RHOM season 7 delivered one of its most chaotic moments in Housewives history when a gondola ride in Mexico City went completely off the rails. What began as a scenic boat excursion turned into a Bravo spectacle on par with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ infamous “Dinner Party From Hell.”
The cast — Guerdy Abraira, Lisa Hochstein, Julia Lemigova, Alexia Nepola, Larsa Pippen, Kiki Barth, Adriana de Moura, and Marysol Patton — found themselves at the center of pure mayhem. Abraira became violently ill and had to be stretchered off into an ambulance, Lemigova was emotionally triggered by the eerie Island of the Dolls, and Hochstein clashed with Barth over feeding stray dogs. To top it off, a mariachi band and a barking dog floated past, creating unforgettable TV chaos.
“It was the gondola ride from hell,” several cast members told Bravo Insider. Barth added, “Chaotic is an understatement. It was like a Housewives disaster movie.”
Lisa Hochstein and Kiki Barth Address Their Feud
Hochstein later explained her behavior was influenced by her divorce from Lenny Hochstein. “I was signing my marital settlement agreement, and I was full of anxiety because I was trying to film, then I got into it with the girls, and I was also dealing with my lawyer and Lenny,” she said. “My life was literally in the hands of fate, because once you sign an MSA, that’s it. There’s no going back.”
BravoPamela Gimenez, Vice President of Unscripted Current Production at NBCUniversal, confirmed that Hochstein’s emotions were already running high before the trip. Off camera, Hochstein admitted she retreated to the corner of the gondola to text her boyfriend, Jody Glidden, just to get a moment of peace.
Barth, however, stood by her decision to call out her castmate. “She was so determined to feed them, like she was saving them from starvation,” Barth explained. “Just because the owners didn’t live in a Miami Beach mansion, their dogs must not be fed. Where I’m from, people don’t live in mansions, but they love their animals.”
BravoThe cast remains split on the incident. Adriana de Moura defended Hochstein’s actions as harmless, while Pippen argued, “If you gave my dog random food, my dog’s stomach would be jacked up. Don’t do that.”
RHOM Season 7 Delivers Chaos and Emotions in Mexico City
While Hochstein and Barth’s feud grabbed headlines, Lemigova and Abraira faced emotional challenges of their own. The Island of the Dolls rattled Lemigova, who has lost a child. “I know some people could look at those dolls and for them it could be nothing, but I’ve seen death that close and I will never find it entertaining,” she said.
Producers admitted Lemigova’s reaction was tough to watch. “The trauma of what she went through with her son is understandably still very raw,” Gimenez explained. Abraira, meanwhile, was overcome with nausea and had to leave the boat, coinciding with the surreal arrival of the mariachi band and barking dog. “It was complete mayhem,” de Moura said.
Kathleen French, Senior Vice President of Entertainment Unscripted Current Production, admitted producers never expected the ride to unravel this way. “That all just unraveled as the women were on this ride, which I think speaks to the authenticity of the show,” she shared.
As de Moura summarized, “There was crying, there was laughing, there was consoling, there was someone getting whisked away to the hospital, there was someone starting to dance with the mariachi band — a perfect combination. You could write a book out of it.”
“The Real Housewives of Miami” airs Thursdays on Bravo.
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