Kyle Richards is hopeful that niece Nicky Hilton‘s first child will help smooth over drama in her famous family.
“Don’t babies always [bring families closer]? I think so,” Richards told Page Six at an event this week for SculpSure.
Tensions within the celebrity clan were chronicled on a recent episode of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” when it was revealed that Richards’ husband, real estate agent Mauricio Umansky, and two of her daughters were disinvited from Hilton’s lavish July wedding to banking heir James Rothschild.
The snub reportedly stemmed from an alleged business feud between Umansky and Rick Hilton, who is married to Kyle’s sister Kathy and is the father of Nicky and Paris.
“The thing is, unfortunately, it was highlighted on the show and that’s the down side of being on a reality show,” the mother-of-four told Page Six. “We go through things, but we’re fine and we love each other.”
But news of Nicky’s pregnancy has given the family a positive start for 2016.
“I’m so excited because she’s the first one of all the kids [to have a baby],” gushed Richards. “We have 12 kids between us – Kathy, Kim [Richards] and I – and she’s the first one so it’s really exciting.”
Kathy Hilton, 56, is half-sister to reality stars Kyle and Kim Richards.
“I hope this baby has [Nicky’s] eyes because her eyes are the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen,” she added.
Last year was particularly rocky for 51-year-old Kim, who was arrested for shoplifting from a Target store and checked into rehab for alcohol abuse.
Kyle, 47, says her sister is now “happy, healthy, strong and sober” after moving into a new house. The two have patched things up and even spent the holidays together.
“We’re doing really great,” explained Richards. “We didn’t talk for a long time and then she hurt her foot really badly – someone opened it on her with a bathroom door sometime around August. That kind of prompted me to call.”
“I just felt so bad for her,” Richards continued. “She’s tortured lying with her foot up like this and she had such a hard year so it [started] the talking little by little.”