Kyle Richards is open to dating a woman.

The 54-year-old star separated from husband Mauricio Umansky - the father of her daughters Alexia, 27, Sophia, 23, and 15-year-old Portia - in July after almost three decades of marriage and gender isn't a factor in considering who her next partner will be.

In a preview for an upcoming episode of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills', Kyle asked her co-stars if they would consider "dating a woman" during lunch.

Dorit Kemsley almost spat out her wine at the question, but Crystal Kung Minkoff turned the question back on her friend, who simply nodded and said: "Yeah".

Elsewhere in the teaser, the reality TV favourite was seen struggling with an impending decision.

Looking at a problem on her phone, she bit her lip as she admitted to her friend Morgan Wade: "I'm so anxious. I really don't know if I can do it."

The country singer reassured her: "You got it."

Kyle and Morgan have been subjected to romance rumours recently after friendship blossomed when they forged a connection on social media.

The 'Halloween Kills' actress even recently tattooed her initial on Morgan's arm in scenes aired on the show, and she recently claimed her estranged husband wasn't fazed by her actions.

She told Us Weekly magazine: "He likes Morgan a lot. We've gone to her shows [as a] family. What they didn't show [in that scene] was me saying, 'I'm going to do a tattoo on you,' and her saying, 'You can, I don't care.' I was drawing flowers, a pumpkin, but I can't draw to save my life, so that's why I ended up just doing a K."

But the pair have denied any speculation they are dating.

Speaking in a joint Instagram video to deny the romance rumour, Morgan explained: "I've done several music videos and every time there's someone in it they always assume we're dating or something's going on. If you go on the Internet, you'll see people are obsessed with us being friends."