Dorit Kemsley is continuing to open up about her split from Paul “PK” Kemsley and the emotional toll it has taken on her and her family.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, who filed for divorce from PK in April, spoke candidly on Season 15, Episode 2 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills After Show about why the separation has been especially difficult — and why she stayed in the marriage longer than many may have realized.
Dorit revealed that her parents, Shalom and Rachel Lemel, were especially close to PK and had hoped their marriage would last.
“They were close to him,” Dorit said, adding that PK’s in-laws hoped they’d live a “long, happy life together.”
Because of that bond, Dorit said she was surprised when her parents admitted they still had hope that she and PK could reconcile.
“Listen, I could have walked away a long time ago. A long time ago,” Dorit told Bozoma Saint John. “I stayed and fought for our marriage.”
She explained that their optimism caught her off guard.
“So when [my parents] were sitting down, one of them or both of them had said, ‘We still have hope that you two will end up back together.’ I was shocked. I was, like, ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’”
While Dorit said her parents are supportive, she believes their feelings are influenced by her children, Jagger, 11, and Phoenix, 9.
“Listen, they’re supportive and whatever it is, but I think in their mind, they think also, you know, with the kids and everything…”
Bozoma noted that the divorce is “heartbreaking” on several levels, including for Dorit’s parents, which Dorit agreed with.
That emotional strain was visible on the Dec. 11 episode of RHOBH, when Dorit’s parents visited her Encino, California home to take the children back to Florida for the holidays. During the visit, they expressed concern about Dorit’s health.
“I feel the weight of it,” Dorit admitted.
Dorit later shared on the RHOBH After Show that she was “sleep-deprived” during that time, as she continued processing the end of her marriage.
“I remember being surprised, and I’m trying to think, was I sad?” Dorit reflected. “I think that I have been in a perpetual state of heartbreak. Truly … a perpetual state of heartbreak, through the anger, through the resentment, through the sadness, through the hurt, heartbreak.”
She added that the emotional impact has been ongoing.
“Like, the foundation is heartbreak, and it’s heartbreak on such a level that it’s like I just cannot wait ’til I can get past the heartbreak.”
Although Dorit said she has managed on a surface level, she admitted the deeper pain remains.
“And I have, on a surface level. But not deep.”
Dorit concluded by sharing the internal conflict she continues to face as she moves forward.
“I struggle, because I go between wanting to hate him enough to get over that hump and not.”