Kim Richards Opens Up About Her Secret Love of 6 Years, Wynn Katz (Exclusive)

Kim Richards is in love, and has been for more than six years!

“We just managed to keep it kind of private,” the 53-year-old tells ET of her under-the-radar romance with businessman Wynn Katz. The pair is putting their relationship on public display for the first time on the new season of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.

“We really wanted to see where it went,” Kim says of signing on for the show. “I mean, I think we were kind of stuck and stagnant, and I feel like doing Marriage Boot Camp would push us along, and we were stuck in a few areas ... there were a lot of areas that we just weren't really moving forward in, and so I thought this would be, this would be it, you know?”

ET caught up with both Kim and Wynn at the show’s premiere party at HYDE Sunset in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. For Wynn, this isn’t just taking a relationship public, it’s also taking himself public!

“Kim Richards and I have been together on-and-off for, like, six or seven years, and she was approached by the show and then she approached me and she said, 'Would you like to do the show?' And I said, 'No,’” he recalls. “To be honest, I said, 'No.' Then the network called, the production called and they wanted me, and I thought, I was very touched by that, and I said, 'OK.' So, here I am! In reality.”

While Wynn and Kim say viewers will have to watch and see if the show worked out for them, they both hinted that they’re still together. In fact, they were photographed being very affectionate inside the party.

“I love Wynn and Wynn loves me,” Kim gushes. “It wasn't something I was willing to give up on, so he was worth fighting for, you know? Our kids love each other, we love each other.”

“We're still hanging in there,” Wynn shares. “Kim is a very, very funny woman. Very funny and has a great heart, she really does. She's a family woman. There are sides of her that the public doesn't really know and that's what it is, she's very family, very warm, very loving, and funny. And funny is important.”

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars marks a return to reality TV for Kim, who stepped away from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills at the end of its seventh season.

“I'm happy to be away from it,” she admits. “I stepped away, I started kind of dwindling back, and then really, when my grandson was born, I just wanted to step away from the negativity and focus on my children, my grandson, and... you know, clear, free of problems and people that weren't positive.”

Today, Kim is focused on her family. It appears that not filming a reality show with her sister, Kyle Richards, has actually strengthened their bond.

“It was touch and go for a while,” she notes. “But, I'm good with both my sisters today. I have a great relationship with both of them. Family is important and I just don't think there's any a reason for anybody or anything to get in the way of it, so we're all good.”

Kim calls right now “the happiest time in my life.”

“You're gonna make me cry,” she says, getting choked up. “Being a grandmother has definitely brought out the best part of me again. I just feel like there's nothing like it. He's changed my life.”

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Kim’s eldest daughter, Brooke Wiederhorn, and her husband, Thayer, welcomed their first son -- and Kim’s first grandchild -- Huxley back in September 2016. Kim says she’s just starting to put the pressure on for more grandbabies.

“At first, there really wasn't any need to,” she explains. “Huxley has been such a joy and gift to us, there really wasn't a need to. But, I get to spend so much time with him, and the kids travel a little bit … the two of them. So, I did throw out, 'Oh, wow, guys. Napa. How magical! I wonder if something magical can happen!' And she was like, 'Mom!' I'm sorry, this was the first time I mentioned it. I am kind of hoping that soon there will be a new little boy or little girl, so... yeah, I definitely did start to mention it recently.”

The joy of baby Huxley, and the possibility of siblings for him, has also helped Kim stay committed to living a sober life.

“I really love how I feel,” she says. “But it's also, my children, my grandson and I want to be here forever. I want to be here as long as I can be, to be a part of my children's lives, my grandson, my grandchildren. And myself, you know? I'm loving life.”

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars premieres Friday, Sept. 7 on WE tv.

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