’s got anything going on with Morgan. Maybe I’m the only dumbass that doesn’t, but I actually don’t believe she has anything going on with Morgan.”
In episode 10, Morgan is brought up again when Mauricio admitted that he didn’t even ask Kyle “straight up” whether she was dating Morgan. “They definitely have some sort of a connection together, there’s no question about that. They spend a lot of time together,” he told a coworker. “Maybe one of the reasons I don’t want to ask is because I don’t want to put the extra pressure on her. If it’s working for her and it’s giving her the opportunity to be dealing with our separation … I’m good with that.”
While Kyle and Morgan have denied dating, a source recently told Us Weekly that Kyle “really cares about Morgan.” The insider noted that she’s been “confused,” but “Kyle was excited to have these feelings after losing connection with Mauricio in their marriage.”
The Chance of Reconciliation
“She’s taken over the entire top floor. I’m still living in the bedroom,” he said in the finale. “If there is any chance of reconciling, I feel like I’m going to actually have to move out to explore, like, ‘Do I miss her? Do I not miss her? Is it time to really move on with life?’”
