RHOP’s Gizelle and Robyn Explain Why They Doubted Mia’s Cancer Scare

Being questioned. Mia Thornton’s post about her past cancer scare was a hot topic on the season 7 premiere of The Real Housewives of Potomac as her costars doubted the seriousness of her health concerns.

“My first reaction when I saw the post was like, ‘Oh, my God, what’s going on? I hope she’s OK.’ And then I had a ‘wait a minute’ moment, like, ‘Why is she saying all this on Instagram, like, why is she telling this to, you know, hundreds of thousands of strangers?’” Robyn Dixon exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Sunday, October 9, premiere. “I thought it was odd to share that type of information so prematurely because it definitely caused an emotional reaction in me and I’m like, ‘I couldn’t imagine, like, why you would share this with on a platform like this?’ I definitely had my thoughts.”

Mia made headlines in February when she wrote via Instagram that one week prior, she received a call that she needed to go to Johns Hopkins Cancer Center ASAP for further testing. “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. I have not been diagnosed as yet so please keep me in prayer,” she wrote at the time.

During Sunday’s episode, Gizelle Bryant wasted no time questioning Mia’s post.

“I don’t think Mia was expecting to be called out the way that she was,” Robyn continued. “I think anyone, naturally, would probably go into defense mode and say like, ‘Oh my gosh, how could you? I was sick. I wasn’t feeling well and how could you turn this into something that it’s not.’ And really be shocked by people’s response — when Mia probably thought she was being sincere about whatever she was going through. I think for her to hear like, ‘No, this is actually what it looked like and this is what we thought, and these are the things we thought about it’ — it didn’t feel good to her. But I think she quickly learned in this group; we don’t hold our tongue. We tell you our thoughts and feelings and our opinions and when something doesn’t seem right, we let you know. And so it’s like, ‘Would you rather someone tell you to your face, this is what it looked like or would you rather people just talk behind your back?’”

In her own interview with Us, Gizelle added that “not everything” is meant for social media.

“And if there is a situation where it is something like cancer — that’s not to be played with. It’s not a joke or a game,” she told Us. “So, if you don’t have cancer, then you surely shouldn’t be telling the world that, and as Housewives, people that are on this public platform, you have to be responsible for the things that you put out there. And that’s kind of how what I was saying to her like, ‘Look, you can’t just be willing nilly with what you’re saying to the people because you’re a Housewife and this is a platform, and you have to just be very smart about the things that you’re saying publicly.’”

The Real Housewives of Potomac airs on Bravo Sundays at 8 p.m. ET. For more from Robyn and Gizelle, watch the video above.