Kim Richards Heads to Rehab, 'Real Housewives' Producers May Have Put Her There

It looks like the speculation about Kim Richards' alleged drinking problem may have been legitimate. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star has checked in to an undisclosed treatment center, according to Entertainment Tonight.

A tabloid claimed last week that Richards was heading to rehab, possibly at the behest of Bravo executives.

She may have to go to rehab in order to save her job on the show, an unnamed source reportedly told Star magazine. People involved with the show are concerned and might have to step in ... friends and family don't talk about what's going on with Kim.

Kim's drinking and prescription pill consumption has long been an elephant in the room on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In the Season One finale, Kim and her sister Kyle Richards came to blows in a limousine after Taylor Armstrong's birthday party, and a furious Kyle accused her sister of being an alcoholic. When Andy Cohen brought up the incident during The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion show, both sisters refused to comment on Kim's possible substance abuse issues.

More recently, Kim Richards sparred with fellow Housewife Brandi Glanville during a game night episode -- Glanville accused Kim of being wasted out of her f--king mind. Kyle Richards defended her sister, who had hidden Glanville's crutches earlier in the evening.

Kim and Kyle's sister is Kathy Hilton, Nicole and Paris Hilton's mother. While both sisters had acting careers when they were younger, Kim was a more established actress, starring in Return to Witch Mountain and appearing on numerous popular television shows. However, the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills indicates that Kim has not had a fulfilling professional or personal life in many years.

Richards confessed on the show that she takes a variety of prescription pills, claiming that those meds (Lexapro, Trazadone, and Topama) cause her slurred speech and sometimes drooping eyelids.

On Thanksgiving Kim was stumbling and stuttering, the source told RadarOnline. It's her normal.

Kim Richards has tweeted as recently as Dec. 3, and (not surprisingly) made no mention of any plans to enter rehab. Kyle Richards has been actively tweeting as well, and hasn't tweeted anything about her sister at all recently. (She does appear to be rather chummy with former nemesis Camille Grammer.

Taylor Armstrong, whose estranged husband Russell committed suicide shortly after The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills finished filming its second season this summer, is set to appear on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live with executive producer Andy Cohen Monday night.