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Dancing With the Stars’ Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater Shut Down Dating Rumors: ‘It’s Intense’
Dancing With the Stars pair Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater shut down ongoing dating rumors after they were spotted holding hands outside a Beverly Hills restaurant.
Mauricio, 53, and Emma, 34, were practicing their upcoming Argentine Tango routine from a dance studio in New York City when they took to his Instagram Story to address the rumors on Thursday, October 26. “We do want to address, you know, this story and this whole thing that’s going out about, you know, whether or not Emma and I are dating, whether we went out on a date,” Mau began.
“For full clarity, we are not dating. We are really good friends. We’ve been dancing together now for six weeks, four hours a day, every single day,” he continued, before the U.K. native added, “It’s intense. You really form a very, very special bond and I think we have similar personalities.”
Despite a 19-year age difference, the dance partners seemingly went on a dinner date in Los Angeles on October 22 as they were photographed holding hands as they exited Matsuhisa. However, the real estate broker clarified that they simply “went to a restaurant to go get some sushi right after rehearsal.”
“Lots of the stories are wrong,” Mauricio – who is estranged from wife Kyle Richards – added. “We had a very intense week, a very emotional week. We were talking about the week during dinner and when we came out of dinner, we were recapping and I reached out to grab Emma’s hand and she grabbed my hand and then we walked, you know, to the cars just recapping and summarizing. And then, you know, the paparazzi caught that moment and it’s become a blown out moment.”
After photos from their night out surfaced online, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 54, opened up to Andy Cohen on the Wednesday, October 25, episode of Watch What Happens Live, saying it was “very hard to see” the photos.
“That hurt my feelings,” Kyle added. “I just don’t think you hold hands like that [if you’re friends]. I don’t know if anything has happened yet, but obviously, there is something there.”
Despite their separation, Mauricio dedicated his dance from the Tuesday, October 24, episode of Dancing With the Stars to his estranged wife.
“Tonight’s Dance on @dancingwiththestars is about life and how it’s not always perfect and when you think it’s impossible to move mountains and you’re at your lowest moment and you think all doors are closed you need to rise up and rise unafraid and move mountains,” the Buying Beverly Hills star captioned a series of photos via Instagram earlier that day. “My time was 1996 when Kyle and I got married and Alexia was born. We had Farrah and Alexia. I was 26 when I was fired from my job and was broke. Kyle was my rock and together we rose up and we rose up 1000 x and we moved mountains a lot of them. It’s been an incredible journey. Tonight’s dance is dedicated to Kyle and my family.”
