Mauricio Umansky defended rumors of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards using Ozempic for weight loss just weeks before reports that the couple had separated Monday, amid the Bravo star’s rumored relationship with female country singer Morgan Wade.
Speaking exclusively with DailyMail.com last month, Umansky, 53, revealed how Richards, 54, handles the rumors she has used Ozempic to drop the pounds, even though she has repeatedly denied ever using controversial weight loss jabs.
‘We just kind of laugh. We don’t really care about it. We laugh about it. She’s already made her statement, and it is what it is. I mean, you know, there’s just nothing you can do about that,’ he explained. ‘She has been so amazing that you know, she completely quit drinking, and she literally works out every single day of her life, and it shows. And she’s f**king crushing it.’
Umansky praised Richards for adhering to a consistent workout routine and called the naysayers ‘jealous’ and unable to believe results could be achieved without use of a substance. He added: ‘It’s jealous people that don’t believe that you can do something without a substance. So … just good mental power.’
The June 16 chat came just weeks before an insider told People Monday that Richards and Umansky ‘have been separated for a while now but are still living under the same roof,’ and ‘remain amicable as they figure out what’s next for them and their family.’
The latest: Mauricio Umansky, 53, defended rumors of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, 54, using Ozempic for weight loss exclusively with DailyMail.com, just weeks before reports that the couple had separated Monday. Pictured in 2020
Details: The shocking split comes amid a TMZ report that Kyle has been ‘dating country singer’ Morgan Wade, 28, in the wake of their separation. Wade was seen last month in Lexington, Kentucky
Richards and Umansky wed in January of 1996 and share daughters Alexia, 27, and Sophia, 23, and Portia, 15. Mauricio is also stepfather to Kyle’s daughter Farrah Aldjufrie, 34, from her first marriage to Guraish Aldjufrie.
Reports of the shocking split comes amid a TMZ report that Kyle has been ‘dating country singer’ Wade, 28, in the wake of their separation, and that they ‘allegedly have matching heart tattoos.’
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps for Richards, Umansky and Wade for comment on the story.
The allegedly estranged power couple Umansky and Richards had reality television to thank for their meteoric rise to fame. While Richards was already a member of the iconic Hilton family, she became beloved by Bravo viewers as a member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
She married Umansky in 1996 and shares daughters Alexia, 27, and Sophia, 23, with him. Mauricio is also stepfather to Kyle’s daughter from her first marriage, Farrah Aldjufrie, 34.
While Richards battles it out with housewives on television, Umansky has enjoyed success in the world of real estate.
The founder of the brokerage The Agency, which has offices around the world, Umansky recently released the book The Dealmaker: How to Succeed in Business & Life Through Dedication, Determination & Disruption, and last week won Ernst Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Greater Los Angeles Award.
Speaking of getting nominated ahead of the ceremony, he described the award as a ‘great honor.
‘I’ve been nominated by Ernst Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for Los Angeles region,’ he explained. ‘I made the finals, so I can’t wait to hear if we win, cause you know, Ernest Young is a big deal, and I think that would be just a great honor to win the entrepreneur of the year award.’
As far as his book, Umansky is thrilled to see his book connect with readers from all walks of life.
Discussion: Umansky on June 16 exclusively told DailyMail.com about shrugging off Ozempic rumors targeting Richards, season two of Buying Beverly Hills, and being nominated for Ernst Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. Pictured last year
Looking back: Richards and Umansky wed in January of 1996 and share daughters Alexia, 27, and Sophia, 23, and Portia, 15, while Mauricio is also stepfather to Kyle’s daughter Farrah Aldjufrie, 34, from her first marriage. Pictured this past March in LA
Family man! Umansky was pictured with Richards and daughters Sophia, Farrah, and Alexia
Back for more! Umansky’s reality show Buying Beverly Hills will be returning for a second season
‘I’ve gotten some great reviews on the book. I’ve gotten so many great DMs from a lot of different people, and it just makes me feel so good that I was able to touch a lot of people.
‘I mean, there’s been just a variety of different people. There’s been people that are literally down and out… sending… text messages saying “you motivated me”. Other CEOs and executives that have said really interesting perspectives on XY or Z. That was the idea, and it just feels really good that we’ve been able to teach a little bit.’
Now, Umansky has followed a similar path as Richards, allowing cameras into his office with the Netflix series Buying Beverly Hills. The show premiered in 2022, and followed employees of The Agency – which include his daughters Alexia and Farrah.
Buying Beverly Hills will be returning for a second season, and Umansky promises fans are in for more drama and a real estate feast for the eyes.
‘It’s really going to show more of what The Agency is all about and what we do from a lifestyle perspective, a little bit more of the global dynamics and the events… and now that you know a lot of the cast members, we’re definitely going to start digging into more of the cast members’ personalities, lives, digging deeper. Not just superficial. And so you’re going to get a lot of that.
‘You’re going to continue to see amazing real estate porn, we have some gorgeous homes, we have a lot of deals that are closing, there are still great things to learn, every deal in real estate’s different, there’s always something to learn from it.’
Umansky promised season two would feature ‘some good drama’: ‘I can’t wait for it to come out, it’s going to be great.’
Buying Beverly Hills is just one of several reality shows following the glamorous lives of realtors. Selling Sunset, another hit series with the same premise as Buying Beverly Hills, has just returned to Netflix for a sixth season.
But Umansky doesn’t see these shows as competition.
Family business! Maurico works with his daughters Alexia and Farrah at The Agency
Reality stars: Umansky pictured with Alexia and Kyle in June of 2022 in Beverly Hills
Read all about it! Umansky is thrilled his book was able to reach readers from all walks of life with his new book, The Dealmaker
‘I think we all help each other, you know, if people get more into real estate and they like the real estate porn, and all of this, we kind of help each other … even in my own business, when I have other real estate agents that are competing for the same listing, I look at them more as colleagues, and my personality is that it’s more of a colleague or a collaborator or somebody who can feed off of.
‘So I think the reason there are multiple is because the audience wants to watch. So I don’t think it’s oversaturated.’
Umansky has even worked with The Oppenheim Group, the company Selling Sunset centers on: ‘They’re good guys, I like them a lot.’
The Agency has turned into something much more meaningful than just a 9-5 for Umansky as well.
With his daughters Farrah and Alexia joining the group, The Agency really has transformed into a family business.
Speaking of working with his daughters, he said: ‘It was awesome, and for me to have the opportunity to work with my daughters and to see them every single day … it’s been an absolute dream for me to be able to work with them and to watch them flourish and they’re going to crush it.’
While Farrah and Alexia are now both agents, they both got their starts as assistants.
‘Farrah started out as my assistant and she was doing everything, and Alexia started off in the marketing department as an assistant, and then I brought her into the Umansky team. And now Alexia is now an agent.’
Now, the world will be getting to know his daughters more as they gain more prominent roles in Buying Beverly Hills.
He said: ‘They’re so beautiful and intelligent and smart. Again, season two is totally different than season one, right because people start getting to know them now … I can’t wait for the world to get to know who these kids are. They’ve been on camera for 13 years but they’ve always just been kind of on the sidelines.’
New romance? The shocking split comes amid a TMZ report that Kyle has been ‘dating country singer’ Wade in the wake of their separation, and that they ‘allegedly have matching heart tattoos’
Stylish: Wade and Richards were pictured at the 21st Annual Americana Honors & Awards at Ryman Auditorium on September 14, 2022 in Nashville
Fashionable: They also attended an event in support of NAMI in LA in April
Fun: Wade and Richards posed for a selfie in a shot Kyle posted to Instagram last month
An Instagram user under the handle @facereality16 had a theory about the burgeoning relationship between Richards and Wade, pointing out that they had been subtly acknowledging their romance by wearing matching silver bands.
Amid the speculation about Richards and Wade wearing rings, a separate wave of conjecture surrounded Richards and Umansky last spring after she was seen on an outing without her wedding ring.
Umansky, appearing in April on the podcast Two T’s In a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge, said the couple was ‘not getting divorced.’
He insisted, ‘I mean, it’s so dumb. That one stupid story that came out there, and then the girls all, you know, decided to talk about it on the Housewives, and so now it’s a storyline.’
Richards did not acknowledge the split on social media Monday, as she put up a series of pictures of herself with her longtime friend Faye Resnick in a series of Instagram Stories posts to wish Resnick a happy 66th birthday.
Kyle’s fame preceded her spot on the Bravo series, as she’s Kathy Hilton’s sister and Paris Hilton’s aunt. Richards and her family stepped into the limelight in 2010 when she was a principle cast member of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
The cast also included her sister Kim Richards, Adrienne Maloof, Camille Grammer, Taylor Armstrong and Lisa Vanderpump.
A dozen seasons later, only Kyle remains on the popular reality series (while Vanderpump has had tremendous success with her own spinoff Vanderpump Rules).
Close: Wade and Richards were seen working out with one another a few weeks ago
Rapport: Wade and Richards were pictured with one another at the Americana Music Honors & Awards last fall in Nashville
Affinity: Wade and Richards were seen at a holiday celebration together late last year
The 12th season of the series centered around Richards dealing with fragile family relationships – including with Kathy – while Umansky steadfastly supported her amid the tense time.
‘I have always just been 100 percent supportive of her, no matter what she does,’ Umansky told E! News in November. ‘If she wants to reconcile, I am all down for it. If she’s not ready to reconcile and she needs to just keep it going for a little bit, I support her a thousand percent.’
The timing of the split comes about a year and a half after the duo celebrated a marital milestone with their 25th wedding anniversary.
‘It means so much, and it’s something that we’re both incredibly proud of,’ Richards told Bravo Insider in November of 2021. ‘And for me, it’s one of my biggest accomplishments. I mean, I think it’s refreshing, in this town to be married 25 years is a really big deal. And we’re really proud to be good role models to our daughters.’
Umansky said that their marriage had ‘been great and beautiful’ and that the long time they were wed flew by.
‘To be quite honest, it feels easy and doesn’t feel like it’s been that long,’ he told Bravo Insider. ‘And, you know, I definitely intend to spend the rest of my life with her. So hopefully it’ll be at least another 25 years, and maybe another 50.’
