Check Out Kyle Richards' Throwback Photos From Before She Was A Housewife
Check out these cute images of the longtime cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Kyle Richards' journey on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has been one filled with a lot of highs and a few lows.
Viewers have watched Kyle work on her relationships with her sisters, Kim Richards, and Kathy Hilton; raise her four daughters with husband, Mauricio Umansky; and learn how to cope with the ups and downs of her various relationships. Viewers have been by her side this entire time, from her start on the premiere of Season 1 to Season 13.
But before she was a "Real Housewife," Kyle was just that — a real housewife, raising her four kids in Beverly Hills with her husband.
While the cameras weren't something that Kyle had to totally get used to (after all, she was a child actress and her niece is Paris Hilton), joining the show was the first time that her own life got put under a microscope.
These photos of Kyle Richards give a little glimpse into how her life looked, before she was the cameras started following her around for the past 13 seasons.
Kyle Richards and Her Sister, Kim Richards, as Young Girls
Kyle was born on January 11, 1969 to Kathleen and Kenneth Richards. She had two older sisters: Kathy (who is 10 years older than Kyle); and Kim (who is 5 years older than Kyle).
Kyle is the baby of the family, and this photo shows that she fit that role perfectly — pretending to talk on the phone, while her older sister, Kim, smiles for the camera.
Kyle Richards and Kim Richards as Kids
Kyle's older sister Kim was known as the "Disney girl" after starting her acting career at just 6 years old. Kyle followed in Kim's footsteps, also appearing in movies and TV shows as a young girl. Kyle told Parade in 2012 that her childhood was much different than the average one in Beverly Hills, but she did get some real world experiences.
"I was going to set every day in Simi Valley and riding horses on the set of The Little House on the Prairie and catching tadpoles in the stream," she said. "It gave me a glimpse into a different world, which I appreciate now, looking back as an adult. In Beverly Hills, everybody is very privileged and has help and drivers, so it was a nice break from that."
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Kyle had a reoccurring role on The Little House on the Prairie, appearing in 18 episodes between 1975 and 1982.
This photo of both girls, smiling while staring straight into the camera, show just how good they are at being in front of it.
Teenage Kyle Richards Reading a Script On Set
Ine of Kyle's most notable roles was playing Lindsey Wallace in the 1978 horror film, Halloween.
In an interview with The Daily Dish in 2012, Kyle opened up about her history with acting. "I love acting, it's what I've done all my life, and to me, it's easier than doing reality television because you get into character, you remember your lines, and you go home and leave it all behind at the end of the day," she said. "Reality TV, its your life and you can't walk away from it. You're being exposed and the audience is weighing in on your lives and your relationships with your friends and family."
This photo of Kyle in her teens shows her practicing her lines.
Kyle Richards as a Teen
Although Kyle did have fun while being in the spotlight, her childhood celebrity also came with his pitfalls.
In a 2019 episode of RHOBH, Kyle opened up about how acting caused her to develop an eating disorder in her teens, according to E! News.
"It started when I was 17," she revealed. "I was on a TV show and they kept putting me in these big things, my boobs were big when I was young, my sisters were tiny and cute, everyone was blonde, blue-eyed, and skinny. I said I don't like my wardrobe and they said, 'Lose some weight and we'll put you in a cuter wardrobe.'"
Kyle Richards and Kim Richards Laughing
Throughout the first season of RHOBH — which also featured Kim as a housewife — viewers watched as the sisters' relationship was put in front of the cameras. Kyle told Parade that some of the drama between the two came about because they both had kept their feelings in without working on them together.
"For so long, people didn't know what was going on with her and what her issues were, and I was holding everything in," she said. "I had a lot of anger towards Kim for many years because of her issues. Watching the show, I realized that the way I was dealing with Kim and the way I was dealing with that situation with her wasn't getting me anywhere."
This photo of the two sisters show them during happier times.
Kyle Richards Dancing as a Young Woman
Kyle did not go to college in her teens, but did marry her now-ex-husband, Guraish Aldjufrie, at the age of 18. When she was 19 years old, she gave birth to her first daughter, Farrah Aldjufrie.
In a 2017 Mother's Day post on Instagram, Farrah sang Kyle's praises for raising her as a young mom. "Although she had me at 19 there was never one day that she ever made me feel she was too young to have a baby or that she missed out on anything in life," she wrote. "She's always made me feel like she was so proud and born to be a young mom!"
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Although Kyle might have had her hands full in her early 20s, this photo shows that she always found time to have fun and pull out some of her iconic dance moves, as seen on RHOBH.
Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky as a Young Couple
Kyle first met her husband, Mauricio, in 1994 while they were both just "kids" in their early 20s. Kyle told The Knot that this fateful meeting took place at a nightclub, Bar One, after Mauricio worked up the courage to approach her, thinking she was actress Demi Moore's sister.
"I figured if I couldn't get Demi Moore, I could try to get her sister!" Mauricio told The Knot in 2021. Instead, he said that he got something "much better." Kyle was attracted to how they had common interests, goals, and he was so sweet with her daughter.
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"She's an amazing person," Mauricio said. "And quite honestly, the fact that she already had a daughter, it made dating a lot more important. I had to take it much more seriously because I was responsible for a woman with a daughter. I also got insight into the way that she was as a mom and how good of a mom she was. And that gave me insight into the future and what it would look like."
Kyle Richards with Her Daughter
Kyle has always been a proud mom to her daughters. In addition to Farrah, Kyle has three daughters with Mauricio: Alexia Umansky, Sophia Umansky, and Portia Umansky. And Kyle has always been a proud mother, as she said in her very first season of RHOBH, according to People.
"Anybody who knows me knows that I am obsessed with my kids," Kyle said during Season 1. "Bordering on abnormal, but that's okay."
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In spite of Kyle's relationship issues with Mauricio in Season 13 of RHOBH, Kyle has emphasized time and time again throughout the season that they are a strong family and will always be a family, no matter what happens with them. "We are a strong family, and we always will be," Kyle said during the Season 13 trailer. "Nothing can change that."
This photo of Kyle and one of her daughters as a child shows that Kyle has always been a devoted mother.
Kyle Richards & Kim Richards as Adults
Kyle and Kim have had their fair share of ups and downs throughout the years. Although Kim is no longer a Real Housewife, Kyle gave an update on her older sister during BravoCon 2023 in November in Las Vegas, Nevada, noting that Kim and Kathy have been supportive of her during her relationship struggles.
"Both of them have been very, very supportive," she said during the "Livin' In Beverly Hills" panel. "It's rare to get everybody good at the same time so I'm just enjoying this moment."
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During the "Housewife2Housewife" panel, Kyle said that she hopes Kim can make an appearance on RHOBH in the future. "I think it would be interesting to see where [Kim] is at in her life now, and it would just be fun to have her back," she said.
