We Unearthed Rare Photos of a Young Dorit Kemsley That Offer a New Look at Her Life
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Dorit Kemsley has given a rare look into her childhood and her siblings.
Before Dorit Kemsley was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she was a young girl growing up in Connecticut with her two siblings — David and Debbie Lemel. Although Dorit calls Encino home now, she was once an East Coast girl with big dreams.
According to her Bravo cast bio, Dorit was born in Connecticut, however, she grew up in a very international home (her dad is from Israel and her mother is from Tangier). Her life would then see her traveling the globe, including to Italy where she worked for a swim company and in the fashion industry. Along the way, she met her now-estranged husband, Paul "PK" Kemsley (who hails from the UK) in 2011. But Dorit's throwback photos give you some insight into what her life looked like before it all.
Throwback photos of young Dorit Kemsley and her siblings
Dorit took to Instagram in June 2020 where she posted an old photo of her with her siblings. In the picture, Dorit can be seen with her arm around David as they both held Debbie in their laps. Dorit took to the caption of the post where she penned the sweetest message for her big brother. "The only thing in this world that will always stay the same, when everything else has changed, is the bond we share," she wrote about the throwback photo of her and her siblings as kids.
Dorit then took to her Instagram Story in June 2020, where she posted even more throwback photos with her siblings. In the photos, a dark-haired Dorit can be seen wearing roller skates and the most vintage-looking outfit, standing next to David. "Always by his side even when he didn't want me to be! Haha," she wrote under the photo.
She then posted another photo of her and her siblings, sitting down in the grass, looking into the camera. "The three musketeers," she noted.
Dorit then posted two more photos from her childhood, showing just how close she was to her two siblings. In one vintage black and white photo, David can be seen running outside, as Debbie and Dorit trail behind him. In another, Dorit can be seen celebrating a birthday with her big brother.
In the caption, she noted the similarities between her and her brother with her own two children — 10-year-old son Jagger Kemsley and 8-year-old daughter Phoenix Kemsley. "My brother and I are 2 years 14 days apart same like Jagger and Phoenix," she wrote under one photo. "My parents tell me they see SO many similarities between my brother and I and Jagger and Phoenix. I love that."
Dorit Kemsley's throwback photo at 19 years old
Dorit also posted a photo of herself riding in a van in Italy at 19 years old. Dorit looks so beautiful with her light brown, curly hair, trendy sunglasses, and chic black tank top. "24 years ago in Italy," she captioned the photo, which she posted in 2024.
Where is Dorit Kemsley from?
Although she was born and raised in the United States (as mentioned, she was born in Connecticut), Dorit speaks with a slight accent. In a 2017 interview with The Daily Dish, she explained where her accent comes from.
"I think the way I speak is probably a combination of many things. First and foremost I am married to a Brit who's got a very, very strong London accent, and I'm sure some of his inflections have sort of rolled over me," she explained. "My parents are not American. I was born and raised in America. I did spend a significant amount of time, nearly 10 years, back and forth going to Europe. I spend a lot of time working all over the world and in various places of the world where people didn't speak English all that well. I had a tendency to over enunciate, so I think at times my English is part that and part inflection. And you know, being around a lot of Europeans and a lot of Brits, you just become a part of your environment really. That's who I am. That's the way I speak. I don't hear it."
