Heather Rae El Moussa Finally Shed Light On Her Selling Sunset Season 7 Absence

Speculation about whether or not Heather Rae El Moussa will appear in Selling Sunset Season 7 has yielded no concrete answers — until now. When Netflix dropped the first promos for the upcoming season, El Moussa was noticeably absent from the cast poster. And, yes, the Oppenheim Group OG had something to say about it.

“Looks like I got pushed in the water… [it’s] a good thing I can swim!” El Moussa captioned an Oct. 5 Instagram post, which included the official photo of the Season 7 cast — Chelsea Lazkani, Amanza Smith, Bre Tiesi, Emma Hernan, Chrishell Stause, Mary Fitzgerald, Nicole Young, as well as bosses Brett and Jason Oppenheim — posing poolside.

Appearing to take the development in stride, El Moussa went on to congratulate her “girls” on Season 7, premiering on Nov. 3. “You may see me in a few episodes…” she also teased.

Judging by her post’s comments section, HGTV’s The Flipping El Moussas star doesn’t seem to have any bad blood with her O Group besties and bosses. Among the thousands who sent social media love were colleagues Stause, the Oppenheims, Tiesi, and Hernan.

“Hottie in a bikini, ordering drinks at a swim-up bar—take me with you. Love you,” Stause wrote, while Hernan added, “I’m the best swimmer in the office. I’ll save your beautiful face!!!! I love you.”

Then, on Oct. 7, El Moussa posted a “bestie gang” Instagram photo with Fitzgerald, Stause, and Tiesi — and even edited the image to include Hernan, who couldn’t be with them. In the comments, Tiesi chimed in, “Heather never be away from me that long again k thanks.”

Before El Moussa and husband Tarek welcomed their son, Tristan, the longtime Selling Sunset star revealed that the nursery tour she filmed on Jan. 14 was “most likely” her last day of filming Season 7 before going on maternity leave. She gave birth soon afterward on Jan. 31, but by March, she still hadn’t returned to work.

“Season 7 is filming right now, but I’ve been off maternity leave and I’ve been excited to get back to work. And so far, I’ve not been called back,” El Moussa told E! at the time, describing the situation as “a little frustrating.”

However, Tiesi told Bustle in late May that fans could still likely expect to see “a little bit” of her and El Moussa bonding over their first-time motherhood journeys in Season 7. “She meets my son. We do have a couple of scenes and moments,” the Season 6 newbie revealed. “We’ve only gotten closer since she’s had her baby. She’ll text me in the middle of the night, like, ‘Babe, this is happening. What do I do?’ or ‘What do you think of this?’ It’s definitely nice to have someone who’s around the same [stage] of motherhood as you. I can go through it with her because I just did it.”

Afterward, multiple outlets confirmed via sources that Netflix never called El Moussa back to film after her maternity leave ended. Speaking to E! in July, Tiesi said she was “devastated to lose” El Moussa as a Selling Sunset series regular.

“I absolutely adore Heather. I’m very sad to hear that she is not going to be as big a part,” Tiesi told E!, though she said she couldn’t shed much more light on the situation. “They kind of keep us separate from all of that.”

Either way, El Moussa is still very much part of the O Group, and should Netflix order a potential Selling Sunset Season 8, there’s no reason to believe she couldn’t make a full-time comeback.