Ashley Darby is addressing the awkward elephant in the room with Kyle Richards.
The Real Housewives of Potomac star revealed that she had a face-to-face conversation with Kyle after previously flirting with Kyle’s estranged husband, Mauricio Umansky, during an episode of RHOP.
While attending The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th launch event on Tuesday, August 4, at The Lobster Club in New York City, Darby told Us Weekly that she and Kyle had to address the situation directly.
“It was the elephant in the room between us, and it sort of had to be addressed,” Ashley said. “I’m so glad I had the opportunity to say it to her face-to-face.”
Ashley explained that talking to Kyle in person was important, especially after the moment had already played out publicly.
“Because it’s one thing to say it on Amazon Live or whatever, but to be able to talk face-to-face is so important,” Ashley added. “And I think we did it.”
Ashley also made it clear that there is no tension between her and Kyle now.
“We were vegans that night,” Ashley joked. “There was no beef.”
The drama started earlier this year when Mauricio made a cameo on The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 10 after unexpectedly running into the cast.
During the brief interaction, Ashley made a comment about Mauricio being a single man now.
Mauricio and Kyle separated in July 2023 after 27 years of marriage. The longtime couple has not filed for divorce.
Ahead of the episode airing, Ashley teased her interaction with Mauricio and did not hide that she found him charming.
“He’s a smooth cat,” Ashley told Us Weekly in October 2025. “That guy is very smooth.”
After the RHOP episode aired in January, Kyle reacted during an Amazon Live and admitted she thought the flirting was strange.
“We actually talked about this the other day,” Kyle said at the time. “I don’t know how it was portrayed because I haven’t seen the scenes — I saw something on Watch What Happens Live — but, I mean, if she was flirting, that’s weird.”
Kyle then explained that she personally would never feel comfortable dating or flirting with someone who had been romantically connected to another Housewife.
“I would never — I was talking about this yesterday — be able to date anybody that any of the women, Housewives, dated or were married to,” Kyle said.
She continued, “That’s just weird. I don’t know. I’m like, ‘You’re embarrassing yourself doing that on camera.’ He just bumped into them, by the way.”
Now, Ashley says the issue has been handled.
The timing of the conversation makes sense, as Ashley and Kyle are both part of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th, which brings together several Housewives from different cities.
