Kim Richards has reportedly checked into a rehabilitation facility.

The 47-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star has long been rumoured to have an addiction issue and Entertainment Tonight claims she is now seeking treatment for her problems.

During last season's finale, Kim had a massive argument with her sister Kyle who called her an "alcoholic."

In episodes aired back in October of the new season, new cast member Brandi Glanville accused Kim, who is Paris Hilton's aunt, of being "wasted out of her f-king mind."

In another recent show, Kim admitted that she had been taking anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. She also said she was taking an anti-seizure drug, which is known to treat alcoholism.

Star magazine had reported that the mother-of-four's bizarre behaviour was a concern for show executives who were considering kicking her off the hit series unless she got help.

"She may have to go to rehab in order to save her job on the show," an insider told the publication. "People involved with the show are concerned and might have to step in."

Other sources told RadarOnline that Kim's family are not surprised that she has had to seek help.

"On Thanksgiving Kim was stumbling and stuttering," the insider said. "It's her normal. She definitely abuses alcohol."

"She has been in rehab so many times. She almost died of alcohol poisoning several years ago. Her youngest daughter found her passed out on the floor and called 911 and saved her life."

Kim is a former child actress who starred in several Disney movies in the 70s and 80s but has struggled to find acting work in a long time.

She has been married twice but suffered an agonising shock when her fianc, commodities salesman John J. Collett, was murdered over a business deal gone wrong in 1991.