The Biggest Lies RHOP Star Mia Thornton Has Told
After the controversial departure of Monique Samuels from "Real Housewives of Potomac," many fans were anticipating a new addition to the show. Mia Thornton was introduced in Season 6 and immediately made a splash amongst the ladies. Per her biography page on Bravo, Thornton prides herself on being a successful entrepreneur. Despite being on a cast with other successful ladies like the Grand Dame, Thornton has struggled to gel with the Potomac group. She has found herself in plenty of bitter feuds and has been caught in one too many lies. For that very reason, cast mates and fans have coined the nickname "Messy Mia" and even called her a pathological liar.
When you're a Bravo housewife, being messy is encouraged. However, one should not lie when receipts and footage can easily be pulled. As Season 7 of "RHOP" ramps up, Thornton has once again found herself caught in a web of lies and controversy.
According to All About the Tea, after receiving backlash for throwing a drink at castmate Wendy Osefo, Thornton briefly deactivated her Twitter. In her second season on the show, it seems that her constant lies are catching up to her. Let's look at some of Mia Thornton's most memorable fibs.
The confusing cancer scare
In February 2022, Mia Thornton took to Instagram to share with fans a recent health scare she had. "I've been in and out of visits to specialists every day and the storm is not over but this experience is changing me. I am working with a phenomenal team of physicians and I appreciate the outpouring of support," she wrote in the caption. "I have not been diagnosed as yet so please keep me in prayer." Though she didn't specify what illness she was tested for, she did mention several appointments at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center.
This, of course, alarmed her fellow housewives who commented support under the post. In a follow-up post in March, the reality star gave a brief update. "So many of you have reached out to check-in and I want to let you all know I'm okay," she wrote. "Each day comes with new challenges. So far no Cancer, although I'm still undergoing testing and we will surgically remove the two lumps for biopsy."
Despite what seemed like good news, her co-stars began to suggest that Thornton wasn't being truthful. In the premier episode for Season 7, the ladies called Thornton's posts attention-seeking and accused her of purposely misleading people about her diagnosis. Wendy Osefo was even caught calling her a liar on a hot mic, and Ashley Darby brought up Thornton's shady reputation. "The only thing is her past has just been kind of ... it takes away some of her credibility a little," Darby told the group.
Mia Thornton backtracked on Chris Bassett staring at her
Season 7 of "RHOP" kicked off with messy accusations against one housewife's husband. Gizelle Bryant confronted Candiace Dillard-Bassett about her husband allegedly flirting with her during the filming of the Season 6 reunion. According to Bryant, Chris Bassett made her uncomfortable when he asked to speak with her privately in her dressing room. After telling the group about the incident, Mia Thornton chimed in with accusations of her own. She accused Chris of eyeing her flirtatiously at an event while filming. Thornton's accusation was proven to be a lie when "RHOP" producers pulled footage from the event that showed Chris not glancing once in her direction.
Chris responded to the accusations on Twitter, writing in part that Bryant and Thornton "got nothing going on, and just had to make up some bulls***." After the footage didn't back up Thornton's accusation, she quickly began to backtrack on social media. She didn't outright admit to lying but claimed she was feeling sick. "I felt stares for sure but not in an appropriate manner," she tweeted (via The Peach Report). "Honestly [I] felt insecure because I was so skinny, pale, and frail from being sick. Nothing but respect for you and Candygal. So sorry for even saying it." During an interview on "Watch What Happens Live," she later admitted to Andy Cohen that she regretted making the accusation against Chris.
Her ever-changing past job title
Mia Thornton currently is a boss alongside her husband Gordon. According to The Sun, he owns multiple The Joint Chiropractic franchises, which Mia helps operate. Before taking over the title of boss, Mia had an interesting background. During Season 6 of "RHOP," Thornton shared that she met her husband while working in a strip club. According to Thornton, she was only working there as a bartender, but the housewives weren't easily convinced. They proceeded to press her further about her job position. Thornton soon switched her story. "Someone called [Gordon] and said, 'Hey, we've got a new girl working here, she's serving some really good drinks,'" she explained to the group. "Shortly after serving drinks, yes, I did become a stripper and that's when I met him."
Thornton even claimed that despite being a stripper, she barely took off her clothes. "Well, honey, I don't do a pole -– it's a gentleman's club, so it's a five-star restaurant and they don't have a pole because they don't want the stigma and the girls wear long gowns," she explained. "Most of the time, my clients didn't want me to take my clothes off, they just really wanted to pay me for my time."
The housewives weren't exactly sold on her tales. Castmate Wendy Osefo took to Twitter when the episode aired and called her a liar. In an interview with E! News, Thornton claimed she met Gordon at a charity event that happened to be held at the strip club.
Her bad game of telephone
In Season 6 of "RHOP," things were contentious between Wendy Osefo and Gizelle Bryant. Osefo took offense to Bryant repeating rumors about her husband allegedly cheating on her. Bryant speculated that Osefo's recent plastic surgery was in response to her husband stepping out on her with another woman. During a cast trip, an epic showdown between the two occurred when Osefo confronted her and demanded she no longer speculate about her marriage.
After the heated argument, Mia Thornton acted like a typical Bravo housewife and quickly stirred the pot. She incorrectly told Osefo that Bryant called her a "weak b***h" behind her back. After Osefo confronts Byrant, who denies ever using those words, Thornton is yet again exposed for lying. She hilariously attempts to avoid admitting she lied by claiming she didn't remember the exact words that were said. Thornton's excuse was that she simply interpreted Bryant's statements in her own way. Her shady cop-out makes the entire group groan in response. This memorable moment teaches the ladies that "Messy Mia" isn't the most reliable source.
The time Mia Thornton struggled to remember her age
You should never ask a woman about her age ... because sometimes she might lie. In Mia Thornton's introduction on "RHOP," she had a hard time remembering her and her husband's ages. While sitting with the group for the first time, the ladies grilled Thornton about her background and her marriage. She spoke about her husband Gordon and told the group that he's 68 years old and there's a 38-year age gap between them. After doing the quick math, Ashley Darby asked if Thornton was 30 years old. "I'm 36," Thornton replied, which confused the entire group.
A quick math session erupts as the group tried to calculate the real age gap between Thornton and her husband. The confusion led many to believe that Thornton wasn't just bad at math; they accused her of lying about her age. Thornton's fibs didn't go over well with the ladies at first, with many calling her a flip-flopper. During an interview with The Jasmine Brand, Candiace Dillard-Basset recalled Thornton's string of lies throughout the season. "Watching Mia lie at every turn is like, 'What?!'" she said. "I wasn't at the first all-cast event because I was sick. I missed where she didn't know how old she was, she didn't know how far apart she and [her husband Gordon] were, she said she had her c**t done, but it was actually vaginal rejuvenation ... I was like, 'What is going on?!'"
Confusing allegations of a thruple with Jacqueline Blake
In Season 7 of "RHOP," Mia Thornton introduces her childhood friend Jacqueline Blake to her cast mates. Blake shared with the group that her mother took Thornton in as a young child due to her unstable childhood. As Thornton clashes with the other women, newcomer Blake repeatedly steps in to defend her as a loyal friend. However, their tight friendship is soon torn apart when rumors began to circulate about the two. After the ladies saw Blake and Thornton shower together during a group vacation, they began to speculate about the two hooking up.
Thornton at first denies this but soon admits to hooking up with Blake in the past. Gizelle Bryant later confronts Blake and asked if she was in a thruple with Thornton and her husband Gordon. Instead of outright denying the rumor to the ladies, Blake instead tells the group to ask Thornton. This causes tension in their friendship, and they soon have a dramatic falling out in front of cameras.
During a group trip to Mexico, Thornton and Blake have a showdown over breakfast. Blake calls Thornton controlling and accuses her of needing more sex in her life. Thornton takes offense and retaliates with a shocking comment. "Keep your legs closed to married men, b***h," Thornton tells her during the heated exchange. Blake later breaks down in tears and denies ever sleeping with her husband. Their friendship remains icy from there.
Her confusing ties with Peter Thomas
In Season 7 of "RHOP," a crossover with "RHOA" occurs when Cynthia Bailey's ex-husband makes an appearance. Peter Thomas is introduced as a close friend of Mia Thornton and a potential business partner of Wendy Osefo. When Osefo chooses to not go forward with a business deal with Thomas, Thornton jumps to his defense and even refers to him as a brother. This leads to a heated argument in which Thornton shockingly throws a drink at her. Confused by Thornton's eagerness to defend Thomas, Osefo speculates that the two are sleeping together, which Thornton denies.
After the argument, Osefo claims that Thomas told her that he's not even friends with Thornton. According to Thomas, the two had a falling out after Thornton did something shady to his girlfriend. "Since when is Peter your brother?" Osefo told the ladies. "Because the last time I checked, Peter told me he stopped messing with y'all." These claims didn't exactly line up with Thornton's story of the pair being close friends.
When later questioned by Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon, Thornton then admits to sleeping with Thomas' girlfriend and having a falling out with her. In a separate conversation with Karen Huger, Thornton claims that she and her husband both slept with Thomas' girlfriend long before Thomas got into a relationship with her. This messy love triangle and web of lies is a classic Bravo trademark, and Mia Thornton seems to fit both of those tropes all too well.