Kyle Richards is discovering a new side of herself.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star got candid about questioning her sexuality after she first hinted she was rethinking her sexual orientation during the Bravo series' season 13 reunion earlier this year
"It actually felt good for me to be honest about that and it isn't something that I've never thought about or questioned my life until this last couple years," Kyle told E! News in an exclusive interview. "That was very confusing for me and I kept telling people, 'Can you just give me time to figure things out? I'm learning things about myself.'"
In addition to her ongoing sobriety and wellness journey, she also separated from husband of 27 years Mauricio Umansky in 2023. So,, media scrutiny around her friendship with country singer Morgan Wade only added more stress.
"There were so many rumors in the tabloids that I wanted to address with my daughters, who are my best friends," Kyle—who shares Farrah, 36, Alexia, 28, Sophia, 24, and Portia, 16, with her ex—explained. "I also didn't want them to be embarrassed. I still want to be a good role model to them, but I realized that in being a good role model to them, I need to be honest and teach them to be true to themselves too."
But after sitting her family down to talk, her kids couldn't have been more supportive.
"I had to say to them, 'This is something that I have been confronted with now, so I want you to know that, because it's out there,'" the Halloween Ends actress continued. "Part of it being out there is what made me look at that and see things with the different lens."
But when it comes down to it, her recent exploration had nothing to do with dating rumors surrounding her and Morgan, which she previously shot down.
"I can only speak to myself, I'm not here to speak about anyone else's sexual orientation," Kyle noted. "A lot of things in this last couple years made me see things differently. I just realized that I had one way of thinking, the way I was raised, and was just on autopilot. And all of a sudden I was like, 'Wait, I have my own thoughts, my own feelings that have nothing to do with the way I was raised or what I was taught and it's okay.'"
"Whether that's getting a tattoo at my age or whatever, my sexual orientation," the 55-year-old continued, "it's okay. Which is why I wanted to have that conversation with my daughters too, because that's not how I was raised at all. I want my daughters to always be comfortable being whoever they are and know that they're loved and supported no matter what."
See Kyle's journey play out when The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills premieres Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
And keep reading to learn more about season 14.
