A familiar face is back onThe Real Housewives of Miamithis Thursday, and PEOPLE has the exclusive First Look at her long-awaited return.
In a sneak peek of the Peacock hit’s upcoming new episode, Lea Black — one of the franchise’s original stars — makes a guest appearance, sitting down with current HousewifeLisa Hochsteinfor a frank discussion aboutLisa’s headline-making divorce from husband Lenny Hochstein.
It’s the first time Lea, who is married to famed civil and criminal defense trial attorney Roy Black, has appeared onRHOMsince the show was rebooted for a fourth season in December 2021. The Miami socialite, businesswoman, author and philanthropist was an anchor ofRHOM’s first three seasons before Bravo canceled the show in 2013.
Despite her fallout with some currentRHOMstars, includingAlexia NepolaandMarysol Patton, Lea has maintained friendship with Lisa. During last season’sRHOMreunion, Lisa even named Lea as one of the people who gave her “amazing advice” during a particularly difficult time in her marriage.
That guidance is on full displace during Lea’s sit-down with Lisa — though for those familiar with Lea, it comes with theskincare owner’ssignature “tough love.”
“Who wants to be married to that guy!?!” Lea bluntly tells Lisa at one point. “He’s never really treated you as an equal in the relationship. It’s always been, he had the money, he had the power!”
Lea Black and Lisa Hochstein.Peacock (2)
She’s prompted to go there after Lisa tells Lea about her current living situation.
Cameras this season have been following Lisa as Lenny decided to end their marriage of 13 years seemingly abruptly. The Florida plastic surgeon, 56 — who shares son Logan, 7, and daughter Elle, 3, with Lisa — has since moved out of their 20,000-sq.-ft. Star Island mansion and in with girlfriendKatharina Mazepa, 27.
“Right now, I’m stuck,” Lisa tells Lea in the preview. “I’m not going to go and get a rental so he can … move back in with whoever and then my kids are there and then my kids have to see that. So I’m not going to leave and go get a rental.”
“He comes to the house, plops himself on the bed that I’m sleeping in,” she says. “Like, give me some space. Why do you have to — like, you have a place! You rented a condo, you have a place to go. And I have said this to him and then he says to me, ‘Well this is my place.’ "
Lea Black and Lisa Hochstein.Peacock
That only pushes Lea to remind Lisa that Lenny is not the guy for her.
“You have so many things to be grateful for and so many things to look forward to,” Lea tells Lisa. “You have your children, you have friends, you have so many things in you life that you should get up every day and the first thing you should do is, ‘I am going to give thanks for all the things I have in my life today.’ "
Viewers have yet to see Lisa embrace that perspective. In episodes this season, she’s still been reeling from the shock of seeing her life drastically change.
“I still can’t wrap my brain around the day he told me he wanted out,“Lisa told PEOPLE back in December 2022 of the conversation, which happened off camera days afterthe two had filmed a “Good Vibes” partyat their home. “We were sleeping in the same bed for the last 15 years up until that day he told dropped the bomb on me. And now, suddenly, he wanted out? I felt so blindsided.”
“He wasn’t sympathetic or empathetic at all about it either,” she adds. “It wasn’t a, ‘Let’s sit down and have a talk. I’m sorry that this isn’t what I want anymore.’ It was a cold, ‘I’m going to start dating, whether you like it or not,’ basically. It was completely shocking and devastating. I just couldn’t believe that the man I had been with for this long was treating me this way.”
Lisa and Lenny Hochstein.Lisa Hochstein Instagram
She went on to claim that while their relationship wasn’t perfect, she was “trying to be a great wife and trying my hardest to make us strong again.” But Lenny’s penchant for partying and bringing “strangers” around — including “single women who I didn’t know” — soon made her realize that the two were on opposite paths.
“I guess you would call that a mid-life crisis?” she said. “He wanted a different life.”
Lenny has openly denied Lisa’s claims, telling PEOPLE that he was the one struggling to keep up with her lifestyle. “The idea that I was the one partying, nothing can be further form the truth,” he says. “I don’t like to party. I don’t have girls over to the house. … The one who likes to go out isLisa. I hate it. I like to be home. I like to be with the kids. I like to spend my weekends with my family. Her lifestyle made that impossible.”
Lisa and Lenny Hochstein.lisa hochstein/instagram
“My goal was always to keep this quiet,” Lenny told PEOPLE. “Believe me, I don’t want to be on the phone right now talking to the press about this.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Real Housewives of Miamidrops new episodes dropping every Thursday on Peacock.
source: people.com
