Massive Rift Between Kyle Richards and Dorit Kemsley Revealed on RHOBH Reunion

It was pretty clear right off the bat during Part 1 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion on Wednesday that all was not well between them ... and that feeling only intensified as the hour went on.

Before they even sat down together on stage, Dorit was seen complaining to Erika Jayne about a text message she allegedly received from Kyle the night before the taping. "I haven't heard from her in a couple of months," she told Erika. "Then she sends me a text yesterday, basically trying to silence me. It was so manipulative, it was so calculated."

In the message, Kyle acknowledged she and Dorit were "in a weird place" for reasons not related to the show. Though she said some of Kemsley's on-camera comments hurt throughout the season, she also acknowledged Dorit didn't know what was going on with her and Mauricio Umansky behind closed doors and extended some grace for that. What seemed to really bother Kyle, however, were remarks someone said Dorit said about her "off camera that hurt me deeply."

Richards, however, told Dorit she hoped she wouldn't bring their issues up during the reunion -- which is why Kemsley felt "manipulated."

Dorit didn't heed that suggestion ... and began to address her issues with Kyle just a few minutes after they hit the reunion stage. First, she called out Richards for accusing her of "exaggerating" the extent of their friendship, after Dorit said they used to travel together all the time before Morgan Wade entered the picture.

"That stung," she told Kyle, as Kyle said her comment was in response to some of the pot-stirring Dorit did all season. "Such as being asked about my marriage on camera when we are good friends. And then there was the, 'I feel like I was replaced by Morgan' [comment]," Kyle continued, before asking, "How many times have we ever had lunch without filming?"

"I could count on one hand," Richards said, before claiming the two "don't have that kind of friendship" where they would even work out together, something Kyle has been doing a lot of these days.

"That does not mean you are not very important to me, I love you very much," she added. "You knew that by saying something like that, it was gonna create a bigger problem for me in the media, with the whole Morgan situation."

Dorit felt that was a bit of a reach, saying "the Morgan situation" was already all over the news before she said anything. After Kyle said she loved Dorit "very, very, very much," Kemsley responded by telling her, "I love to hear that, but I know your nature. If I say something that upsets you, you're a punisher, you'll shut me up."

She then brought up the text message, before asking Kyle, "Do you really think that I'm an idiot? It felt very manipulative, it's not like I'm gonna come here and try to destroy you."

Kyle insisted she wasn't trying to be manipulative at all with her message and the subject was dropped as they went to a commercial break.

Toward the end of the first hour, Andy Cohen then brought up how different Kyle was this season -- citing her tattoos, sobriety, workouts and friendship with Morgan -- before saying he noticed a "marked distance" between her and Dorit. He speculated it began last reunion, when Kyle expressed disappointment in Dorit for not supporting her more through her issues with sister Kathy Hilton.

"This I really want to get into because I really want to understand. I can say this with absolute assurance, there's nothing I've ever wanted more than for you and Kathy to be okay, period," Dorit said. "I have a relationship with Kathy that was independent of my relationship with you. I didn't want to get in the middle."

Kyle, however, felt that their friendship was closer than the one Dorit had with her sister. She also claimed the two were having conversations about Kathy off-camera that "led me to believe that you seemed to be very disappointed in her behavior."

They disagreed there, with Dorit claiming she was only shocked by some of the stories Kyle told her about Kathy's behavior in the past -- and not Hilton's tirade against her sister in Aspen, which caused major damage for the family. To Kyle, it felt like Dorit decided to give Kathy some grace during the reunion because she "wanted to be on the side of whatever the audience thinks and agrees with," at a time when the viewers were living for Kathy.

"I've noticed that a number of times ... it feels like you care more about the audience," Richards said, as Dorit reacted in shock. "Are you kidding me, Kyle?!" she exclaimed, as the episode ended with Dorit calling that claim the "most hysterical thing I've ever heard."

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion continues next Wednesday on Bravo.