Lea Black Makes a Bold Comeback on 'RHOM' to Empower Lisa Hochstein Through Divorce Drama: Unveiling the Truth! tram

 
A familiar face is back on The Real Housewives of Miami this 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 Housewife Lisa Hochstein for a frank discussion about Lisa'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 on RHOM since the show was rebooted for a fourth season in December 2021. The Miami socialite, businesswoman, author and philanthropist was an anchor of RHOM's first three seasons before Bravo canceled the show in 2013.

Despite her fallout with some current RHOM stars, including Alexia Nepola and Marysol Patton, Lea has maintained friendship with Lisa. During last season's RHOM reunion, 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 the skincare owner's signature "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!"

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 girlfriend Katharina 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."

Asked by Lea how Lenny treats her, Lisa explains that her estranged husband still has access to their home.

"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.' "

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 after the two had filmed a "Good Vibes" party at 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."

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 is Lisa. 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."

"I've never hidden anything from Lisa," he added. "She was not blindsided by this, that's completely false. In fact, I told Lisa time and time again, 'You can't do this. I can't do this. It affects our relationship'. I begged her to change and she refused. She didn't care. If anything, she became worse. And that's why we're getting divorced."

Regardless, the former couple is now in the midst of a contentious legal battle that's continued to play out both in the public eye and on reality TV for millions of viewers each week.

"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."

"It's just so embarrassing.," Lisa agreed. "Why he would do this in the middle of filming a TV show about our lives, knowing that he was part of it and it would have to be part of my story, I just don't know. He could have handled this quietly. But it really does feel like he's gone mad."