Credit: Fati Sadou/ABACAPRESS/Alamy
Mauricio Umansky is speaking out about the state of his marriage to Kyle Richards as he prepares for his Dancing With the Stars debut later this month.
While promoting his recently announced role on the series, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and Buying Beverly Hills cast member, 53, said he and Kyle, 54, were “both happy” and “working through” their reported separation — just as Kyle was spotted filming with rumored flame Morgan Wade, 28.
In a since-deleted Instagram Story shared by Kyle on Wednesday, she and Morgan were seen strolling on a bridge in Paris with a film crew, presumably working on the documentary Kyle is said to be producing about the country singer.
“Kyle [and] Morgan in Paris!” Bravo Snark Side wrote in the caption of their reshared Instagram video, which was shared just after an insider allegedly caught the two women “[playfully] touching” one another at a café.
Following the posting of her video with Morgan, Kyle celebrated Mauricio’s addition to the DWTS cast by sharing a post from Good Morning America in which he was seen posing alongside professional dance partner Emma Slater, 34.
After the season 32 cast of DWTS was confirmed, Mauricio reacted to being the first househusband from the Real Housewives franchise to appear.
“I think it’s awesome,” he told Entertainment Tonight on September 13. “I feel honored and I’m glad I could be the one to pave the path for other House[wives] husbands.”
While Mauricio acknowledged that he is Latino and has “that blood in [him] already,” he admitted that he’s never been a public dancer.
“It’s completely outside of my comfort zone,” he continued. “There [are] certain moves… I mean, dancing [is] never something I’d do on national television. It’s something I’ve always wanted to learn.”
According to Mauricio, he had a moment of panic before he began his first day of practice with Emma and nearly regretted signing on for the show.
“And then I got to rehearsal and my feet could not have been heavier,” he recalled. “But we have rehearsed four times, and it just feels so good. I’m literally at home dancing all the time. In the shower, I’m dancing, my kids are like, ‘You’re dancing all the [time].’ I come home, I’m dancing, I’m dancing in the office… It’s just been so much fun.”
Throughout his first moments with the DWTS cast, which also includes Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix, 38, Mauricio has had the support of his family, including daughters Alexia Umansky, 27, Sophia Umansky, 23, and Portia Umansky, 15, and step-daughter Farrah Aldjufrie, 34, who have been “super supportive.”
Once the show begins its live episodes, Mauricio said viewers will “100 percent” see his entire family, including estranged wife Kyle.
“You know, we’re hanging in there, we’re working through all of our things, which everybody knows about, and we’re just taking it day by day,” Mauricio said of their current status. “We’re trying not to let the press influence us and all of the social media and all of the stuff that’s going on. So we’re trying to just ignore that and figure that ourselves.”
“I can tell you we are both happy,” he added.
Also during the interview, Mauricio said he hopes fans of DWTS will relate to his story.
“I hope that they get invested in my journey and in our journey together, and the way we will approach the season and all of the dances, I’m very excited about it. I’ve been talking to Emma a lot about it, and she’s got some really great creative ideas,” he revealed. “We’re just very excited about it.”
Dancing With the Stars season 32 premieres on September 26 on ABC.