Perhaps you’ve noticed several headlines purporting to shed light on Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards’ sexuality — and longtime fans of the show have a lot of opinions on the whole thing.
Kyle Richards’ sexuality was the focus of a recent People exclusive, presumably published as part of the press push that occurs before a season premieres, as Season 14 of RHOBH drops on November 19.
People’s article, “Kyle Richards Reflects on Discussing Her Sexuality with Her Daughters: ‘I Felt So Loved and So Supported,'” had a suspiciously vague headline — and the content of the “exclusive” was more of the same.
Based on how it was titled, readers likely expected some novel information about Kyle’s sexuality, but instead, the piece focused on an undefined conversation the reality TV mainstay purportedly had with her daughters.
Kyle’s remarks about “her sexuality” were even less clear when readers got to what she told the outlet — which was effectively nothing:
“The fact that there were so many rumors out there, I took that opportunity to have that conversation with my daughters to be able to say to them, ‘Listen, we know what’s being said, but this is where I stand and how I actually feel, and I’m sharing this with you because I’ve always led by example.’
“For me as a mom, I want my kids to always be able to come to me with the hard conversations and know that they’re going to be loved and accepted no matter what — and they are my best friends … I wanted to share that with them out of respect for them.”
Kyle’s “not all that substantive” commentary continued throughout the article, in which she said she was “raised a certain way with certain beliefs,” an assertion that could literally mean anything.
Along the same lines, she was quoted as saying:
“Regardless of whether it’s getting a tattoo at my age or my sexuality, whatever it is, I was like, you know, I have my own thoughts and my own beliefs on this.”
What stood out to us most when reading People’s coverage was how closely Kyle’s non-statements tracked with viewer sentiment, particularly in relation to our above-linked coverage of the Season 14 trailer.
On social media, RHOBH fans repeatedly expressed frustration about Kyle’s threats to quit and lack of “storylines,” and generally opined that she wasn’t bringing much to the show:
“Please Kyle, do us all a favor and actually put your money where your mouth is, and in fact ‘not do this anymore’ and finally get off our screens. Pretty please 🥺”
In a more recent thread posted Wednesday, a RHOBH viewer commented on her latest interviews:
Kyle continues to give us nothing every season.
For several reasons, Kyle’s “sexuality” comments brought their annoyance to a new level.
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Several outlets (and Bravo) carried some form of story or interview about Kyle’s remarks, including Refinery29.
Kyle did an interview with the latter, which the site shared on Twitter/X; it was titled “Kyle Richards: ‘It’s Actually Not Okay To Talk About Someone’s Sexuality.'”
In the corresponding interview, Kyle claimed that speculation about the nature of her relationship with Morgan Wade was both distressing and confusing for her, leading to the following exchange:
[Interviewer]: “What do you wish people who are talking or gossiping about your sexuality to understand?”
[Kyle Richards]: “That it’s actually not okay to talk about someone’s sexuality until they are ready to speak about it themselves. That is something that you just don’t do. It has to be when that person is ready and you have to give that person grace. In the LGBTQIA+ world, that’s a very known thing.
“You give that person grace and let them figure it out on their own and don’t comment on it until that person does, but that was just not what was happening. And I wasn’t even understanding some of the headlines, and to see your name plastered with this stuff, I was like, ‘Wait, what is happening here?'”
Twitter/X replies were mostly along the same lines, calling Kyle out for her past behavior.
Much of the outrage seemed to stem from Season 10 of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, and in particular, a “storyline” about whether Denise Richards and Brandi Glanville “hooked up.”
In particular, viewers recalled the events of Episode 11 – “Kiss And Tell All” – and a scene where Kyle, her sister Kim, and Teddi Mellencamp have an intense conversation, during which a teary Brandi Glanville discloses her purported “affair” with Denise.
The scene and its associated “storyline” came off to fans as a desperate attempt on Brandi’s part to rejoin the cast, but it seemed to cause genuine discord among RHOBH’s cast:
One Twitter/X user replied to Refinery29, saying: “Please tell me you cut the part where she says ‘unless it’s Denise Richards and Brandi, then it’s FINE.'”
Another concurred: “Kyle assisted the harassment of Denise. She can’t be serious. She just can’t be.”
A third lamented Kyle bringing little to the show, and said:
“Oh, this is rich. Kyle literally outed another cast member on national TV! I guess it’s only okay when you are doing it to hide your personal life from the audience. I mean, we need term limits on Housewives. Kyle has spent enough of my time giving me nothing. #RHOBH”
On Reddit’s r/BravoRealHousewives, a user linked to the tweet, and fans there were largely in agreement with those on Twitter/X.
Someone remarked that the cast “were all jealous of Denise,” and another user decried “double standards” of respect and decency when it came to Kyle:
“I am praying and hoping to GOD (or, you know, Andy Cohen) that someone, ANYONE, raises these double standards to Kyle this season.
“Because it’s all well and good for us to get (rightly) annoyed and for cast members to say they’re annoyed in interviews … but if NO ONE is going to bring it up to her face, then she’ll never be confronted with the hypocrisy of statements like these.”
A viewer mused that “Kyle is a hypocrite (and very boring),” which another echoed: “Kyle is finally the queen of something. She’s the queen of hypocrisy.”
A great many of the comments fairly pointed back to Season 10 and the situation between Denise and Brandi, but that wasn’t the only thing fans felt was hypocritical:
“I generally agree that speculation about sexuality is unhelpful, especially if the person is closeted — but come on; if you’re on a reality TV show that is all about your personal life, and you are constantly playing coy and hinting at it, and even making videos making out with the person, it’s a little ridiculous to then come back around and criticize people for speculating about your sexuality.”
Ultimately, RHOBH fans were in agreement about Kyle’s sexuality non-statement, best summarized as a belief that she’s fine with dishing it out, but wholly unable to take it.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
- Release Date
- October 14, 2010
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Cast
- Kyle Richards , Kim Richards , Denise Richards , Brandi Glanville , Lisa Vanderpump
- Seasons
- 12
- Story By
- Alex Baskin
- Writers
- Kyle Richards , Brandi Glanville , Lisa Vanderpump
- Streaming Service(s)
- Peacock
- Franchise(s)
- The Real Housewives
- Directors
- Rob Minkoff
