Some Housewives would kill for the sort of attention that country singer-songwriter Morgan Wade has gotten from the Bravoverse in recent weeks ([cough] Teddi Mellencamp). If you’re not entrenched in said Bravoverse: Wade was thrust into the spotlight for her friendship with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, which, suspiciously, seemed to ramp up around reports of Richards’s separation from her longtime husband, Mauricio Umansky. (Richards and Umansky insisted the divorce rumors were “untrue,†but admitted they’ve “had a rough year.â€) Neither Richards nor Wade are out as queer, but that hasn’t stopped fans from fixating on photos of Wade cozying up to Richards and their alleged matching tattoos and rings — and it definitely hasn’t stopped other reality star–musician couples before them. Wade and Richards have responded playfully to the rumors, with Richards playing Wade’s literal dream girl in her recent music video for “Fall in Love With Me,†coming just shy of kissing her.
But in case you didn’t get that the video was a joke, Wade wants to make things clearer than a RHOBH diamond. “We’re friends,†she told People. “The internet’s a dumb place.†So what’s really going on? Wade has said they got to know each other after Richards became a fan of her music, and they bonded over shared interests like fitness and sobriety. Richards is now filming a documentary about Wade and even helped her find a surgeon for her upcoming double mastectomy, Wade told People. “It’s just been such a great friendship,†she said. Wade wasn’t so emphatic about things in a previous New York Times profile, saying she’s “just a private person.†But she did admit the attention has been stressful and even led her to consider reentering rehab “preventatively.†Richards also told the Times she felt guilty over the “collateral damage†to Wade from her life.
Now, though, Wade is preparing to release her second album and major-label debut, Psychopath, and that Bravo attention might not hurt. Like Richards, the expert, said in a behind-the-scenes clip from their music video: “If they’re gonna talk, we might as well give them something to talk about.â€