Heavy/Getty Vicki Gunvalson
Original “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Vicki Gunvalson hasn’t appeared as a main cast member since the end of the show’s 13th season in 2018. While Gunvalson has made multiple guest appearances on the show since, it seemed she would not be returning to filming for season 18.
“They haven’t provided a contract. If I hung on, they’re giving it some stability, right? Because otherwise all they do is fight. That’s not fun to watch. I want to show strength and encouragement and inspiration to win. That you can do it all and you can have it all and you can grow old gracefully […] If it’s not meant to be, it won’t be. I’ve got really great things in store. I’m a believer in God, what’s meant to be to be. And God’s going to open doors for me. And if it’s not this, another bigger door will blow open,” Gunvalson told E! News in December 2023.
Now, however, TMZ reported on February 23 that the original orange holder would be making a return to the series in a guest capacity for season 18 after Gunvalson appeared at an on-camera event.
Vicki Gunvalson Reportedly Fought With Tamra Judge
According to TMZ, Gunvalson accompanied her friend and current RHOC star Shannon Beador to a filmed group event to confront her friend Tamra Judge. TMZ also reported that Gunvalson sat down for lunch on-camera with Beador and Heather Dubrow prior to the group event, where Judge’s name came up as a topic of conversation.
Judge and Gunvalson have been back and forth on social media in the new year. After Judge turned down the opportunity to host more Tres Amigas live shows with Gunvalson and Beador, the pair decided to announce their own “Shannon and Vicki Live” tour without her. “I guess anybody can back out of anything, but you give the people you’re doing it with a conversation. I’m hurt,” Gunvalson told Jeff Lewis in a February 2024 clip from his Sirius XM radio show.
Gunvalson also threw shade on Judge in January 2024, calling her a “traitor” on social media. Judge responded to the claims in a January interview with Entertainment Tonight, telling the outlet, “I think that people are gonna understand my concerns and, you know, as far as the Tres Amigas show, I felt like we should not have done it right after [Beador’s September 2023] DUI. I felt like she needed to concentrate on herself. … Conversations were had between us about it, and how I felt.”
Fans will have to see the scene play out in RHOC season 18 once it airs for the full story, however TMZ added that Gunvalson’s appearance and confrontation with Judge ended in a blowup between the old friends, with Judge, Gunvalson, and Beador’s friendships worse off at the end of the event.
When is RHOC Season 18 Premiering?
Fans who want to see the drama play out may need to wait a few more months before RHOC season 18 hits their screens. Bravo has not yet announced an airdate for the new crop of episodes, which are currently being filmed. Based on the pattern from previous seasons, new episodes can be expected anytime this Summer (season 17 of the series premiered in June 2023), however recent seasons including 15 and 16 have premiered as late as the Fall and Winter, so nothing is set in stone until it gets confirmed by the network.
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