It is pretty safe to say that Tinsley Mortimer has been short on friends this season. But that was only one factor in her decision.
She is leaving New York and The Real Housewives thereof for Chicago.
This week on RHONY, Tinsley informed her castmates of her departure — with mixed results.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," she begins her Instagram post, wanting to address her fans and followers personally.
She writes "to all my fans and friends who supported me and are happy for my fairy tale ending."
"Without #RHONY," Tinsley acknowledges, "I would never have met my prince charming, Scott."
Though Tinsley is leaving, she is making it clear that she enjoyed her time on Bravo.
"Being a Housewife was such a fun experience," she affirms.
"And," Tinsley writes, "I thank @bravoandy and all the wonderful people at Shed Media and @bravotv."
It’s always good to acknowledge the people who gave you the chance to shine in the spotlight.
"Swipe [right] for a trip down memory lane," Tinsley encourages her followers.
In addition to an entire movie trailer for her move to Chicago and her engagement, she also has some throwback photos.
"I love you all so much!!!" she gushes.
Fans are what make the celebrity, so it’s always good to see a Real Housewife who appreciates them.
Sonja Morgan left a publicly visible comment under the Instagram post.
"And without me you wouldn’t have met," she writes, though it was in fact Carole Radziwille who introduced Scott and Tinsley.
"So happy for you girl," Sonja praises.
She affirms: "You got the fairytale."
"Moved to NYC to live with a true girlfriend who was there for you with open arms," Sonja’s comment continues.
"I got you on #rhony," she notes, "and my co star Introduced you to Scott the man."
"May all your dreams come true," Sonja concludes. "I’m always here."
She did a lot of tooting of her own horn there, but okay.
On this week’s episode, Tinsley sat down with castmate Leah McSweeney to talk about her exciting plans for the future.
"Is there physically like a ring or something right now? No," she acknowledged.
"Is that definitely happening, are we getting married?" Tinsley continued. "I just know it,"
"I will be moving to Chicago," she stated. "I’m not sure exactly when but I know that we are going to be together and I know we are going to make this work."
However, when Tinsley broke the news to her other castmates, she received a somewhat chill reception.
"I don’t want to talk about it," Dorinda Medley replied.
She explained that Tinsley’s on-and-off relationship with Scott made her reluctant to cheer for her, or even believe that her plans will be realized.
"I really want to make it disappear," Dorinda added, continuing her villain storyline. "Just don’t bring life to it."
Dorinda took things even further.
She joked about giving Tinsley a "turkey baster" so that Tinsley could "maybe try and have a baby" with Scott.
Tinsley was not amused, and not just because impregnating yourself with another’s sperm in that manner would be positively evil.
"You look like an evil, mean person," Tinsley snapped at Dorinda.
Leah tried to be supportive … and seemed to be the only member of the group willing to do so.
"Just give Tinsley this one little moment," she pleaded with her castmates.
"This one moment she’s been waiting for, fighting for," Leaha ffirmed.
"But no," she lamented, "they can’t."
Tinsley then brought it up while at dinner with Ramona Singer and Luann de Lesseps.
There, she dropped a bombshell on the other ladies.
"I’m moving tomorrow," Tinsley announced.
Okay, wow.
"With Scott, so much has happened so fast," Tinsley acknwoledged.
"I know that if I don’t take this moment right now," she expressed.
Tinsley warned that, if she lets this opportunity pass her by: "I will regret it for the rest of my life."
"I have to listen to myself and what I want and nobody else," Tinsley declared.
"It’s been a great ride," she said of her time on RHONY.
"And," she affirmed, "I’m just so happy for where I am right now and for my future."
We sincerely hope that Tinsley continues to feel this way.
Clearly, some of her castmates at present are concerned that her happiness will be short lived.
In their minds, it is only a matter of time before she comes crawling back to New York and to the show, having ended things with Scott.
And yeah, Tinsley has been known to be impulsive before. This is a woman who got married when she was only 18, after all.
But if she does one day want to return to the show, she has been very gracious in her exit towards though who would have a say in it.
Where other departing Housewives sometimes lash out at the show, Tinsley isn’t alienating anyone.
She’s smarter than people give her credit for, right?
Even so, fans are sad to see how little her castmates seemed to care about her announcement of her departure.
And for that matter, they’re sad to see her go. She will be missed.