Lisa Hochstein wanted to get ahead of the gossip.
When the “Real Housewives of Miami” star returned for Peacock’s revival, she knew she had to address husband Dr. Lenny Hochstein’s “emotional affair” with a woman she described on the Season 4 premiere as a “$2 ho.”
“I did have reservations about sharing that,” Lisa, 39, exclusively told Page Six, reflecting on the heartbreaking period in her marriage that nearly led to a divorce after cameras went down in 2013 for the original run of “RHOM” on Bravo.
“But I knew that it was something I would have to address because it was not really out there, but eventually someone would’ve blown the whistle. I felt like, ‘OK, let me beat everyone to the punch to just discuss it,’” she continued.
“It makes me real. It shows that I’m real and that I’m human and that nothing’s perfect in life.”
As viewers of Seasons 2 and 3 will recall, the Hochsteins’ marriage was put to the test after several failed attempts at starting a family. Their fertility struggles caused fissures at home and resulted in a brief separation, during which Lenny, a famed plastic surgeon, sought validation elsewhere.
“I try not to think about it. I really don’t think about it,” Lisa told us of that time in her life. “I just try to focus on the present and how much I’m enjoying my children.”
The pair ultimately powered through Lenny’s entanglement — and would eventually realize their dream of becoming parents twice over with the births of son Logan, 6, and daughter Elle, 2, both of whom they welcomed via surrogate.
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“I think people give up way too easily, and I hope that, if anything, I can inspire people to keep going,” Lisa said, advising other couples to “not give up hope” if they too are going through similar challenges.
“Because look, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have my life as it is today,” she elaborated. “I wouldn’t have my kids! What a tragedy that would be if I didn’t have Logan and Elle. You’ve got to try.”
Lisa and Lenny, 55, certainly put in the work to maintain their nearly 15-year marriage and found significant healing in couples therapy.
“It was super helpful,” she said of the two-on-one sessions. “Look, we were separated for all of maybe a month and a half. It wasn’t a long separation. We quickly realized that we couldn’t live without each other. It was devastating for both of us. I think that we almost needed to go through that to discover that we wanted to be together, that we couldn’t be apart.”
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Though the Hochstein Medspa owner admitted that navigating the ups and downs of her marriage on reality TV has been difficult at times, she is grateful for the experience as she believes it has only made her partnership with Lenny bulletproof.
“It’s been challenging because we’re putting ourselves out there for public scrutiny and opinions. You open up your lives so much that people almost want a piece of it,” she explained.
“And it’s made us stronger because we’re a success story. We’ve been together so long. We’ve overcome so much in the public eye and behind closed doors. And here we are, still standing strong and living a great life.”
“The Real Housewives of Miami” is available to stream on Peacock.