Kyle Richards is seeing things more clearly than ever—including the cracks in her marriage.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star opened up about her sobriety journey on the Bravo series' Nov. 15 episode. During a lunch date with Dorit Kemsley in Las Vegas, Kyle's BFF attempted to understand her motivation for giving up alcohol and starting a health and fitness transformation.
"Do you think this whole not drinking and distancing yourself for a minute was to try to protect yourself get control?" Dorit asked, referencing Kyle's explosive season 12 blowout with Kathy Hilton. "Because obviously you have the trauma of falling out with your sister. That's traumatic."
Kyle replied, "I'm not a psychologist, but maybe so. I feel like I need to be really clear right now with everything."
However, when Dorit noted she misses enjoying cocktails and letting loose with her costar on vacation like they've done in so many past seasons of the show, the Halloween Ends actress insisted her newfound sobriety isn't just a phase.
"Before I would have felt like, 'Well I have to go have drinks because everyone expects that from me to go and have fun,'" the 54-year-old explained. "I don't feel like I need to do that anymore. This is who I am, just take it or leave it."
The conversation then turned to Kyle's ongoing marriage troubles with husband of 27 years Mauricio Umansky. As for the cause of the couple's recent divide?
"I think a lot of it has to do with I expected more from him for what I was going through," Kyle admitted of her family drama after last season. "Also, probably, you know how he loves to go drink. There's a lot of business events where I'm supposed to go and be the wife and be supportive. Sometimes it's like I don't want to go to these parties."
In a confessional, the Bravo star reiterated how her new alcohol-free lifestyle really affected her relationship with the real estate mogul.
"Mo is in sales, and a big part of that is putting yourself out there and be social," she noted, "and I'm at a place in my life where I don't want to do that. I would much rather be home reading than going to an event, especially when I don't drink anymore."
The admission forced Dorit to ask some tough but necessary questions.
"But if this is the direction you want to go, do you ever worry about the future?" she inquired of Kyle. "How do you sustain a marriage?"
This caused Kyle to cry before addressing the cold, hard truth about the state of her and Mauricio's relationship.
"I think with the way my relationship is right now, I'm not happy," she admitted in a confessional. "I'm sort of now working on myself inside and I feel like he's very focused on his work. So, I feel like in that aspect we're kind of growing in different directions. I don't want to wake up a few years down the road and be like, 'Who are you? What are we supposed to talk about now?'"
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
Keep reading to relive the timeline of Kyle and Mauricio's split.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)