‘Real Housewives of Miami’ star Dr. Nicole Martin teases group 'drama' around Lisa Hochstein's divorce

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Do you feel that rush? That’s the feeling of The Real Housewives of Miami returning for its fifth season this week.

The first four episodes of RHOM Season 5 dropped on Peacock on Thursday, and it features the same cast from last season’s reboot of the show after a decade. Intrigue for this season was already high after the massive success of the show’s return, but it reached fever pitch earlier this year when Lenny Hochstein, the longtime husband of original cast member Lisa, filed for divorce in the middle of filming. The explosive trailer for this season, which debuted during BravoCon in October, promised a behind-the-scenes look at their heartbreaking split.

Ahead of Season 5’s premiere, Dr. Nicole Martin, who joined the show in Season 4, appeared on In the Know’s pop culture interview series We Should Talk to open up about the show’s fifth season, the dynamic between the newer Housewives and the original “OG” cast members, how Lisa’s shocking divorce affects the group and much more.

Listen to Dr. Nicole Martin’s full episode of We Should Talk below:

On feuding with the OGs and their dynamic with the newbies:

Nobody is a newbie anymore, right? We’ve all done this thing at least once before, but there isn’t a new newbie to take the title. We’re still the newest ones on the cast, and we’re still competing with friendships that have been around for 20, 15, 12, 10 years. So, for a lot of these women, there are these alliances that will not be broken by anything, and they defend each other blindly for better or for worse or whether you’re wrong or you’re right. It’s hard to infiltrate that. A lot of times, when you get into an argument with one of them, now you’re in an argument with all of them, because they have each other’s backs.

On wedding planning following her engagement between seasons:

The wedding planning is just kind of, like… we talk about it. We went to a destination wedding and we were like, “Oh, this is cool! We like how this feels! Enjoying your guests for three days and going on a boat sail with them and breakfast and dinner and then a wedding?” That was really fun. It felt like you really got to enjoy your guests. We’re thinking a destination wedding vibe, probably something in the Caribbean — maybe St. Barts. […] With [filming the wedding for the show], you open yourself up to your special day being ruined by drama or stupidity or dumb things that happen. Even at Alexia’s wedding this year, there was some conflict, and it gets in the way of her event. It sucks for that to be happening on your special day, so that’s the one thing where I’m like, “Do I want to deal with that?” But it’s also really nice to share that special moment and to have it be memorialized in a sense and get to share it with viewers and fans and whatnot. There’s something really nice about that, too. It’s definitely something that we’ll have to discuss and figure out. I’m open to [filming it for the show].

On how Lisa Hochstein’s shocking divorce affects the group:

It was a big surprise. A lot of us felt like maybe there was some trouble in paradise, and there was some tension you could see based on the way he was kind of condescending and rude and dismissive last season. But relationships go through ups and downs and everybody was just like, “It’s probably not going great, but they’ll probably bounce back.” Then when she dropped the news, it was shocking to all of us. This wasn’t something that happened five months ago and she’s recapping us; this is something that happened that morning. It’s really raw, and you can just see that she’s shattered. Everybody’s in their feelings: You’ll watch us cry, you’ll watch us laugh, you’ll watch us get pissed, we’re angry, we beat up a piñata. … it’s a rollercoaster of emotions for everybody and obviously for Lisa. But there’s also drama involved in that, because everybody feels like they should be the one to show up in a certain way. I’m like, “We’re not competing for who gets to show up for Lisa! We’re a group, and we can all show up in different ways.”

Watch In the Know’s full interview with Dr. Nicole Martin below, and stream Season 5 of The Real Housewives of Miami on Peacock now (new episodes every Thursday):

If you enjoyed this interview, check out In The Know’s recent interview with “Real Housewives of New York City” star Dorinda Medley here!

The post ‘Real Housewives of Miami’ star Dr. Nicole Martin on feuding with the OGs, her engagement and Season 5 appeared first on In The Know.