Kyle Richards has not ruled out a return to “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” next season, despite the rocky ride she is having with her co-stars during season 14.
In a January 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the veteran RHOBH star revealed that her decision will be based on where she is “at” in her life when Bravo’s cameras pick back up. But she also admitted that she was intrigued by a milestone she could hit should she return next season.
“I always say I never know because it depends on my personal life emotionally — if I can handle it, what my lifestyle is at the time,” Richards said in the interview. “One day, that day will come where I’ll say, ’OK, enough.’”
But she added, “I saw something that said, ‘If Kyle does another season, 15 seasons, she’ll be the longest-running Housewife in franchise history.’ There’s kind of a part of me that wants to have that! And then I’m like, ‘For what, Kyle?! For what!’”
Richards is tied with “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice as the Housewife with the longest run on Bravo. Giudice’s future as a Housewives star remains in question amid a “pause” for the Jersey franchise.
Kyle Richards Admitted Reality TV Affected Her Marriage
Kyle
Richards is the only original cast member remaining on RHOBH since its 2010 debut. Fans have watched Richards’ daughters grow up and her marriage fall apart. In July 2023, Richards and her husband Mauricio Umansky announced their separation after 28 years of marriage.
While she has remained amicable with Umansky as friends and co-parents, Richards admitted she’s thought about the “reality show curse.” In addition to Richards and Umansky, fellow RHOBH couples Adrienne Maloof and Paul Nassif, Camille and Kelsey Grammer, Dorit and PK Kemsley, Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi, Teddi Mellencamp and Edwin Arroyave, and more have all split up since first joining the show.
“I definitely do believe that money and fame and all that is not great for a marriage,” Richards told THR. “I don’t think it is. Years ago, when we didn’t have any money, I would say, ‘Well that’s ok, we can move to Vail and you can be a ski teacher. And I can be with the kids and bake cookies.’ I think if that happened for our path in life, my guess is we would not be in this situation right now.”
Umansky had another take on the situation. Speaking on Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast in 2024, The Agency founder said of reality TV fame, “Couples, when they watch themselves, end up reflecting, and they actually see what their real relationship is like. …And then they start becoming conscious of that, and once you become conscious of that, it now becomes part of the reality and you start witnessing that.”
“I have witnessed multiple marriages come and go, we’ve had divorces, we’ve had all kinds of different things … and I can tell you that my perspective is that’s not what happened between Kyle and I,” he added.
Kyle Richards Almost Didn’t Return to RHOBH for Season 14
EntertainmentNow/Bravo
Richards has said that she always struggles with the decision to return to RHOBH. In February 2024, she told Entertainment Tonight, “Every year it’s like, should I? Should I? I remember years ago saying, after season 5, I’m not doing any more. Here I am. Obviously, one day the time will come where I say enough is enough.”
She told THR that after watching her separation play out during season 13, season 14 was “the closest” she’s ever gotten to “not coming back to the show.” But she explained that giving up the show—and the crew and production team she has worked with for more than 15 years—would have also been another big loss in her life.
“I almost didn’t come back this season but it’s a big part of my life,” Richards said during Bravo’s Fans Fest in November 2024. “You know, I started show when [my youngest daughter] Portia was in diapers… and now we’re going to be touring colleges in the spring. It’s a big part of my life and we really are a family, so it would have been another loss for me.”
Ahead of season 15 filming, Richards noted that she is “definitely in a stronger place” than she was when she started filming last season. “My life is constantly changing right now. But it all depends where I’m at,” she teased of her RHOBH future.
