‘RHOM’ Star Lisa Hochstein Opens Up About Her Divorce Drama & What’s Next

“You can try to take my castle but you will never steal my crown.” That has been very much the case for Lisa Hochstein on The Real Housewives of Miami as her 15-year relationship with husband Lenny imploded. Cracks in the foundation were seen in the early episodes including a hot mic moment captured in a conversation between Lenny and his friend Vito where he revealed he would probably be single soon.

Hochstein broke down during the girls’ trip to Key West that Lenny not only wanted a divorce but was seeing someone else and wanted her out of the house. The unraveling of their relationship was a central story this season.

Ahead of the Season 5 Finale on Peacock, Thursday, March 2 (which is followed by Reunion Episodes March 19 and 16) Hochstein gets candid about the explosive breakup, and her future.

Jahmar Amani

How has it been having to relive everything you’ve been through as this season of RHOM unfolds?

Lisa Hochstein: Every week I get the link to the episodes has been super nerve-racking. I almost couldn’t watch it. There were times I was crying. Just to watch everything unfold and to see me like that. Seeing myself crying and not being strong was very difficult. Seeing all the things including the “hot mic” moment of course was devastating. I found out about that the day of, because one of the producers said, “Hey, just so you know this might be hard for you to watch because Lenny is going to say something nobody knew was caught.” It got me thinking, “Wow. This was in the works. How long was this going on?” The pieces started fitting together of certain things that happened months leading up to that. It was, “Aha! That’s why this happened.” Has this been going on? It probably was based on the evidence I had.

This is as real as reality TV gets. What have you taken from the experience of revisiting everything that has happened?

I didn’t anticipate this to happen in front of the world. My soon-to-be ex even said to me that he was contemplating waiting until after the show aired to drop this bomb on me. For whatever reason, he decided to drop it. I questioned him asking, “Why would you do this?” It’s super embarrassing. It’s not something I want to show to the world. I wasn’t prepared for that. I was totally blindsided. There are people who have said that I knew this was coming. I absolutely did not know this was coming. He even asked me to have a third child, discussing this among friends at a dinner two weeks before. We would do date nights and movie nights. We were just in Aspen and planning to go to a wedding in Italy with some friends. There are so many things that happened where I thought we were happy. Then boom. He dropped the bomb.

Peacock

The other ladies banded together for you and lent their support. Do you feel closer to them now?

Yes and no because I was kind of removed from the group for so long because I was dealing with so much. Lawyers, divorce, what was going to happen with the kids, my life. I was definitely trying to be there and be a good friend and supporter. Whether that be group trips or Adriana [de Moura’s] music video and being present. I wasn’t as involved as I would have been if I weren’t going through a divorce. The banding together around me like a sisterhood was amazing though.

There are members of this cast that have been through a divorce. Is there anyone in particular who really connected with you and gave you good advice and helped you weather these troubled waters?

Lea [Black] had amazing advice that you see in a recent episode. She has always been amazing. I can talk to her for hours about my problems. She gives incredible advice. Larsa [Pipen] also recently went through this. Alexia [Nepola] has been divorced a couple of times. Marysol [Patton] also. All of the women have a story that can relate to mine. Even if they don’t, they try to be the best support they could.

You mention Larsa. What’s your friendship like today? At the beginning of the season, things were not good between the two of you. It seems the past is water under the bridge.

Our problems were so small in comparison to what I had to deal with. So, it was water under the bridge. Letting bygones be bygones. We came back together and picked up right where we left off before we had all the issues before last year’s reunion.

Peacock

There are diehard Real Housewives fans who have strong opinions. What kind of reaction have you gotten this season?

So many women and men, and everyone has been so supportive. Hundreds of DMs. People will come up to me in random places, at the airport, anywhere I am. They tell me they love me, and they are Team Lisa. I feel like I should make Team LIsa shirts. So many women have been through what I’ve been through. Maybe worse. Getting divorced has become a common thing to go through. Having someone leave you for somebody doesn’t make any sense. Marriage is not quite what it used to be these days.

Where do you stand when it comes to relationships and dating after all this heartache?

You look at our grandparents, even our parents and many of them stay together. They tough it out. These days marriage is so scarce. People are terrified to get married. It’s so easy to trade up. I don’t know if it’s Instagram or what. I still believe in marriage and love. I just believe you have to find the right person for that.

Are you in the midst of finding the right person?

I’m trying. I’m exploring.

What are some qualities you look for now in a partner?

Someone who is my best friend and treats me like an equal. Someone who is supportive of my dreams and goals and wants me to come up. Someone who helps me as much as I’m helping them. Like in my last relationship, I helped brand the business for Lenny and me from the beginning. I put all my energy and focus into promoting him. I thought that was promoting us. It turned out that now that it’s all said and done, I was only promoting him. Now I’m fighting what I did all these years. I guess what I should have done was promote myself also. My own businesses, aside from Lenny. But that’s what I’m going to do now.

Lenny’s mom Marina stood by you after everything went down. There was an interesting dynamic there. What’s your relationship today?

With his mother, we were in a much better place in filming. She was super supportive of me. She even said it in many meetings and phone calls we’ve had. In the last five months, things have changed. Of course, that’s her only son, and she doesn’t want to lose that relationship with her son. They’ve mended their relationship. During filming, they had a huge fight. I’ve never seen such an explosive fight between them. She was also very disappointed that she moved to Miami from Virginia with her husband. Their whole goal was to be around the grandchildren and retire here and stay with us. Of course, she was very disappointed our family was separating. She did not approve of what Lenny was doing, but it looks as if things have changed at this point.

What can you tease about the end of the season?

Gurdy [Abraira] had a beautiful event. The group tries to get to a better place. Sometimes there is a point you can’t come back from. Just like with Lenny and I, you can’t come back from it. We’ll have to see how it unfolds.

Peacock

What can you tell us about the reunion coming up? It feels this will be a far different one for you.

It was a super explosive reunion. The women were fighting and talking over each other. It was hard to get a word in. Andy [Cohen]was angry and trying to intercept at so many points during the reunion. It was a very long day. I didn’t have any real issues with the other women. It was me against Lenny and talking about the whole relationship and having to unload and discuss everything since we wrapped. That was super hard to talk about because a lot has happened since. It has been nine months since this bomb was dropped on me.

What’s next for you?

I’m at a point in my life where there are a lot of unknowns. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m still in litigation. I’m in a lawsuit. I don’t know where I’m going to live.  I don’t know my fate right now with Lenny and me. It’s a scary place to be when you don’t know what is going to happen and getting ready to film your life on a TV show. Everyone will find out with me. A lot of people are rooting for me and want me to be the phoenix rising in from the ashes. I want to do all I can to be the best I can be, be the best mother, and best friend, and come out of this on the other side in a positive way.

The Real Housewives of Miami, Thursdays, Peacock