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Here's Why Carole Radziwill & Adam Kenworthy Broke Up, 'RHONY' Fans

In the Season 10 opener of The Real Housewives of New York, fans were treated to news of no less than four romantic splits: Luann and Tom's divorce, of course, Sonja and Frenchie, Tinsley and Scott, and one of RHONY's most popular couples, Carole Radziwill and Adam Kenworthy. So why did Carole and Adam break up? It actually seems pretty amicable.

Back when the Season 9 reunion aired, Carole admitted that temporarily living with Adam — or "shacking up" in her words — for six months while he was between apartments pushed their relationship into a territory that neither of them particularly liked. "It’s a step away. And after six months of living together, we needed to take a moment," said Carole during the reunion, which aired back in August 2017. "Living together, our relationship evolved past the point where either of us felt comfortable. I didn’t want to keep reminding him to pick up his socks. I’m not that girl."

She also admitted that, like a lot of women, she tends to feel "most creative and most expansive" when she's unattached, preferring the emotional freedom to do her own thing and take care of herself instead of feeling fed by partnership. Adam seemed pretty understanding of her boundaries, and even posted an affectionate (if racy) birthday tribute to her on Instagram after the breakup.

As Season 10, which began filming roughly in October 2017, gears up, we see that Adam and Carole are still technically broken up, but he frequently stops by in the mornings to bring her coffee and bring her coffee, as Carole put it. So it seems like their relationship still wanders into sexual interludes from time to time, which proves that their chemistry and affection for each other lingers. It's pretty clear that they love each other a lot, and as all the other Housewives like to constantly remind us, they've always had an "unconventional" relationship.

The two always seemed pretty secure with each other, comfortable taking breaks, and comfortable consensually seeing other people as necessary. The other Housewives (and the internet) had a habit of taking this to mean that the relationship wasn't very serious or that the couple didn't really care about each other. Often, we'd see the Housewives pressuring Carole by asking nosy questions about when she and Adam were going to "take the next step" in their commitment to one another. But not all relationships move up an escalator to engagement, marriage, and kids. And the fact that Carole wasn't in an escalator relationship doesn't undermine the care and love she and Adam had for one another.

In the Season 10 premiere, at Dorinda's Halloween party, we learned that at least one cast member neglected to extend condolences for Carole's split. Luann came for Carole at the party (after a few drinks) because she was apparently the only one who didn't text to check in on her after the divorce — which seemed like an odd thing to get upset over considering the two weren't friends, were actively feuding, and Luann always harbored resentment and judgement for Carole's relationship because she "stole" Adam away from her niece. Carole calmly pointed out that Luann didn't reach out to her when she and Adam broke up either and Luann quickly apologized and backed down. Carole threw her a perfunctory apology, too, but it doesn't seem like these two are going to be getting any closer this season. Luann definitely doesn't seem like she's going to be chill or understanding about Carole and Adam's loose boundaries.

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