Kyle Richards Clears Up Mauricio's Claims She Encouraged Him to Date During Separation: 'A Little Taken Aback'
The couple's separation, confirmed exclusively by PEOPLE last July, played out on Wednesday's 'RHOBH' season 13 finale
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Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky.Kyle Richards is setting the record straight after Mauricio Umansky told their daughters she encouraged him to date amid their separation.
The offhand remark by Umansky, 53, appeared in PEOPLE's exclusive sneak peek at season 2 of his Netflix show Buying Beverly Hills, and Richards, 55, told Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen on Wednesday after The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' season 13 finale that she "was a little bit taken aback."
Richards explained, "It wasn't encouraged. It was, you know, I'd rather, you know, say that if we're going to be separated — say that so that way I don't have to feel hurt. And that's easier said than [done]."
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Mauricio Umansky, Kyle Richards, Farrah Brittany, Alexia Umansky and Sophia Umansky.In the Buying Beverly Hills clip, Umansky sat down with his two older daughters Alexia, 27, and Sophia, 24, and Richards' daughter Farrah Brittany, 35, from her first marriage. (The couple also share daughter Portia, 15.)
Explaining their decision to separate, The Agency CEO told the girls, "I had an amazing 26 years with your mom, an amazing 26 years," adding: "I wanted to do everything possible to just save it."
He claimed Richards had asked for "space" before telling him, "You go out, you date, you do whatever it is that you want to do. I'm not going to be asking what you're doing, I don't want you to be asking me what I'm doing ... we are separated."
PEOPLE first broke the news of the couple’s separation last July 3 — a day that played out on RHOBH's finale this Wednesday.
Richards said in a confessional interview during the episode: "When the PEOPLE magazine article came out, I was with Mo and the girls and all of our phones just started blowing up.
She continued, “Mo was really focused on who gave the story and I was more focused on how it was affecting all of us. I saw Alexia start to cry. We got in the car, all of us, and it was this weird ... like, nobody knew what to do or say.”
She added, getting emotional, “It just felt like my whole life was over in that moment. The life as I knew it."
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The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 reunion begins next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
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