Mister Police, she gave you all the clues.
Photo: Ella Hovsepian/Getty Images
Thursday night’s episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marked a sea change for Kyle Richards: she acknowledged that she’d been in a relationship after separating from Maurico Umansky. Richards said she fell in love with “a person” who didn’t want to be in the public eye. Eventually the media speculation pushed them apart, according to Richards. “When I’m in love with somebody, I want to share that. I’m an open person like that,” she said. “That doesn’t mean the person I’m with feels the same way. All the speculation and the gossip and the talking is ultimately what ended it. I could’ve weathered the storm, but this is not for everyone.”
But who is this mystery person? Who on earth could it possibly be? Bravoholics reckon it’s country star Morgan Wade, to whom paps linked Richards back in 2023. At the time, Wade and Richards said they were “just friends.” Then they did a makeout fakeout in Wade’s music video. Then Wade deleted all her pictures with Richards of IG. So how friendly did they really get, and are we being nosy little busybodies for trying to put the pieces together retroactively? Let’s unpack.
February 16, 2022: Kyle Richards posts her first irl hang with Morgan Wade. Richards says she stalked Wade on Instagram after listening to her music during a long drive. “today we met up in person for the 1st time,” she wrote. “The most unlikely of friendships some may think but kinship knows no boundaries 💞”
September 15, 2022: Richards attends the 2022 Americana Music Honors & Awards as Wade’s guest. Per Page Six, it’s a month after Wade broke up with Kady Cannon. Cannon said “The only people who can speak on Morgan and Kyle’s relationship or friendship or whatever you wanna call it — and to whatever degree that is — are Morgan and Kyle, and that’s it.”
January 25, 2023: Wade posts a pic of her sitting in Richards’ lap on a private jet to IG. This will become the lede image of every story about them from now until the heat death of the universe, despite the original post eventually getting deleted by Wade.
July 2023: Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky announce that they are separating, but say “Any claims regarding divorcing are untrue.” Rather, they’ve just “had a rough year. The most challenging one of our marriage.”
That same month, fans notice that Wade and Richards appear to have matching tattoos and silver rings.
August 10, 2023: Morgan Wade releases the “Fall in Love With Me” music video, in which Wade plays Richards’ dream girl. They almost kiss, but not quite. The framing at the time is that they are poking fun at the tabloid speculation. “We’re friends,” Wade told People. “The internet’s a dumb place.”
December 6, 2023: On WWHL, Dorit Kemsley says that Wade’s friendship with Richards has gotten in the way of Kyle’s other relationships. “I feel like the closer she got to Morgan the further she got from me,” she told Andy Cohen.
November 2024: Wade makes her debut on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Richards gives her a tattoo, inking a little K on her arm. “You know what, no one else can say they’ve been tattooed by Kyle Richards,” she says.
January 10, 2024: In an ep of RHOBH, Richards asks her fellow Housewives if they’d ever date a woman. Dorit Kemsley does a spit take.
February 2024: Wade deletes all her Instagram pictures, except a few promoting upcoming dates she has to perform. Fans speculate something went askew with Richards, but Kyle says it’s just promo. “[She’s got new music] coming out,” Richards told Page Six. “It’s very common for artists to do that. That didn’t mean anything.”
April 8, 2025: During the season 14 Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion, Andy Cohen addresses “she who cannot be named,” ie: Wade. For the entire season, Richards had refrained from even saying said her former bestie’s name, despite Wade appearing on the previous season. “I brought her into this,” Richards said of Wade. “And I feel guilty about that because it causes her anxiety, and she doesn’t wanna be part of that.”
December 11, 2025: In the second episode of RHOBH season 15, Richards comes clean about her previous relationship with a “person” she won’t further identify. “I was in a relationship. I was in a very vulnerable place in my life and I fell hard for this person,” she said. “I’m in love with somebody, I want to share that. I don’t care, I’m an open person like that. But that doesn’t mean the person I’m with feels the same way.” On WWHL that same night, Dorit Kemsley left one more hint as to this person’s identity: “She’s a public figure, by the way.”
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