Tamra Judge Reacts to Gina Kirschenheiter’s Claim About Her Season 17 Behavior

Andrew Eccles/Bravo The cast of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" season 17.

“Real Housewives of Orange County” star Tamra Judge, who rejoined the show’s cast for season 17 after a two-year absence, responded to claims made by her castmate Gina Kirschenheiter on her Instagram Stories. In a May 2023 interview with Page Six, alongside new RHOC star, Jennifer Pedranti, Kirschenheiter spoke about how Judge acted during the production of season 17, which will begin airing on June 7, 2023. The publication reported that the 39-year-old alleged “Judge was often drunk while cameras were rolling,” stating, “Tamra was very lit a lot of the [time]” while filming the show’s upcoming seventeenth season.

On May 25, Judge encouraged her fans to ask her questions on Instagram. The Vena CBD co-founder shared one question, which read, “What is your response to Gina saying you were drunk the majority of time filming?” on her Instagram Stories. Judge replied, “Don’t give two s****.” 

She also uploaded another fan’s comment about Kirschenheiter’s claim. 

“We’re [sic] you drunk during most of the season? Gina said it was awkward,” wrote the commenter. 

Instagram Tamra Judge’s Instagram Story.

Judge replied that she and her castmates had consumed alcohol during the production of season 17. 

“I did my fair share of drinking in group event [sic]. Like the rest,” wrote Judge. 

Tamra Judge Spoke About Her Relationship With Jennifer Pedranti

In the same Page Six interview, Pedranti spoke about joining the RHOC cast for season 17. She stated that she was not prepared for how Judge behaved and explained that they were friends before filming the show’s upcoming season. As fans are aware, Judge had a heated interaction with Pedranti in the season 17 trailer. 

“[S]o to come into this part of Tamra’s life and our friendship, there were parts for me where I was like, ‘Holy s***, what is happening right now?’” stated Pedranti. 

In an April 25 Instagram Live video, hosted by Bravo’s Senior Social Content Producer, Donald Adler, Judge and her castmate Shannon Beador spoke about Pedranti. Judge shared that she met Pedranti more than five years ago when she started training at her former gym, CUT Fitness. She suggested issues with her new castmate arose when “some things went down at CUT Fitness.” 

“Our friendship got a little messy a couple years ago when a lot of s*** went down at my gym so, all that stuff — we weren’t on the best of terms when she came onto the show, so I was like ‘are you freaking kidding me? Seriously,’” said Judge. 

She also noted that she “had referred her to the show years ago” for season 14. She stated that former RHOC star Braunwyn Windham-Burke was hired instead of Pedranti.

Judge also said that she believes Pedranti is “probably one of the best newbies [the show has] had in a really long time.” In addition, she said she thinks she was able to mend her relationship with her new castmate. 

“Her and I had some things to figure out because we had some bumps in our friendship a few years ago, big bumps, and we straightened them out, I think,” said the RHOC star. 

Shannon Beador Shared She Was Pleased That Tamra Judge Returned to ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’

During the Instagram Live video, Beador shared she was pleased that Judge rejoined the RHOC cast. 

“I would like to say, on behalf of me and I think our entire cast, having Tamra come back this year was an absolute game-changer for the show, I mean, you know, you are just riveting TV, I’ll just put it that way,” said Beador. 

Judge spoke about returning to RHOC in a December 2022 interview with Extra. Judge stated that she “definitely stirred up a lot of s***” while filming the show’s seventeenth season. She also noted that she “had a lot of built up anger,” possibly due to her absence from the Bravo series. The mother of four clarified that she was happy she had the opportunity to film again. 

“It felt like home, it was something that I had done for 13 years of my life. And I guess you guys are going to have to watch and see, you might love-hate me this year, but I got my point across,” said Judge.