Denise Richards‘ divorce from Aaron Phypers isn’t staying out of the headlines despite her best efforts. Her estranged husband, who had already accused her of having an extramarital affair, has released the name of her reported lover.
The former wellness entrepreneur spilled the tea to the Daily Mail on July 25, alleging that she has been hooking up with one of her Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test co-stars. Rudy Reyes is a former active duty U.S. Marine who has served as an instructor on the Fox TV show for the past three seasons. Richards starred on the third season of the reality competition series and even ruptured her breast implant during a jump off a bridge.
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In a letter to Page Six (Phypers is doing a lot of talking), he discussed the timeline of his wife’s alleged affair. “Privately, I’ve wrestled with the painful truth: that Denise has been involved in an ongoing affair with her Special Forces instructor, Rudy Reyes — something I confronted her about earlier this year,” he claimed to the media outlet.
“She begged me not to leave, saying it was nothing and that she only loved me. Then, she denied it all — even the explicit messages I found,” Phypers added. “Despite her promise to stop, more lies, and shocking evidence emerged.”
The Daily Mail published Richards and Reyes’ correspondence that reportedly involved sexting, photos, and details, which Phypers discovered in April.
“I just had this feeling that something was off because her behavior had changed — she was being kind of cool to me,” Phypers alleged to the media outlet. “I opened her phone — we both know each other’s passwords — so I opened it up, and then I went to her deleted texts, and there were 107 of them between her and this guy.”
Phypers seems to be set on fighting out his divorce in the media instead of the court system after Richards was granted a temporary restraining order against her ex. She accused Phypers of domestic violence and shared upsetting details of his reported behavior during their marriage. The court documents, per TMZ, also included a photo of Richards with a black eye that occurred after an alleged 2022 attack.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star married Phypers in 2018. Their date of separation is listed as July 4, 2025. Richards nor Reyes have commented publicly about the affair allegations.
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
Before you go, click here to see celebrity exes who never buried the hatchet.
