It takes a certain kind of man to be able to roll with the Real Housewives. Some who enter this ring want to be on the Real Housewives, like Real Housewives Of Orange County’s Slade Smiley, which could be a bit of a red flag. Others are so secure in themselves that they just do their own thing while their Real Housewife does her show and wears her over-the-top hats, throws her well-crafted bon mots in fights, and whatever else it is Housewives do. One of the men in the latter category is Rich Emberlin on Real Housewives Of Dallas, who has stood by his lady, LeeAnne Locken, through vacations featuring comically large sex toys, screaming matches, and drama over a hat made of poop. Well, a hat made to look like poop.
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According to Rich’s website bio, he’s a “30-year law enforcement veteran who served most notably with the Dallas Police Department’s elite units, including Dallas SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) and the Criminal Intelligence Unit-Dignitary Protection Squad.” That means that when the regular police couldn’t handle something, they would call Rich and his squad to take care of it. He knows what to do in an emergency, people! Rich, per his website, is also no stranger to reality television — he’s been on A&E’s Live PD and Dallas SWAT and he’s “contributed pieces on policing to FoxNews.com.” Rich got his start with the police, per a 2019 Local Profile interview, after being stuck in a job he hated — he was a buyer at Dillard’s, a department store. He went on a ride-along with his cousin, and that was it — Rich wanted in. And he loved it.
Still, he admitted to Local Profile that being a police officer is hard because it separates you from the people around you — they can’t understand what you go through on a day-to-day basis. “It’s hard being ‘that guy,’ especially among your peers,” he said. “The guy who shot someone out of self-defense, or the guy who wasn’t able to save a kid, or prevent a deadly accident … it’s lonely being that guy, and sometimes as a cop, that’s where you end up.” Rich retired from law enforcement in 2017 after an eye injury left him permanently blind in his right eye — which explains why he wears an eye patch now.
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LeeAnne and Rich got married in 2019 and it seems LeeAnne is still in awe of her beau. She told Bravo’s The Daily Dish, "He's my universe. He's everything ... He's my security. He's my protector. He's my Prince Charming. He's my provider. And he's my best friend."
And it sounds like Rich is also the kind of guy you want in a Real Housewives crisis, too, because he puts everything in perspective when LeeAnne gets into a wild fight or unnecessary feud on the show. “He doesn't get too wrapped up in it,” LeeAnne told Bravo. “I think when you come from a world where 'oh my God' means someone's bleeding or someone's been cut or their life is in danger, when you say, 'Oh my God, she called me a bitch,' it just doesn't have the same appeal to him. So he is very good at being my balance."