“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Angie Harrington announced she will not be returning for Season 4 of the reality show after revealing her 4-year-old son, Hart, was diagnosed with autism.
The Bravo personality, who shares Hart with her husband, Chris Harrington, told People Wednesday that they got confirmation of their son’s developmental disorder in November 2022 after years of signs that “something wasn’t typical” with him.
“That was an intense moment for sure,” she said of receiving the “heavy” call. “But at the same time, knowledge is power. We believe that.”
“We cried,” she shared. “It wasn’t the dream we had for our child, but we had to and have empowered ourselves.”
Angie and Chris waited until they “had coped with it” and “were in an appropriate headspace to give the rest of the family the news” over the holidays.
“You just never think it’s going to be your reality,” she said, admitting that her loved ones were not “extremely surprised” either.
Angie, 41, explained that Hart “was extremely advanced physically” as a baby but “wasn’t saying those little words that you expected your 1-year-old to start saying.”
When he turned 3 and she enrolled him in preschool, he “would freak out” when it was time for her to leave.
So Angie stayed and observed her son, who “would be wandering around the classroom, getting into the teacher’s supplies,” as the other toddlers “would follow the instructions.”
“I just remember getting in my car crying, just feeling like the biggest failure because I thought this was my fault as a parent, that I had done something wrong,” she confessed.
“I remember going home to my husband and just saying, ‘Daddy, he’s different. Our boy is different.’ And we knew it, but this moment was very defining for us.”
Angie said she and Chris have “adjusted [their] lifestyle … to fit Hart’s needs” by hiring “a part-time nanny” and having both modified their work commitments.
While Chris is now “coming home earlier,” Angie has chosen to step away from her “friend of” role on “RHOSLC.”
“I was offered to come back,” she made sure to note, “but this is just a time when my family really needs me, and I wasn’t able to commit to it.”
Before going public with Hart’s diagnosis, Angie confided in castmates Heather Gay and Meredith Marks, who were “were extremely supportive and wonderful.”
“I shared with them that I have to choose my family right now. … I want to be able to give my kids what they need in this moment,” she explained.
“And I have to wrap my head around what we’re doing with Hart in order to know how I can continue forward in my work as well.”
Angie is also mom to sons Rome, 18, and Cole, 15, from a previous marriage as well as her husband’s two older children.
