Kyle Richards wasn’t particularly pleased to hear about her estranged husband, Mauricio Umansky, and their daughter Alexia Umansky’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test journey.
“My first thought was, ‘I’m going to kill you, Mauricio,’” Kyle, 57, told Page Six on Tuesday, August 4. “I was actually not happy at all. I was so worried about Alexia.”
Mauricio, 56, and Alexia, 36, are among the season 5 recruits who will tackle the military course alongside the likes of Collin Gosselin, Candace Cameron Bure, Brandi Glanville and George Santos.
“I knew that [Mauricio] would do well or whatever, but I was really worried about my daughter,” Kyle admitted to the outlet. “I didn’t like that she got sucked into that. I kept texting the producers saying, ‘Please, I need updates. Is my daughter OK? Is Mauricio OK? Just give me something.’”
According to Kyle, she faced “a lot of sleepless nights” throughout the father-daughter duo’s time filming Special Forces in Malaysia. (Kyle and Mauricio, who separated in 2023, share three daughters. The real estate broker is also the stepfather of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star’s daughter from a previous marriage, Farrah.)
On Fox’s Special Forces, a slew of celebrities aim to complete “selection” in a military-style training camp led by army veterans.
“Everybody comes on the show for a reason. On day one, we look at people and say, in [our] own minds, ‘Why are you here?’ But actually, we know why you’re here,” directing staff instructor Billy Billingham exclusively told Us in January 2025. “You are here because you’ve lost direction. You need to rechallenge yourself. You wanna be brought back to reality because that’s what this show does.”
Alexia and Mauricio Umansky on ‘Special Forces.’ Courtesy of Alexia Umansky/ Instagram
In addition to organizing military-style drills for the contestants to complete in groups, DS instructors interrogate the stars one-on-one.
“Before we do the mirror room, even [if it’s only been 12 hours], you’ve already put through a phase of deprivation,” Billingham, 61, told Us at the time. “When you’re tired, you’re hungry, you don’t care anymore. You’re more open. Now there’s something about that, what we call the mirror room. I don’t know why it is — and we are not psychologists and we have no idea what that story’s gonna be right out of that person’s mouth.”
Kyle, meanwhile, is an OG star on the far-more glamorous The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She also recently hit the road for the upcoming season of Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres Thursday, September 24, at 9 p.m. ET on Fox and streams the next day on Hulu.
