Larsa Pippen’s Real Housewives of Miami costars Alexia Nepola and Marysol Patton are weighing in on the status of her relationship with Marcus Jordan.
After seeing Pippen, 49, and Jordan, 33, spending Valentine’s Day together just days after their split, the friends accused their castmate of staging the breakup on Monday’s episode of their iHeartMedia podcast Ay Por Favor,
While Patton admitted that she first suspected Jordan’s family — including his NBA icon father Michael Jordan — interfered with his relationship with Pippen, she said their highly publicized Valentine’s Day outing led her to believe otherwise. “Now that other things have come to light, I’m starting to feel like we’ve all been scammed,” said Patton, 57, bluntly.
The former publicity executive explained that she suspects the couple is “in cahoots” and arranged to have the paparazzi snap shots of their date night, which occurred just days after they ignited breakup rumors by unfollowing each other on Instagram. She reasoned, “I see the flowers, the paparazzi photos, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Is she playing all of us? That upsets me.'"
Nepola, 56, agreed that it all seemed “very calculated.”
“It was so staged because, first of all, nobody even cares,” she added. “Everybody knows it’s staged ... and this is why we’re even talking about it because it’s so ridiculous at this point.”
Both admitted they were “pissed” that they felt “played” for feeling “worried” about Pippen.
When Nepola asked Patton if she thought the “whole relationship is a publicity stunt,” the founder of The Patton Group admitted, “I have to tell you, it’s crossed my mind, now that this happened."
She continued, "Now that I'm looking at the whole thing and the timing and everything — and I was a publicist — this smells like a scam.”
Earlier in the episode, the podcasters justified discussing how the couple appeared to call it quits after a year of dating and then seemingly reconciled because of how “public” the breakup has been.
“We need to talk about it because I guess she wants everybody to talk about it,” the former Venue Magazine leader said. “The only reason why anyone found out is because she announced it. So because of that, we can talk as well.”
Pippen and Jordan originally sparked split speculation when they unfollowed each other and deleted all photos from their relationship together on Instagram during the night of the Super Bowl. Shortly after, the reality star also shared a cryptic post to her Instagram Story that read: "The man you choose to be your partner affects everything in your life. Choose wisely."
A source later confirmed to PEOPLE that the pair had split, while another insider explained that the decision had “nothing to do with any family input” and was “solely for their personal growth."
“They have decided to take some time apart to reevaluate their relationship,” the insider said.
Their breakup appeared to be brief, as the Real Housewife and the entrepreneur stepped out together on Valentine’s Day in Miami, with Pippen wearing a white gown and, noticeably, a ring on her left hand. Since then, the pair has followed each other again on Instagram.