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Vicki Gunvalson made waves on Thursday’s airing of Watch What Happens Live by calling out the authenticity of Heather Dubrow‘s friendship with Tamra Judge.
On the heels of the premiere of the 20th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Vicki, 64, shared her thoughts on her relationships with fellow cast members like Carmella Garcia, 44, Gina Kirschenheiter, 42, and Emily Simpson, 50. She reminisced about how the show has transformed over the years and how her boyfriend Michael Smith reacted to her return. Alongside that, she hinted at the excitement of the upcoming Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, reflected on whether she regrets renewing her vows with Donn Gunvalson, and disclosed her feelings of being underpaid.
During the July 9 episode of WWHL, Vicki speculated, “I just think Heather wants to be friends with Tamra because it’s easier.”
Also of Tamra, 58, Vicki admitted she was “really proud” of how calm she remained amid their cast’s drama on the premiere.
“It’s that CBD stuff in the drinks and I just think it calms her. It’s like, ‘Keep taking it,’” she declared.
Moving on to Carmella, as she noted that she liked Shannon Beador, 62, and Lizzy Rovsek, 46, when they were new, Vicki said viewers would have to “wait and see” where their drama stemmed from before hinting that it was based on the newbie‘s lack of “authenticity.”
According to Vicki, RHOC was much realer when it began.
“The very beginning was incredibly incredible cuz we didn’t know it was gonna be a show. We were just like, filming on a handycam for four weeks. What has changed is now people know what they ‘have’ to do to stay on. And that I don’t like, [Andy Cohen]. I just want authenticity,” she explained.
After being asked back to the show in November during a surprise moment with Andy, 58, at BravoCon, Vicki said Michael, who was in the audience, exclaimed, “‘Oh sh*t.’” Meanwhile, as noted by Michael, he was okay with Vicki’s return because he “knew it would make her very happy.”
Looking back on her vow renewal with Donn, Vicki got emotional, saying, “I don’t regret that.”
“That’s actually very sad. You’re gonna make me cry cuz that was our last-ditch effort to make the marriage work,” she admitted.
While Vicki is the OG of O.C., she gave a nod to Kyle Richards, 57, saying that the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star was the most iconic OG from another city.
“I love Kyle,” she stated. “Her and I bonded so much when we were on the Girls Trip.”
Following filming on RHUGT, rumors began swirling in regard to a spat between Tamra and Shannon at the Quiet Woman. And, Vicki admitted on WWHL that what went down was “not great.”
She then mentioned that she was “underpaid,” which Andy quickly refuted.
“I filmed the Ultimate Girls Trip before I started filming RHOC. So I had two shows at once. So if I seem a little crabby sometimes it was only because I was overworked and underpaid,” she began before Andy interjected.
“I don’t think you were underpaid on any level. As a matter of fact, I’ll go to the mat on that one,” he declared.
Later, after shading Luann de Lesseps‘ singing, stating that she can “sing-ish,” Vicki appeared on the WWHL: After Show, where she explained her friendships with Gina and Emily.
“[They] respect me. That’s the best thing. I want to be respected more than anything,” she shared.
As for whether she agreed with Tamra that Gina and Travis Mullen, 40, would wed before Jennifer Pedranti, 49, and Ryan Boyajian, Vicki confirmed she did.
“I love all those couples. I mean, they’re just good people, but I do think Gina will because of the six kids … So I think they have to show, really to the children, the commitment and the marriage. I love all that,” she gushed.
Also on the After Show, Vicki teased the upcoming season of RHUGT.
“That’s gonna be a great, great series. And the ending, I have to say, was so emotional again, and the fact that all of them really thanked me for starting the wave of the housewife franchise, and again, I cried then too because you think about where would we have been 20 years ago, 21 years ago … what the hell happened to my life? It went fast,” she admitted.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 20 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.