Kyle Richards Says Sister Kathy Hilton Is 'Very Supportive' After Her Split: We're 'in a Good Place'
"She will call me, text me and [say], 'I just love you and I'm here for you no matter what,' " Richards said of her eldest sibling
Kyle Richards is leaning on her sister Kathy Hilton amid her separation from husband Mauricio Umansky.
During Wednesday's episode of SiriusXM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast, Richards, 55, said her eldest sister has been "very supportive" as she navigates her split from Umansky, 53, after more than 25 years of marriage.
"We are in a very good place. … She will call me, text me and [say], 'I just love you and I'm here for you no matter what. You're always my baby sister,' " the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star told host Kelly Ripa of Hilton, 65.
She said her sister also reached out after the emotional finale episode of Richards' Bravo show aired on Feb. 21.
"She left me a voicemail after watching the season finale, and it was just gut wrenching. She was hysterically crying and she just said, you know, 'I love you and I want to make sure you're okay.' And it was just so, she was so overly emotional, but she has been very supportive, you know, and I just want it to stay that way," Richards recalled.
Related: Kyle Richards' 4 Daughters: All About Farrah, Alexia, Sophia and Portia
In the RHOBH finale episode, Richards opened up to her castmates about the split, and footage later showed the reality star and Umansky discussing their separation with their tearful daughters at the family's vacation home in Aspen, Colorado. (The couple shares Alexia, 27, Sophia, 24, and Portia, 16, and Richards also shares Farrah Brittany, 35, with her ex Guraish Aldjufrie.)
During her conversation with Ripa, Richards also expressed her worry that the things she said about Hilton during this season of RHOBH would undo the progress the two sisters had made in repairing their fractured relationship.
"I was so worried this season. I had to send [Hilton] a text saying, 'I said things because we were in a different place,' and I felt more free this season," Richards said, explaining that she filmed the season with an attitude of, "I'm letting go of everyone holding me back."
"I felt so free in the moment to say all these things, and then when we made up, I was like, 'Oh god, help me. What do I do?' and I said to our producers, 'Well now she's gonna watch the show and it's all gonna be ruined again,' " she continued of her worries about Hilton's reaction to her candor.
Richards said she reached out to Hilton and her daughters — Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton — to smooth things over and make sure they understood her comments were made prior to the sisters' reconciliation.
"So I had to send her and my nieces, because they're a package deal, a text saying, 'Listen, I said things that that's how I was feeling at the time and I was really hurt and you have to remember that we were in a different place then. Please, I can't go through this anymore and if you are mad, just tell me. Please just don't not talk again for a year or two. I can't take it anymore,' " Richards explained.
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Kathy made an unexpected return to RHOBH during the second installment of the show's season 13 reunion, and shared a surprising take on Richards' separation.
"[Kyle's] not a compulsive person," she said while getting ready in her trailer. "She didn't decide this in three months. For sure, I bet she had been thinking — in my feeling — probably in the last three, four years."
During the reunion, Richards faced criticism from her fellow Housewives for being too secretive about her marriage problems. "Oh, I'm so sorry ... you didn't think it was enough information," she said in an effort to defend herself. "It just had started. I was just figuring it out myself, and what makes you so entitled to think that you are owed an explanation about everything that's going on in my bedroom?"
In July 2023, a source close to Richards and Umansky told PEOPLE that the pair "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."
Shortly after, the two released a joint statement on their social media accounts, denying they were divorcing. However, they admitted to having had "the most challenging [year] of our marriage."
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