News that Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky have separated came as a shock to many loyal Bravo fans.
The couple, who have been married for 27 years, and their family have been one of the few constants throughout 12 seasons of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, with their relationship often playing out in front of cameras.
But what's come as even more surprising is the rumours, speculation and deep dives that have many convinced there's more going on here: and it involves Kyle, a country music star, and... matching tattoos.
On July 3, People magazine reported that "Kyle and Mauricio have been separated for a while," and remained amicable and living under the same roof.
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Later that day, Kyle posted a statement on Instagram.
"Any claims regarding us divorcing are untrue," she said, although she did not specify on the report they were separated.
"However, yes, we have had a rough year. The most challenging one of our marriage. But we both love and respect each other tremendously. There has been no wrongdoing on anyone's part.
"Although we are in the public eye, we ask to be able to work through our issues privately. While it may be entertaining to speculate, please do not create false stories to fit a further salacious narrative."
The statement was signed off with both Kyle and Mauricio's names.
Unfortunately for them, the gossip horse had already bolted.
In the days before this, speculation about the nature of Kyle's relationship with 28-year-old country musician Morgan Wade reached a fever pitch on gossip sites and Bravo fan's social media accounts.
Among them were deep dives that looked for clues and Easter eggs about their 'friendship', and also at the change in social media interaction between Kyle and Mauricio this year.
IG gossip page facereality16 is one of the accounts that has gone full detective on this, and presented evidence that it thinks points to ~something~ going on.
Kyle and Mauricio's social media changes.
Firstly, the account claims that Kyle, 54, and her husband, 53, have interacted far less than normal on socials in the past year.
Fans noticed that although Mauricio shared pics to celebrate Kyle's birthday and Valentine's Day, she hasn't liked or commented on posts like she has in past years – and in family shots posted recently, they are not often standing next to each other.
In January, Kyle posted photos from a holiday (which Morgan also went on) where her bag was monogrammed 'KR', while she usually uses luggage monogrammed 'KRU' to include her married name. Fans who zoomed on the pic believed it had been photoshopped to remove the 'U', which seems like A LOT of effort to go to.
People even noticed that Kyle's eldest daughter, Farrah Aldjufrie, tagged everyone in her family except for her mother in photos from cousin Whitney Davis' wedding in late June, which is unusual.
Now that's some super sleuthing.
After this all broke, Mauricio shared a carousel of images from the family's Fourth of July trip – including photos of himself and Kyle together, so they appear to be keeping things business as usual regardless of the hoopla.
Kyle and Morgan's friendship.
Kyle and Morgan became friends in 2021 after Kyle discovered her music, and since then, they have regularly made appearances together.
Kyle was Morgan's date to the Americana Music Awards in September 2022, and they have shared lots of photos from holidays, workouts and even of Kyle's trip to visit Morgan's family.
They appear to have gotten matching heart tattoos and to have worn matching silver band rings – which has shades of another Bravo scandal, with Vanderpump Rules' Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval's matching lightning-bolt necklaces.
During RHOBH's season 12 reunion last year, Kyle was quizzed by Andy Cohen about her three new tattoos. She said two related to her daughters but was more coy about the story behind the heart.
"It means something to me," she said.
Oh, and Morgan also has a 'K' tattoo on her arm.
Other, less 'permanently inked on the skin' evidence fans have speculated about include Kyle's recent lifestyle changes.
In February, she said she said she was seven months sober as part of her general 'health journey', and Morgan has been sober for six years.
They also share a personal trainer, who Morgan introduced Kyle to, and occasionally share workout photos together.
In early April, Mauricio insisted he and Kyle were not divorcing.
"We're not getting divorced," he said on the Two T's In a Pod podcast. "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."
At the time, he said the pair would address the rumours directly in the upcoming season 13 of RHOBH, which is expected to be released later this year.
So, unsurprisingly, we're going to have to tune in to really get to the bottom of this story.
Feature image: Instagram @morganwademusic/Getty.
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