Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards has poked fun at rumours she’s dating country singer Morgan Wade following her separation from husband Mauricio Umansky.
On Friday 4 August, the reality star announced she was starring as the love interest in Wade’s upcoming music video for her new song, “Fall in Love With Me”. In a clip posted to Instagram, the two explained how they first became friends, while subtly addressing some of the speculation surrounding their relationship.
“I’ve done several music videos and every time there’s someone in it, they always assume we’re dating or something’s going on," Morgan explained. "If you go on the internet, you’ll see people are obsessed with us being friends."
“Excuse me, they want to know why I’m friends with you,” Richards chimed in.
The “Wilder Days” singer went on to share that casting Richards as her love interest was the perfect way to tease the ongoing dating rumours. “We thought it would kind of be a good idea to kind of poke fun at that and troll the trolls a little bit,” Morgan explained. “The internet is going to be popping off about this one I’m sure.”
In a video posted to Instagram, the country singer captioned her post: “The internet asked and @kylerichards18 and I delivered.”
Meanwhile, many fans applauded Richards and Wade for their clever response to the relationship speculation. “If you can’t beat ‘em, troll ‘em!” commented former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave under Wade’s post.
“Great to see you taking it in stride,” another fan said, while someone else wrote: “This is bloody brilliant on every level.”
“Obsessed! Give the trolls something to talk about!” one person said.
Richards and Wade’s close friendship has sparked curiosity from Real Housewives fans amidst the reality star’s separation from her husband of 27 years. Wade’s ex-girlfriend, Kady Cannon, recently told Page Six that she “had feelings” about Wade and Richards’ relationship.
“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,” said Cannon, who dated Wade for nearly a year.
Fans have also noticed that the Bravo star and the musician have matching heart tattoos. Richards recently sported the thin, black outline of a heart on her right hand wrist, while Wade was seen with a similar delicate heart tattoo on her left hand.
However, the Halloween star shut down rumours of a romance with Wade when she told paparazzi in July that the pair are “very good friends”. In a video obtained by Page Six, Richards was asked if her relationship with Wade was “just a rumour”, to which she simply replied: “Yes.”
The Halloween Ends actor and her real estate broker husband announced they were separating on 3 July. “Kyle and Mauricio have been separated for a while now but are still living under the same roof. They remain amicable as they figure out what’s next for them and their family,” a source claimed to People at the time.
While Richards hit out at the “untrue” claims that she and Umansky are divorcing, she confirmed the couple had experienced a “rough year”. In a joint Instagram statement, the former couple maintained that “there has been no wrongdoing on anyone’s part” as reason for their separation.
“While it may be entertaining to speculate, please do not create false stories to fit a further salacious narrative,” they said.
Richards and Umansky have been married since January 1996 and share three daughters: Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23 and Portia, 15. The reality star also shares 34-year-old daughter Farrah Brittany with ex-husband Guraish Aldjufrie.
Richards joined the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2010, with Umansky making regular appearances over the last 13 years.
