Kim Richards: Real Housewives Star Checks into Rehab, Was it for Alcoholism?

During the two seasons of Real Housewives, viewers have seen Richards, 47, battle alcohol addiction rumors, which really came to the forefront in the season one finale in January. A heated argument between her and her sister Kyle inside of a limousine at Taylor Armstrong's birthday party almost resulted in the two coming to blows and led Kyle to call out her sister.

You are a liar ... [and] you are an alcoholic! Yeah, that's right. I've said it now and everybody knows, said Kyle to Kim.

Following the finale, Kim reportedly checked into rehab then, but left a week later.

Although Kim never addressed truth to any of the rumors, fans assumed that she had a drinking problem and that the constant lack of alcohol during the second season meant that she was trying to change her ways.

Kyle wasn't the only one to call Kim out, too. In October, new co-star Brandi Glanville accused the former child Disney star of being wasted out of her f---ing mind during a game-night episode. Kim vehemently denied it while getting in a shouting match that became one of the more memorable fights of the show. Co-star Adrienne Maloof and her husband also debated whether Richards had been drinking before a Sacramento Kings game.

According to Radar Online, Star Magazine was first to report Richards would be seeking treatment.  In its November 28 issue, Star reported that Richards's brazen behavior was causing show officials to think about kicking her off the show, unless she got treatment. 

She may have to go to rehab in order to save her job on the show, said a source close to Richards to the Star. People involved with the show are concerned and might have to step in ... friends and family don't talk about what's going on with Kim.

According to the New York Daily News, in the Nov. 7 episode, Kim visited a plastic surgeon's office and explained that her slurred speech and half-closed eyes were the result of a number of medications she's been prescribed, including Lexapro (an anti-anxiety medication), Trazadone (an antidepressant), and Topamax (an anti-seizure medication which can be used to treat alcoholism).

Maloff recently appeared on 'The Wendy Williams Show' with her husband, Dr. Paul Nassif, a couple of weeks after the Nov. 7 show, and Williams asked the two about Kim's mental health. Nassif responded:

When you're on numerous medications for moods, and you combine them all together, and possibly the dosing may be off, it can cause some of those symptoms of the eyes a little glassy, a little bit of slurring of the words ... just looking like you're not completely with it.