The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ season 13 premiered on Wednesday, providing an exclusive look into Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky’s “tough” year before their split. In the season 13 premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Wednesday, tensions in the marriage between Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards were clearly visible. The duo had a brief chat as the show came to an end, and it seemed to highlight some of the issues that had caused their split, as PEOPLE exclusively revealed back in July.
“I mean, sometimes you’re married and they can do no wrong. Other times, they breathe and you want to punch them,” Kyle, 54, explained in confessional. “Right now, I’m irritated.”
Kyle walked into her chat with Mauricio already irritated, admitting before he was even able to get off the phone with his assistant that she was frustrated. “As soon as you can wrap up your golf schedule, let me know,” she sarcastically said to him.
“I can’t with this whole day,” she added to herself. “I hate everything, sorry!”
That annoyance carried through her entire interaction with Mauricio. “Mo and I have had a challenging year together,” she told the audience. “He has been working non-stop. I’ve been working. When you have to schedule a meeting to go over your schedule, you know it’s a problem.”
For his part, Mauricio, 53, seemed unaware of the nature of Kyle’s frustrations during their talk. He began by asking Kyle if she wanted to do a family trip to Portugal, where he had to be for a business trip that coincidentally fell during their 15-year-old daughter Portia’s spring break.
“Sounds like you’re really booked up,” Kyle said, before denying Mauricio’s idea to turn his work getaway into a “fun” getaway. “I have stuff I have to do here, I don’t know that I’ll be able to go anywhere like that. I can’t go to Portugal. Not during that window, no.”
With their schedule being a no-go, Mauricio moved on to address the impact Kyle’s newfound workout regimen was having on her. “On another note, you look amazing,” he said. “I mean, you’re going to go work out right now. You look so good.”
“Thanks,” Kyle simply responded to his compliment.
“You’ve been working out like a beast right now,” Mauricio continued. “You’re eating well, you’re not drinking. Like, you’re changing your life. You look amazing.”
“Oh, thanks,” Kyle reiterated.
In an interview, Kyle talked candidly about her motivation for taking up exercise, citing her experiences with Mauricio as well as the turmoil that broke out between her sister Kathy Hilton and her RHOBH costars last season as inspirations.
“When you go through painful times in your life, it changes you as a person,” she stated. “You need to find a way to express yourself, dear sister. I’m feeling disappointed by my pals and distant from my spouse. I’m pleased with it. And since I’m here, I really hope Mo does too.”
Kyle’s newfound confidence has inspired her to expand her collection of tattoos, something she and Mauricio also discussed. When asked by Mauricio how many tattoos she has now, the mother of four proudly showed off her ink, telling her husband she has “five.”
“Seriously?” he asked, noting that he “forgot” about one and “only knew of three.”
“Well … maybe you should be looking at my body closer,” Kyle quipped, telling the audience, “This is clearly a big symptom of not spending time together. Years ago, he would have noticed a freckle on my body. Now, he doesn’t know that I have two more tattoos!”
But Mauricio wasn’t exactly happy about it. “I think that’s enough, yeah?” he told her. “That’s enough. Five tattoos is a lot.”
“Mmm … I don’t know. I think I’m going to get another one,” Kyle told him. “If I want to, I will.”
“I will not allow that,” said Mauricio.
“You didn’t even know how many I had, so … if I want one, I’m going to get one,” Kyle said. “It’s my body.”
“Love Bean, stop that,” Mauricio said. “You don’t need any more tattoos.”
But Kyle wasn’t budging. “You don’t have a choice,” she told him firmly, knocking back another objecting by repeating directly, “You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m at a point in my life where I don’t have to explain anything to anybody — including you,” she continued. “I went from doing everything my mom wanted to do, to being a mom myself and having to be a good example to my girls. And I just realized, you can do all that and things can still go to s—. I don’t know if it was what happened with my sister, or what. But I just don’t feel like I have to answer to anybody.”
“Well you don’t, but don’t become a rebellious person and do it out of rebellion,” said Mauricio. “Do it because you want it.”
Rebellion had nothing to do with it, though, according to Kyle. “Listen, I am very f—ing clear right now. I’m not rebelling,” she told him. “I’m just really clear.”
Kyle and Mauricio have been married since January 1996. The pair, who first met at a nightclub in 1994, share daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23 and Portia, 15, as well as Farrah Brittany (née Aldjufrie), 34, from Kyle’s first marriage to ex Guraish Aldjufrie. A source close to the pair told in July that Kyle and Mauricio “have been separated for a while now but are still living under the same roof. They remain amicable as they figure out what’s next for them and their family.”
Report about their separation, the reality stars released a joint statement indicating that “any claims regarding divorcing are untrue.” However, they acknowledged that they “have had a rough year.”
The hardest one we’ve had together. But we both have a great deal of love and respect for one another,” they said. “No one has committed a transgression. We request the ability to resolve our differences in private even if we are in the spotlight. Though speculating could be fun, don’t fabricate tales to support more sensationalized content. I appreciate all of your love and support, Kyle and Mauricio.”
Mauricio later told that the two are still “not yet throwing in the towel.”
“We’re having a bit of a rough patch,” he said earlier this month, after competing on Dancing with the Stars, noting that “sometimes life throws you different things” and “you’ve gotta work through it.”
He went on to ask fans to “give us time” to sort things out. “We promise you we will let you know,” he said. “We’re not hiding anything from you.” Mauricio has since been spotted in cozy photos with his Dancing with the Stars partner Emma Slater. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.