Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater are trying to tone down their very real ‘chemistry’ while out in public in an attempt to keep their ‘budding romance’ under wraps – after his ex-wife Kyle Richards admitted she was ‘hurt’ by their recent public display of affection.
Both Mauricio, 53, and Emma, 34, are newly single, with the real estate mogul recently separating from Kyle, 54, after 27 years, while Emma filed for divorce from her husband Sasha Farber, 39.
So when the pair were seen looking incredibly flirtatious, rumors of a romance quickly began to circulate – with insiders now telling DailyMail.com, that the speculation is right on the money, while insisting that the ‘chemistry’ between them in anything but a ‘showmance’.
‘Dancing with the Stars has a long history of actual hookups and showmances that have never been revealed – all of which help to build up ratings,’ they told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘But, with Emma and Mauricio, there is an attraction and chemistry between them that is real.
Mauricio Umansky’s ‘blossoming romance’ with his Dancing with the Stars partner Emma Slater is said to be more than just a fake storyline to boost show ratings
The couple put on an emotional performance on Tuesday night’s live show – with Mauricio flashing his bare chest and Emma wrapping up the dance on top of him
The duo were pictured stepping out for a dinner date in Beverly Hills over the weekend
After eating their sushi dinner, Mauricio, 53, and Emma, 34, were seen holding hands
‘Their recent hand holding was based in that attraction and now that they have been caught, they are going to slow down the chances of getting caught again.’
The pair were pictured hand-in-hand following a three-hour-long dinner date at Beverly Hills sushi restaurant Matsuhisa on Sunday night, with Emma even appearing to wrap an arm around Mauricio at one point.
According to the source, Emma and Mauricio are still in the very early stages of their romance and are taking time to figure out whether it will blossom into a fully-fledged relationship.
‘It is a budding romance between them that is still being figured out,’ the insider added.
‘If it becomes more, great. If it reverts to being friends at the end of the show, that is also great.’
The dancing duo took steps to try and shut down the interest in their relationship when they addressed the pictures on Thursday evening, insisting: ‘For full clarity, we are not dating.’
Speaking in an Instagram story, Mauricio said: ‘We’re really good friends, and just to clarify we went to a restaurant to go get some sushi right after rehearsal, we were in our rehearsal clothes. Lots of the stories are wrong, lots of them.
‘Yes, it’s a very intense week, a very emotional week, we were talking about the week during dinner, and when we came out of dinner, we were recapping and I reached out to grab Emma’s hand and she grabbed my hand, and then we walked to the cars, you know just recapping and summarizing, and then the paparazzi caught that moment and it’s become a blown out moment.’
Emma joked: ‘And then all of a sudden we’re dating.’
Soon after the pictures were published, Kyle deleted a photo from her Instagram account which had been posted in support of Mauricio’s time on the show.
Emma even appeared to wrap an arm around Mauricio as she leaned against him
Mauricio and his estranged wife Kyle Richards split earlier this year after 27 years of marriage
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star admitted she was hurt after seeing photos of her estranged husband holding hands with his pro partner
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star later addressed her ‘hurt’ at the images as she gave her first tell-all interview since she and Mauricio announced their separation in July.
‘I was taken aback,’ Kyle told Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday night. ‘That was very hard to see. Yes, that hurt my feelings.
‘I just don’t think you hold hands like that.’
Fellow guest Teddi Mellancamp, 34, added: ‘They are in Beverly Hills. It’s not like they are in some remote location. They are in the middle of Beverly Hills. You know that photographers are going to follow you.’
Kyle continued: ‘I don’t know if anything happened yet but obviously there is something there. Listen, I love him very much and we are amicable, but that really did hurt me.’
She also went on to say that they are still living under the same roof, but in separate rooms.
Earlier this week, Mauricio and Emma performed an emotional barefoot contemporary dance on Dancing with the Stars. Mauricio, with his shirt open and showing his bare chest, spun Emma on his shoulders, before they finished the number with Emma lying on top of him.
He dedicated the performance to the year 1996 – when he married Kyle – telling Emma: ‘We had gotten married.’
He recalled how at the time he had just been fired and they were living with two of their children in a two-bedroom condo.
Emma filed for divorce from Sasha Farber earlier this year; pictured 2016
Fans started speculating that Kyle had started dating country singer Morgan Wade, 28, after her split
‘I was a young man with two daughters and, after I got fired, my wife was clipping coupons to make ends meet,’ he continued. ‘It was just an extraordinary emotional moment in my life. I felt like an absolute failure of a human.
‘I walked into the house, I saw Kyle, I started bawling, she grabbed me and said ”You’ve always wanted to be in real estate, let’s look at it like an opportunity to change”.
‘The truth is that it ended up being the best experience on the planet.’
‘Amazing,’ Emma replied.
The estranged couple announced their separation in a joint statement in July, telling fans they had had a ‘challenging’ year.
‘We both love and respect each other tremendously,’ the statement read. ‘There has been no wrongdoing on anyone’s part.’
Kyle has since been embroiled in romance rumors with country singer Morgan Wade, 28.
But she shut down any speculation during her interview on Wednesday night, claiming Morgan is simply ‘one of [her] best, best friends in the world’ as she revealed they bonded over their early morning workouts.
‘I met [Wade] through Instagram,’ she said. ‘When I see these things [online], I’m like, if she didn’t have all those tattoos, people would not say that. I’m with my friends all the time. They don’t pay attention [to that].’
