Margo Stilley from Ladies of London Discusses Panic Attacks and Wellness
Ladies of London: The New Reign star Margo Stilley was eager for a “new adventure” on reality TV, completely unaware that her on-camera panic attack would lead to an unexpected health revelation.
“I didn’t realize that I wasn’t physically or mentally prepared to take on so many new responsibilities,” Margo, 43, shared with People on Thursday, April 23, discussing her experience on the Bravo series. “What I overlooked was that I was trying to build my life on a new existence that was based on completely broken foundations.”
Viewers were introduced to Margo in March when the revamped series—with an entirely new cast—debuted on Bravo. While fans have enjoyed the relentless drama, many were taken aback when Margo began to cry and experienced a panic attack during the Thursday, April 23, episode following a dispute with costar Mark-Francis Vandelli.
“I was surrounded by two costars I consider friends, yet they were just commenting on what someone said about my outfit. There was no historical reason for me to react that way,” Margo admitted, in reference to Mark-Francis, 36, and his negative comments about her clothing—resulting in her calling him “weird and creepy” during her emotional breakdown.
Margo recounted, “I remember thinking, ‘Am I dying? What is happening?’ It was peculiar; I had never experienced a panic attack before. It was the first moment I could say to myself, ‘OK, this isn’t just normal stress. This feels off.’”
She expressed that post-incident, she started to observe her gradual decline. “I wasn’t sleeping well. On my days off, I would just stay in bed but couldn’t rest.”
Though Margo hoped her panic attack—and other health issues—stemmed from the stress of filming in London and that she would improve once returning to California, this was not the case.
“I never improved; I just got worse. I was in tears all day,” Margo remembered, noting that after spending three months back in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children, she realized it was time to consult a doctor.
Margo disclosed that after a hormone panel was conducted, doctors found that she had “no available testosterone, no progesterone, and 30 times the amount of estrogen that any woman at any age should ever have.”
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m not a terrible person; I’m not weak, or a bad mother, wife, or friend. I just have a hormonal imbalance,’” she recalled, sharing that she began to “feel like myself again” after a few months of hormone balancing treatment.
Margo mentioned that throughout this health journey, she realized she had never fully addressed her postpartum depression or Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER) experienced after the birth of her daughter, Della Rose, in 2023. (D-MER is a condition affecting breastfeeding or pumping women causing “intense negative feelings” during milk “letdown,” according to Cleveland Clinic.)
She noted that after around “six to eight weeks” of postpartum therapy, she began to feel better but was unaware of “how prolonged it could be.” (Margo is also the stepmother to two boys from her husband’s previous relationship.)
Instead, Margo agreed to participate in Ladies of London and spend the summer in England, a special place for her, to see “if I could just return to my previous life and regain my sense of self.”
“I had no idea that my type of postpartum would not simply resolve itself. I didn’t know I needed hormone panels to check my hormone levels and determine if I was rebalancing at a normal rate, which I wasn’t,” she recalled. “I had help at home, including nannies, and at times my husband questioned why I needed so much assistance. But I felt shame and embarrassment; I was struggling internally to survive.”
Reflecting on that challenging period, Margo expressed her gratitude for participating in Ladies of London as it helped her recognize that something was amiss within her body.
“How else would I have known? I didn’t believe anyone when they asked, ‘Are you OK? It seems like something deeper is happening,’” she disclosed. “I didn’t understand why they said that. Yes, Mark was making comments about me within earshot and it was bothersome. But it wasn’t a major issue; I was just hormonally imbalanced and required assistance.”
Ladies of London: The New Reign airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
