Denise Richards said her friendship with the late actor Patrick Muldoon was something none of her partners could ignore, months after Muldoon died in April at age 57 from a heart attack. Richards, 55, said Muldoon was an important part of her life and that anyone she dated had to know about their bond and accept it, adding that their relationship was more than brotherly.
Richards, who was once in a relationship with Muldoon, made the comments in a recent interview. She said she once had to defend the friendship to Teddi Mellencamp, known for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in a conversation she first described on the podcast Dumb Blonde.
Defending the friendship to Teddi Mellencamp
Richards recalled that Mellencamp told her she knew she was sleeping with Muldoon. Richards said she told Mellencamp that was not true, that she and Muldoon had broken up years earlier, and that he was her best friend. Mellencamp then said that Richards's estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, must be furious about it.
Richards said Phypers was not upset, because he knew about her relationship with Muldoon. She said accepting that friendship was non-negotiable for anyone she dated, and that if a partner would not accept it, the relationship could not continue.
An on-and-off romance in the 1990s
Muldoon and Richards dated on and off for five years during the 1990s before they split. Although they went on to follow different paths, the two actors stayed close friends for years afterward, until Muldoon's death in April at age 57.
A forever friend
Talking about their decades-long friendship, Richards said Muldoon was a forever friend, and that they were more than brother and sister to each other. She said his family was her family, that she had known him before the public knew who either of them were, and that she was 18 years old when they met.
