A new perspective. Following her split from Randall Emmett, Lala Kent revealed that she has been looking at her past relationship with his ex-wife, Ambyr Childers, in a new light.
“I feel like our road was very bumpy, as you know, and I can understand why. I have a lot of compassion for her,” Kent, 31, explained during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Tuesday, January 11. “I think she is a great woman and a great mom. I will be honest — I think she is the best thing that ever happened to that guy.”
While reflecting on her history with Childers, 33, the Vanderpump Rules star admitted that her breakup forced her to reevaluate, adding, “I just think the way that he and I came to be, looking back on it, was so gross and messy and just something that was built on nothing but lies. Knowing what I know about her, I think she was a good one and he messed up.”
Emmett, 50, and Childers were previously married from 2009 to 2017. A year after their divorce was finalized, the film producer proposed to the Give Them Lala author in September 2018. The You star, who shares daughters London, 11, and Rylee, 8, with Emmett, previously made headlines when she asked Kent to stop sharing photos of her children.
“Since you don’t want to answer my text messages, I’ll try here,” Childers wrote via Instagram in August 2019. “Lala, I appreciate your love towards my children, but until you’re officially their stepmother please refrain from posting my children on social media! I hope [you] understand where I’m coming from. Many thanks.”
Kent, who welcomed 9-month-old daughter Ocean with Emmett in March 2021, formed a close bond with her now ex-fiancé’s children from his previous marriage. Since their split, the Utah native revealed that she wasn’t sure how the little ones were doing.
“From what I have heard it has been hard for them,” Kent noted on WWHL. “I don’t have any communication with them at this point in time — which is very heartbreaking.”
The Bravo personality sparked breakup speculation when she removed all traces of Emmett from her social media in October 2021. One month later, Us Weekly confirmed that they had ended their engagement.
Following the news of their split, Kent has opened up about how discovering photos of Emmett spending time with women in Nashville pushed her to make a change.
“I think that’s what is so hard to stomach for me is that even when we weren’t connecting, I was so loyal and faithful. I was not sending inappropriate text messages. I was like in it. I went straight to him. If I was ever feeling unhappy, I was willing to do couple’s therapy. I started going to therapy on my own,” the singer said during an appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast in December 2021. “Like I was doing anything I possibly could to make sure that he and I would stand the test of time. To feel like I was doing all of that really for nothing. I mean, I look back on these years with him and I can’t remember any of it.”
Looking back on their relationship now, Kent claimed that the alleged infidelity has been happening for “quite some time.”
“It has been kind of repeated behavior that I have found out about, and it is not just one person. It is many,” the Row actress told Andy Cohen on Tuesday. “I believe that it started after I got sober. I don’t know how I didn’t see it.”
For Kent, the major red flag with Emmett was the “constant phone use” that she didn’t focus on until later.
“It was glued to him. He couldn’t even go into a massage without his phone on him and he would get very funny if I would get near the phone,” she added. “That should have been a huge red flag to me. And the constant being gone, he was just never around. But I thought, ‘Who would creep around with him?’ I really thought that.”
Emmett, for his part, has not commented on the breakup after choosing to take a break from their joint podcast.
“I think for now, for me, I’m going to take a step back from being in front of the camera, even though it’s a podcast and you can’t be in front of the camera, you can be in front of the microphone. [I’m going] to focus right now on family and my children — Ocean, London, Rylee — and also my film business,” he explained in a November 2021 episode of the “Give Them Lala” podcast. “I made that decision and I hope that my 15 followers stay loyal to the podcast, while you don’t hear my voice. But I think that’s — for me right now — the right thing to do for myself and I just want to be super focused right now.”