Real Housewives Of Potomac star Mia Thornton is thriving. After a very public break-up (that wasn’t always very nice) with her husband of 11 years, Gordon Thornton, Thornton is happily in a relationship with radio personality, Incognito, whom she also dated in high school. “I do feel like you have to go through some storms in order to get to a rainbow,” said Thornton. “I feel like I am finding pots of gold.” While Thornton is in a good place now thankfully, she was really having a tough time during the current season.
Thornton let the cameras in during her therapy sessions with her husband as the two attempted to save their marriage. Even though the two were open to working on their problems, it was clear to audiences and, later to Thornton herself, that there marriage was no longer serving either one of them. Even Thornton was amazed when her now-estranged husband revealed that he believed their marriage was “one of the best relationships on Earth.” “I was shocked,” recalled Thornton. “I’m Gordon’s fourth wife,” added Thornton. “Maybe it was the best marriage for him out of his experiences.”
During the season, Thornton’s issues with the women took a backseat to repairing her relationship with childhood friend, Jacqueline Blake, after the two had a very public falling out. During a crab boil at Charrisse Jackson Jordan’s house, Thornton and Blake had their first sit down. Because of therapy, Thornton was able to take the first step toward healing with Blake. “Therapy did help with being able to vocalize what I was feeling,” confirmed Thornton. “I was just zoned in on Jacqueline and making sure that we did have a breakthrough because I missed her.”
Thornton stopped by the Page Six studio to speak with DECIDER about calling Ashley Darby a “gold digger,” her love of therapy and the upcoming reunion.
DECIDER: First of all, I want to say congratulations. You are co-parenting goals with Gordon, your children are happy, and you have a new man in your life. Was everything you’ve been through worth it to get to this place of zen?
MIA THORNTON: Sure, absolutely. I do feel like you have to go through some storms in order to get to a rainbow, and I feel like I am finding pots of gold.
Now a couple of episodes ago, you called Ashley a “gold digger” because you believe she married Michael Darby for his money, which she took offense to.
MT: Speaking of gold [laughs]!
Is it a terrible thing for a woman to consider a man’s bank account before marriage?
I don’t think it’s terrible, I think it’s part of the equation when you’re dating. Marrying someone just for their money not right, but being financially stable is important. Being able to manage whatever income you have is an important trait when you’re doing a partnership or entering into a marriage. A gold digger is someone who only marries or dates for money and there are no other parts of the equation.
I think there had to be some love between Ashley and Michael at some point?
Was there? Okay.
Mia, let’s be positive!
[Laughs] Okay, just kidding. You know, I don’t really know. I’ve only met Michael once and that was at the tail end of their relationship.
Over the course of the season, a lot has been speculated about how you and Gordon got together. However, you recently revealed that you came into the relationship with a an inheritance. Can you talk about that?
Absolutely. So people aren’t really understanding the timeline, which I get. The same year Gordon and I had met, I actually lost a few grandparents. They did leave behind cash and land and things. I think where people are confused is that I was in the foster care and this is the first I’m mentioning my inheritance. I mean, hello, just because kids are in the system doesn’t mean they don’t have biological family members that want to make sure they are taken care of. Fortunately, I was blessed with it.
These ladies love talking about your financials, but let’s not forget that you were eating steak and lobsters long before you met Gordon. Are you offended when the women question your bag?
No, I’m not offended at all. I think it just comes with the territory of marrying someone who is almost 40 years older than me. People automatically go, “Oh, okay, he must have money.” That’s just not the case. I was attracted to Gordon more so because he’s brilliant and he’s really amazing. He’s a phenomenal business person and he’s very huge with the community. We were actually working on some projects together and that’s how he won me over. It really was not about the money with Gordon.
In your therapy session, Gordon says he’d never considered divorce before, but you did a really job articulating why you wouldn’t want to live a “combative life.” Who’s idea was therapy, yours or his, and did it set you up for the successful co-parenting relationship you have today?
It was a mutual agreement between Gordon and me. We both wanted therapy because we knew that there was something distinctly wrong. I do believe therapy does help with life in general. I like to use therapy as a life coach situation like, “I know what I know. How can you help me navigate all of the above?”
Learning to listen, and learning to really receive what someone is saying before thinking about what to respond back, I learned that at therapy. Therapy does help with co-parenting. Therapy helps with parenting. It helps heal friendships. I am a huge advocate for going to a therapist. I probably will continue to.
We’re not here to slander Gordon or anything, but—
Disclaimer!
Big disclaimer! How did you feel when Gordon said to you during therapy he thought you two had “one of the best relationships on Earth”? Because it hits different given all that’s transpired.
I was shocked. Remember, I’m Gordon’s fourth wife. Maybe it was the best marriage for him out of his experiences, right? It’s hard to gauge what’s the best because you can only evaluate what you’ve experienced. I will say, based off of what I know, this has been the best marriage for him.
While we’re talking about therapy, I do want to bring up Jacqueline. You and Jacqueline seemed to have a breakthrough regarding the incident in your past which you felt a lot of anger and she felt a lot of guilt. Was that a difficult conversation to have on camera or did the cameras help you be more transparent with each other?
It was a difficult conversation period, right? It’s a hard topic to discuss. Yes, therapy did help with being able to vocalize what I was feeling. On or off camera, it probably would’ve been the exact same conversation. I kind of forgot the cameras were even there, honestly, because it was something so deep. There was a lot more that was said in that sit down than wasn’t shown. So I was just zoned in on Jacqueline and making sure that we did have a breakthrough because I missed her and we just wanted to get back to being friends. I think it went well.
I was glad to see it because she came into Charrisse’s crab boil salty as heck!
She had Old Bay, she had a little sauce on her, didn’t she? And it was hot.
I loved the way you came into to the party. You greeted Jacqueline nicely and very maturely. Were you expecting to have a conversation with her that day?
No, I didn’t. I came into that party ready to be happy and be merry, you know? So I honestly was shocked when I saw how salty she was. I’m like, “Girl, you so mad.” Before the episode aired, she did tell me that she called me “evil” before we had our sit-down. She was like, “I got something to tell you.” I was like, “Jacqueline, I had not seen you. We’ve only talked a couple times about what was being rolled out on social media.” So what she had said before we had our talk is water under the bridge.
I wish some of the ladies in your group shared your similar feelings about forgiveness and moving on. Which conflict are you ready to never hear about again and why: Candiace Dillard Bassett’s and Robyn Dixon’s, Candiace’s and Gizelle Bryant’s issues, Karen Huger’s and Charrisse’s issues, or Dr. Wendy Osefo’s and Nneka Ikim’s issues?
All of the above, I’m tired. If I had to choose one, I think that I am tired of hearing about Candiace’s and Robyn’s mess the most. What are we arguing about again? I feel like their argument is all because of social media and miscommunication. How old are we ladies?
Do any of these issues get resolved at the reunion?
I’m not sure. There was a lot of crying going on. Do you want to guess who?
Could it be Candiace and her cry-angles?
Correct! The cry-angles came out, honey.
Dr. Wendy said on WWHL that she was “thrown for loop” by you and Gordon at the reunion. What did she mean by that?
Wendy, who knows? That girl just be in the wind sometimes and accuses everybody else of being in the wind. There was definitely a breakthrough between Gordon and me at the reunion. There was a side of Gordon that audiences have not been privy to that you will get to see at the reunion. It’s an interesting side, for sure. It’s a very powerful one.
I know you value loyalty and your loyalty was on full display when Gizelle was dealing with her late father’s health issues before the GnA fashion show. Were you surprised that Dr. Wendy and Candiace didn’t offer Gizelle a few words of support like you advised?
I actually was very surprised because we’re talking about something that is very hard to deal with. Despite what we’re going on within the group… when it comes to family, kids, parents, we should be able to put our differences aside and not go tit-for-tat. It’s not the time to say, “well, she didn’t do this and she didn’t do that.” It’s not appropriate. I thought Candiace’s and Wendy’s approach to the whole situation was very dark.
I agree. Let’s end on a positive note though. You and the ladies haven’t had the easiest of seasons, but still, you persist. What has the sisterhood of the RHOP cast meant to you? It’s clear you are very close with Gizelle, Robyn and and Ashley.
Yeah, those girls are crazy [laughs]. When you put us together, it’s like, who knows what’s going on? We’ve gotten to a point where we confide in one another and say: “Okay, it’s like us against the world. What are we going to do? Are we going to be like Charlie’s Angels here, or are we going to tear down our own castle?”
I love these women. They are important to me. I love when we come together. I feel like if we were to show more of that, then other people will also follow suit. A lot of times people don’t think that we’re really friends on these platforms, but we really are. Real friends fight and don’t always like each other, but real friends come back and handle their differences. We’re able to get back to living life, as I did with Jacqueline. Having these arguments go on for seasons after seasons after seasons, we’re all exhausted. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Can we find something else to do?