Heather Thomson's Return to 'RHONY' for Season 13 Was Short-Lived

When cast members leave any franchise of The Real Housewives, it's rare for them to return to the show in any capacity. From Season 5 until the conclusion of Season 7, Heather Thomson appeared as a main star on The Real Housewives of New York City.

The married mom of two and the-then Yummie shapewear mogul was known for shouting "Holla!," for defending her home in the Berkshires, and for feuding with Kristen Taekman and Bethenny Frankel.

Years after her first departure from the series, Heather returned to RHONY in a friend role in Season 13. Though her fans were excited to see Heather make a splash with the rest of the ladies, she ended up exiting the show for a second time after the cast trip to the Hamptons.

Why did Heather Thomson leave RHONY? Her feud with Leah McSweeney played a huge role in her swift departure.

The wife of Jonathan Schindler made her long-awaited return to the hit Bravo series in the fifth episode of Season 13, which is entitled "Putting the Tiff in Tiffany's."

As soon as Heather sat down for dinner at Ramona Singer's home in the Hamptons, Leah McSweeney began to call her out for past comments she had made during podcast appearances. Heather had accused Luann De Lesseps of having drugs on their cast trip to St. Barts.

Leah started reading out quotes from these radio shows, and Heather acknowledged that she had said those things.

However, she wasn't sorry about the content of what she said, just that she had hurt Luann.

"What Leah just read to me, I take no issue with. I think there's nothing wrong with it, I stand behind it," she said before addressing Luann. "If it bothered you in any way, I really apologize to you about it."

Though Heather briefly made amends with Luann, she wasn't off the hook with Leah.

A teaser for the June 8 episode of the show revealed that Leah will refer to Heather as a "Karen."

"Do not talk to about if I want to vote or not. Why do you have to be in everyone else's business like a Karen?" Leah asks in the sneak peek. "It's none of your business."

While drama is a given on all of The Real Housewives shows, the Hamptons trip proved to be the last straw for Heather on RHONY.

The drama between Leah and Heather has been a main storyline fueling Season 13, but the latter woman chose to depart from RHONY after the trip to the Hamptons.

Heather stopped filming with the other cast members once she returned to the city.

She told Entertainment Tonight that she made the decision to exit on her own accord.

"I get 24 hours in the day, just like you do and just like everybody else does," she told the outlet. "When it came to deciding how I wanted to spend that 24 hours after that weekend, it was pretty easy for me to decide it wasn't with the girls."

While appearing on the Friends of Dorothy podcast in April of 2021, Heather accused Leah of assaulting her during filming.

"I get assaulted this season on the show, believe it or not..." she shared on the show. "People were more interested in dragging me or taking me down and showing who is the queen bee. I just don't have time for that stuff."

Heather did not specify how she was assaulted, but she has continually asked viewers to tune in to the show to see how it all plays out.

Heather has since discussed how Leah's actions made her feel like she had no other choice but to leave the show, which the Married to the Mob founder has denied.

Leah shared a statement about Heather's departure on her Instagram Stories on June 9.

"I am seeing a narrative emerge that I'm not comfortable with, and thus feel the need to speak out," she wrote. "Heather was unable to forge natural connections with any of the women, and that is why she discontinued filming."

"Everything that she's been saying about me in the press these last few weeks bares no resemblance to reality," Leah continued. "I took issue with her from the beginning because I'm not a fan of disingenuous people. She says one thing in the press, and another to people's faces. Say what you mean, mean what you say. I never once lied to her or about her."

Kier's mom acknowledged that she was more "aggressive" on the trip than usual because she was coping with her grandmother's impending death.

"It's no secret that I was having a hard time on this trip due to a tremendous personal loss that I was dealing with in real time," she added. "Heather was well aware of this and acknowledged it. I apologized to everyone for being aggressive, and squashed it, including with Heather."

Leah then called Heather out for "attacking" her mental health and her sobriety, and for "falsely" accusing her of assault.

"She defames women to lift herself up," Leah concluded. "I won't allow myself to be dragged down in this dumb bulls--t because she can't be honest about why she really stopped filming."

A source close to production told a different narrative altogether to ET. The insider shared that it was more of a mutual decision for Heather to leave RHONY. The In My Heart host was originally scheduled to just film with the other ladies in the Hamptons, and there was an option for her to move forward if it seemed like a good fit.

Once Heather's issues with Leah came to a head, it became evident that her continued presence on the show was not meant to be.

The exact reason for Heather's departure will continue to be she-said-she-said, but one thing is clear: these two ladies will not be seeing eye to eye any time soon.

The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.