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Dorit Kemsley offered updates on where she stands with Kyle Richards and Erika Jayne during a series of interviews this week.
As she also credited Paul “PK” Kemsley, 58, for keeping her on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after she nearly exited the show following her debut season, Dorit, 49, revealed what contact she’d had with Kyle, 57, and Erika, 45, since the reunion, explained how they could move forward, shared what she wishes she’d done differently at the reunion, confirmed whether she truly felt Kyle had producer rights on the show, and more.
“Kyle and I have not spoken yet, but I say and I stand by this: When you have two people that want to resolve something, that’s all you need,” Dorit told E! News on May 28, adding that she was “open to resolving” her tension with Kyle even if it meant “looking at how our friendship has taken a different shape.”
“Hopefully, Kyle will get there, and her and I can at least take a step forward,” she continued.
As for Erika, Dorit revealed they’d sent texts back and forth.
“It was as warm as it always was,” she explained. “It’s a testament to our connection. It’s almost a decade-long friendship.”
Then, speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Dorit said that when it came to moving forward with her castmates, she needed Kyle and Erika to want resolve “as much as” she does.
According to Dorit, she was in a dark place at the reunion.
“I think I was in such a dark place and I was hurt and frustrated and aggressive. It was hard to watch back because it’s not who I am. Don’t forget: You live through it and then you live through it again when you’re watching it. There’s the judgment and, you know, it’s not nice, especially when it’s matters of the heart,” she reasoned.
Regarding what she’d do differently, Dorit said, “I would be a lot more open and not so closed off, not so rigid.”
Also during the interview, Dorit was asked if she thought Kyle had producer power on RHOBH.
“No. I know she doesn’t,” she confirmed.
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Meanwhile, in an excerpt shared with Us Weekly on May 29, Dorit confirmed she nearly quit after one season on RHOBH as she recalled arriving home from a trip to Hong Kong.
“I held PK and the kids so tightly it almost hurt,” she wrote. “Home has a way of restoring perspective instantly. The chaos of airports, flights, and long emotional days evaporates the moment you hear a child’s laugh or feel your husband’s arms around you. In that doorway, still carrying my bags and jet lag, nothing about television or dinners or arguments felt important. It was just my family, my life, my center.”
According to Dorit, she told PK at that moment, “I never want to do that again, ever,” and she meant it.
As she explained, the cast trip made her feel “unsettled” and “rattled.”
“What really got to me was the accumulation, the strange, disorienting feeling of being inside something that moved faster than instinct, louder than context, and heavier than I had anticipated, while not having the two things that normally grounded me within reach,” she explained. “In my real life, if something shakes me, I recalibrate quickly. I go home. I talk it through. I sit with my husband. I tuck my children into bed. I make tea. I replay the moment. I let my nervous system settle. I restore myself.”
“Reality television required me to sit inside a misunderstanding without immediately fixing it. It demanded a thicker skin than I had ever needed before,” she continued. “Unfortunately, I had not yet built that muscle. It was a humbling realization. I wasn’t failing — I was simply untrained in a very specific way of existing.”
When she watched the show back, Dorit “didn’t like the version” of herself she saw at times, describing it as “reactive, defensive, and occasionally naïve,” and admitting it made her feel “uncomfortable.”
Although Dorit hoped producers wouldn’t ask her back, they did, and she said, “Yes.”
“The principal reason was simple: PK,” she revealed. “He was proud of me — like, genuinely proud. He loved seeing me step into the alluring world of television: the events, the fashion, the travel, the visibility. But beyond that, there was something strategic about it that he immediately understood. In Los Angeles, visibility has value. It opens doors. It builds leverage. It creates opportunity not just socially, but professionally, too. He saw possibility where I saw disruption … It’s part of what makes him brilliant—and occasionally exhausting.”
While Dorit wasn’t on board with returning at first, she liked bringing something exciting into her and PK’s marriage.
“I liked being admired by my husband. I liked knowing he believed I could do it,” she wrote. “And if I am honest, I didn’t want to disappoint him … So, I stayed.”
Following her second season, Dorit was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr and felt “not just tired, but bone-deep exhausted,” which forced her into a place of growth.
“I had to learn how to hold my ground without reacting, listen without immediately defending, speak clearly without overexplaining myself into exhaustion, and protect my peace without dimming my personality or warmth,” she stated. “I was getting sharper. And sharpness doesn’t mean losing softness. It means gaining clarity. And that, more than pride, visibility, or even the fear of quitting, is why I stayed.”
Also during her interview with E! News, Dorit described the experience of writing her new book as “deeply personal.”
“When you speak very honestly and vulnerably, it resonates with people—and I’m hoping that the reader resonates with the book,” she shared. “There’s something very powerful in being honest, not being afraid to be open regardless of the judgment or the circumstances. There’s a power and a beauty in that.”
Unburdened will hit bookshelves and online retailers on June 2.