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Denise Richards is looking forward to a fresh start in 2026 after a tough year.
Posting via her Instagram on Thursday, January 1, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 54, described 2025 as “one of the most painful years I’ve lived.”
“Looking back at all the photos & videos I have of 2025, it feels like I’m looking at two different people & lived two different lives. Seeing a lot of your posts, many of you felt the same way. I will never forget this year, one of the most painful years I’ve lived,” Richards reflected.
She continued, “A year of letting go, truths being exposed. As painful as it is, I’m so grateful for the clarity. I shed a lot of tears and felt pain & betrayal I never knew existed.”
The Wild Things star went on to thank her family, friends and doctors for getting through the year in which she faced both personal and physical challenges.
Richards is currently in the midst of a tumultuous divorce from estranged husband Aaron Phypers, 53.
As Us Weekly previously reported, Phypers filed for divorce on July 7, 2025 after six years of marriage. Richards filed for a restraining order days later. She accused Phypers of being abusive during their relationship, which he adamantly denied.
The court granted Richards a permanent restraining order against Phypers on November 7, 2025. Phypers was arrested at court on October 17, 2025 after testifying as part of the restraining order trial. Prosecutors charged Phypers with two felony counts of injuring a spouse and two felony counts of dissuading a witness by force or threat. Phypers is facing years in prison if convicted.
Denise Richards. (Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images)
Before her relationship with Phypers, Richards was married to actor Charlie Sheen, 60, from 2002 to 2006. They share two daughters: Sam, 21 and Lola, 20. (Richards later adopted daughter Eloise in 2011.)
In 2025, Richards also suffered a physical setback when she ruptured her breast implants during a particularly grueling task while competing on season 3 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
“I jumped off a bridge, too — and that’s when I ruptured my [breast] implants — off of that thing,” Richards explained on SiriusXM’s “Jeff Lewis Live” on January 3, 2025, while discussing the physical challenges she faced on the show.
Months before Aaron Phypers filed for divorce, Denise Richards hinted that splitting was not in the cards for her. “After the divorce I went through with their dad … It’s not fun. It’s really kind of awful,” Richards, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly in an interview with daughters Sami and Lola in February. (Richards shares […]
Richards also shared her gratitude for her fans in her reflective Instagram post and expressed her desire to look ahead to the future.
“Going to comic cons this year & Bravocon was so humbling for me. Meeting all of you [fans] & hearing how much you’ve supported me throughout my career. I’m so grateful to all of you,” Richards wrote.
She added, “I did have a lot of blessed happy moments in 2025 & especially the last couple months, I’m finally starting to feel like me again, only better. I’m looking forward to the year of the Horse. I feel very lucky that it starts on my birthday✨Happy New year to all of you & Happy new You to those of you that really went through it in 2025. Happy 2026!”
