RHOBH: Dorit Kemsley Calls Husband PK a ‘Full-Blown Alcoholic’ While Detailing ‘Toxic’ Fights That Led to Separation

Dorit Kemsley and Paul “PK” Kemsley are delving deep into the factors that led to their separation.

On the season 14 premiere episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which aired Nov. 19, the news of Dorit and PK’s unexpected separation rocked the group. But before the split could make headlines, Dorit confided in Erika Jayne and confessed that their marriage had been on the rocks for quite some time.

Noting how all married couples have their issues, Dorit, 48, told Erika, 53, that she and PK allegedly chose to deal with their problems by “pouring alcohol” on them.

“It got very, very, very toxic,” she continued, before claiming to cameras that PK has “always” been a drinker. “Over the years, it’s gotten progressively worse, and little fights will turn into blow-ups. We would be in the gutter after a fight, screaming at one another. I don’t want that toxic energy around small children.”

PEOPLE has reached out to PK’s reps for comment.

Eventually, Dorit said she issued an ultimatum and asked him to “dry up” for a week, which turned into a sobriety “journey.” Their relationship seemed like it was on the mend, and Dorit recalled how, at the time, she told reunion host Andy Cohen that the two were doing “better than ever.”

Erika asked what went wrong from then to now, and Dorit confessed it wasn’t just “one thing.”

“[There] was no catastrophic event. No one cheated on anyone,” she explained. “A week ago, there was a moment and it was over nothing, and one thing led to another, and we sat down like two very mature adults who love and care about one another, and mutually decided that taking some space and separating is the best thing for us.”

“We’re taking it day by day, but we are separated. There’s no time on it, but there’s work to do,” she added.

Later in the episode, Dorit, who was still on the outs with Kyle Richards, chose instead to turn to Kyle’s sister, Kathy Hilton, for advice while PK got vulnerable with Mauricio Umansky, Kyle’s estranged husband, over lunch.

Though she admitted that she still loved the English businessman “very much,” Dorit told Kathy that the couple needed to put in “work” in order to have a “healthy, happy, peaceful marriage” — though she wasn’t quite sure if PK was willing to put in the effort.

When asked if the duo had told their children — Jagger, 8, and Phoenix, 8 — Dorit said that they had no plans to share the news.

“We can be doing things as a family, like we’re not in a toxic place. He’s got a sober coach that I’m not privy to,” she continued, before claiming, “He’s a full-blown alcoholic.”

According to PK, his sobriety allowed him to see that their relationship wasn’t working and he told Mauricio his perspective on why the two needed some time apart.

“I got sober. I got clear, and I realized that we were just taking bites out of each other the whole f—ing time,” he explained. “I had a lot of resentment. Dorit isn’t the most able to listen, she’s not.”

He also claimed that the couple had grown apart over the years, recalling how the two used to be “like f—ing Bonnie and Clyde” before “life got in the way” and they welcomed babies and “moved.” PK also noted how Dorit had problems with him being away for long periods of time on business.

“She could say, ‘Well, you were away.’ And I could say, ‘Well, I was working trying to sustain the lifestyle that Dorit and I live, and also to sustain her ambition,'” he added. “From my perspective, I wanted to know how much of our problems were me, how much were her? And what can we change? What I realized is, I can’t recover this. [So] we put some space in between us.”

In a conversation with cameras, Dorit confessed she “wouldn’t have chosen this route” and wanted to “work” things out before landing on separation.

“I chose to stick by PK’s side through a bunch of public scrutiny, like the bankruptcy, gambling debts, the suspected DUI. But for PK, it’s ‘Poof! Let’s just get a separation,'” she continued. “Isn’t there a way to meet in the middle? Obviously, but not with someone like PK. It’s black, it’s white, it’s extreme.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo, and can be streamed the next day on Peacock.