Selling Sunset star Heather Rae El Moussa has opened up on her unexpected show exit, calling it a "blessing".
The reality TV star is best known for being an original cast member on Netflix's real estate reality series, appearing on the show for six seasons, before taking time out to welcome her first child with husband Tarek El Moussa.
Appearing on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast with Tarek this week, Heather revealed she was happy not to return to Selling Sunset for its upcoming eighth season.
Related: Selling Sunset's Jason Oppenheim and Mary Bonnet announce death of their dog
"It was a blessing that I wasn't asked to come back because I'm so much happier filming my show with Tarek," she said. "We're co-producers on our show so we pick the hours. With Selling Sunset, I never knew when I was going to be filming.
"It was last minute, it took over my life, it was hard to do my real job — real estate. It was hard to do anything else," Heather added, claiming she filmed for sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
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"There would be days I'd come home to him [Tarek] crying from the stress of filming."
Related: Selling Sunset's Heather Rae El Moussa unveils tattoo dedicated to son
The LA-based realtor also branded the show "very toxic" and shared how she tried to keep out of the drama on screen.
"I pretty much was level-headed almost the whole time," she said. "I was kind of friends with everyone and I kept things pretty chill in my life.
"You're around a bunch of women [who all want] to be stars on the show, you know, number one. And they'll kind of do anything."
Related: Selling Sunset's Christine Quinn weighs in on possible show return
Heather made a brief appearance in the opening episode of season seven, before embarking on maternity leave. The season premiered last November, with Heather confirming her exit from the show a month later in an Instagram post.
Paying tribute to her co-star Brie Tiesi with a photo of the two together on set, Heather wrote: "The yin to my yang. Opposite in almost every way but became besties immediately- and even though we're not on the same show together anymore, our friendship is stronger than ever."
Heather gave birth to her son Tristan in January last year. The reality TV star is also step-mum to Tarek's two children, Taylor and Brayden, who he shares with his ex-wife Christina Hall.
Selling Sunset seasons 1-7 are streaming now on Netflix.
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Emily is an experienced freelance entertainment writer and editor, reporting on all things TV, film, soaps and showbiz. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from the University of Sussex, Emily is a former Deputy News Editor and Evening News Editor at Digital Spy. She has previously worked at Hello magazine, BBC South News and GoodtoKnow.
A small and big-screen obsessive – with subscriptions to every TV and film service under the sun – Emily knows her movie stars from soap stars, and is always clued up on the latest reality show dumping, just-dropped trailer or off-screen spat. She's interviewed a number of celebrities over the years, with highlights including The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett and GMB's Kate Garraway (who "loved" her trousers).
Emily counts Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis as her TV heroes, and is a loyal Wes Anderson fan. LinkedIn
