Kyle Richards Has an Update on Her ‘Evolving Sexuality’

Since the season 13 finale of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in February, the series’ anchor, Kyle Richards, has remained largely mum, not just on the current state of her relationship with 29-year-old country crooner, Morgan Wade, but on the current state of her relationship with her own sexuality. That is until she spoke with Page Six while promoting season 14, which premiers November 19.

In case you haven’t kept up with Jezebel’s coverage, rumors about the “friendship” between Wade and RHOBH‘s longest-standing veteran have circulated since Richards’ split from Mauricio Umansky, her husband of 27 years, in July 2023. Since 2022, Richards and Wade have starred opposite each other on RHOBH, in an ultra-horny music video, and have been regularly spotted doing all kinds of things, like making a doc together and picking each other up from the airport. Last season, their friendship faced even more speculation. And it all culminated at the reunion when Richards refused to say whether her feelings for Wade are more than platonic.

But, to Page Six, Richards addressed what the tabloid referred to as her “evolving” sexuality and how, since opening up about it on the show, the added speculation from the audience has affected her.

“There were stories out there about me and…this did make me wonder, you know, and question myself,” Richards said of previously identifying as a hard-and-fast heterosexual. “I really never thought like this before. This is not the way I was raised. That’s not the way my mind even operated.”

According to Richards, her four daughters have been integral in becoming more at peace with herself and the journey she’s on.

“I like to lead by example and I thought, ‘You know, if this is what I’m going through and feeling, I want them to always feel comfortable enough to share with me the hardest conversations and know that they’ll be accepted no matter what,’” Richards said, adding that these feelings prompted her to initiate “sensitive” discussions with her children about the questions she’s personally facing.

“Having that conversation, their reaction and response to me, I thought, ‘Wow, I mean, I’m just so impressed by these four women in front of me,’” she recalled. “And I thought, ‘Maybe, just maybe, I did do a good job’—because that was my most proud moment as a mom, just seeing how they all reacted.”

Richards doesn’t offer an exact label for her identity in the interview, nor does she need to. Frankly, it’s just encouraging to witness a housewife of her age and status publicly stretch beyond the boundaries of the personality she’s been known for. Reality television star or not, no one’s entitled to all the specifics. As for Wade, however, it doesn’t sound like she’ll be appearing on the franchise again anytime soon.

“I think she just didn’t want any part of anything to do with my role [on] reality television and all that came with it,” Richards said. “And, you know, the paparazzi and all that was very overwhelming. So I understood that and respected that. I am an open book, but I cannot speak to other people’s lives or experiences when they have not signed up to do this and don’t want to be a part of this. I think anybody would be overwhelmed in that situation.”

Very true. And yet, what a bummer…