Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Fans of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island were shocked when Liz McGraw revealed she was departing the show after only one season.
While there were some rumors about why Liz was leaving, an insider recently revealed to Reality Blurb the heartbreaking reason she actually departed.
“Bravo definitely wanted her to return, but she couldn’t handle the pressure of people coming for her on social media,” the source claimed. “The hate she was getting was a lot, and she was shocked by how quickly she went from being loved to hated by the audience in such a short amount of time.”
“She didn’t like how she was shown toward the end of the season,” they elaborated.
The insider noted Liz “understands” why viewers felt the way they do, but insisted “the hatred toward her was insane and overwhelming and became too much for her to handle.”
“The fans are driving stars off the show unfortunately at this point, and they need to chill if they want housewives who are bringing drama and good stuff to the show to stick around,” they added.
On a recent episode of the Two Ts in a Pod podcast, Dolores Catania echoed similar sentiments about why Liz left.
“She got hammered on social media,” Dolores said. “What did she do to deserve that?”
The Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge, who is one of the hosts of the podcast, responded, “I would imagine your very first season and getting that kind of hate, it would be very overwhelming.”
“It was more than that,” Dolores retorted. “Liz does homeless food drives at her dispensary. She’s the most generous person. And I wish that everyone got to see that side.”
After Liz initially announced she was departing the show, rumors popped up that she left out of fear of going to “jail.”
“It’s fascinating to me how everyone assumes my reason for leaving involves being afraid of ‘skeletons’ .. ‘jail,’ etc. This is not new gossip .. it has been the local slander for YEARS,” Liz replied in a post on Instagram. “If there were even an ounce of validity to it, I’d not have ever gone on a show! I realize that for some, it feels good to speculate, hate and defame my character, but I have never been investigated, nor involved in ANY criminal case. It’s preposterous and people should know how utterly ridiculous it sounds. Sorry to disappoint. It’s wild to me how people feel at liberty to openly state such absurd claims as facts.”
“Now that I have time on my hands, I will start the process of holding those originating and spreading such fiction accountable,” she added.