The Real Housewife who is ready for her next Jewish husband

She began writing the 239-page book in September, after she finished filming season 15 of the reality TV series. “You really need to have clarity and peace of mind to write – and I didn’t have it,” she says, referring to the shattered friendships with fellow housewives and her ongoing divorce from her Stanmore-born and estranged ex, Paul Kemsley, known as PK. She says she has not been in touch with fellow Jewish co-star Kyle Richards since the reunion (when the cast come together to discuss the last series) was filmed in March.

Writing the book has been cathartic, says Kemsley, as she “wanted to share who I am and share things that I never have.”

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On paper, this converts to juicy vignettes about TV fights, dinner party insults and behind-the-scenes machinations and how she met PK by chance. He was behind her at a crowded bar at a New York hotspot.

She also relays how she joined the Housewives franchise by accident, in 2016, after Bravo executives spotted her in a two-minute TV teaser for a programme about Boy George’s life in America. The singer was living with her and PK who had, by that point, been his manager for two years. (The programme was shelved when Boy George returned to the UK to become a mentor on The Voice UK.)

And she details her terrifying ordeal in 2021 when thieves broke into her home at night and stole around a million dollars’ worth of watches, jewellery, handbags and wallets while pressing a gun to her head.

She also explains her Jewish parentage in the book, relaying how her Israeli father, Shalom Lemel, the son of Holocaust survivors, emigrated to America where he met Kemsley’s mother, then Rachel Benchetrit. For her part, her Tangier-born mother fled to Buenos Aires with her family when the city was reabsorbed into Morocco in 1957 and Jewish life in the city started to look precarious. When Jewish life turned out to be equally uncomfortable in the Argentinian capital, where “Jewish identity was not something you expressed openly”, the family moved to Israel and then to America “for more financial stability”. There, they continued to live a full Jewish life with “a lot of Sephardic food”, she says.

A staunch Zionist, Kemsley is unconcerned by any antisemitic backlash sharing her background in the book may generate. She is already used to the “vile words… that go into my DMs”, she says, and sometimes responds to them.

“If those of us Jews who have a platform, who are in the public eye, completely cower and disappear, then who is speaking for us?” she says. That said, she admits she could be more vocal. The reason she isn’t is because it’s a potential “safety issue for my children”.

Meanwhile, being Jewish helped Kemsley settle into her role in Real Housewives, with Richards’ Jewish husband, Mauricio Umansky who asked her on air if she speaks Hebrew. She answered his question by replying in Ivrit.

She also has a strong relationship with the franchise’s Jewish host and executive producer, Andy Cohen, she says, a connection that has led to poignant moments including their lighting the chanukiah together in 2023 on his show Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

Although it hasn’t been the easiest season, friendships remain the highlight of being a Housewife, whether that be with newcomer, Zoe – “a real down to earth girl’s girl” – or former actor Lisa Rinna, with whom she remains close, she says. “We lived with each other very intimately for a portion of the year,” she says by way of explanation. “I admire that she will always say whatever is on her mind, that she does not hold back.”

As for singer and longstanding cast member Erika Jayne, Kemsley describes her as “kind and caring” and as someone who requires “some time to get to know”.

The reunions are the toughest part of the show. Although they aired over three episodes, they are filmed over one day and it is “a very long day with a lot of pressure. You have to really be clear. You need your brain to be sharp. And you need to look good,” says Kemsley, who wore a champagne-coloured vintage Roberto Cavalli gown and Aquazzura heels in the last one.

“And you need to be able to get everything that you want off your chest. You don’t want to leave the reunion feeling you wish you’d said something you didn’t,” she says.

Now single again, Kemsley is open to dating Jewish men (she has only ever dated Jews) but preferably without the assistance of an app. “Being in the public eye and dating already has its challenges,” she says. “For now, I would rather see what happens.”

For the time being, she is looking forward to their son Jagger’s barmitzvah next year, which will likely take place in Los Angeles, “where all his friends are”.

And following the closure in 2024 of her swimwear line, Beverly Beach by Dorit, she is planning a return to fashion and possibly an expansion into interiors. “I always designed all of our homes,” she says.

As for next season’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she is yet to know whether producers want her back. “They don’t give anybody the information until the reunion is aired… and then they have internal conversations and, you know, decide,” she says.

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Unburdened: A Memoir, by Dorit Kemsley, is published by Podium Publishing on June 2