Dorit Kemsley admits being on reality TV has complicated her marital split from Paul “PK” Kemsley. But, make no mistake, she has zero regrets about speaking her truth or sharing her story with the world.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member tackled the topic during a recent sitdown with Interview magazine, explaining how her life in the public eye has affected her relationship with PK. Dorit insisted she and her estranged husband were “very amicable and friendly” following their decision to separate, but that all changed once RHOBH Season 14 rolled around.
Dorit opens up about reliving her and PK’s marital issues
“It’s actually caused a lot of issues,” she said. “When the show first aired, we’d filmed seven, eight months before that, so it’s really difficult when you’re in the present moment to think where you were eight months ago, right? That’s the difficulty about filming the show and then watching it.”
Dorit said Season 14 brought back uncomfortable emotions for her and PK, which made it difficult to maintain a friendly dynamic. She claimed PK, whom she married in 2015, had an especially hard time reliving their disputes via TV, as he assumed the viewers would be more sympathetic to his position.
Dorit says PK believed “he would come out victorious” amid their split
“I think that PK struggled with watching some episodes,” Dorit revealed. “He knew going into the season I had to live in truth and be able to share because that’s my job and that’s what I signed up to do. And it’s actually something that PK, out of all people, is very comfortable with. I think that watching it and seeing some of the audience’s responses, he assumed that he would come out victorious.”
Dorit said PK was convinced “he’d have more [viewer] support” as Season 14 played out, and when that didn’t happen, they experienced “a lot of issues and friction.”
“That’s unfortunate because I’ve really tried hard to say, ‘PK, let’s stay in the present moment,'” she said. “Because regardless of work, regardless of whether we end up getting divorced or whether we reconcile, it’s incredibly important that we have peace and a relationship, because we have two children and there’s no reason in the world for us not to.”
Dorit insists PK is not her “enemy”
Dorit has repeatedly described PK as a “good father,” but claimed he was not sufficiently hands-on with their children, 9-year-old daughter, Phoenix Kemsley, and 11-year-old son, Jagger Kemsley. And although her comments on PK’s parenting weren’t entirely complimentary, Dorit insisted she doesn’t “look at [PK] as [her] enemy.”
“He knows what I signed up to do, and he’s been a big supporter of it,” she said about her yearslong run on RHOBH. “In fact, it was him that pushed me to do the show eight years ago… He was very encouraging of it and supportive and even said, ‘Listen, you should feel very free to be open and honest and truthful.’ So I think that sometimes, be careful what you wish for. But you know, by no means was I out to get him or expose him.”
Find out what PK had to say about his split from Dorit and the support he’s received from Mauricio Umansky.