‘Real Housewives’ Star Addresses Claims She Faked Cancer

“Real Housewives of Orange County” personality Vicki Gunvalson says her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Brooks Ayers, still negatively impacts her.

During a September 2024 episode of her podcast, “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast,” Gunvalson said she has been accused of “faking cancer” by some RHOC viewers because of her romance with Ayers. As fans are aware, Gunvalson’s castmates were skeptical of Ayers’s 2013 stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. People magazine reported that Ayers confirmed that he “forged medical records relating to his cancer diagnosis” in November 2015.

“Some people are saying right now, ‘You can’t come back on [RHOC] because you faked cancer.’ First of all, for all you all, I never had cancer. So how could I fake it?” said Gunvalson during her podcast episode. “Number two. If somebody faked it that I was with, blame them. Don’t blame me. I didn’t know one way or the other. So all of you all, stop it! It’s ridiculous. It’s disrespectful to me as a woman.”

In addition, she said she did not “scam” anyone.

“I was scammed!” said Gunvalson.

She also said she is still unsure “if he had cancer or not.”

“He said he’s not showing me the records because I was a blabbermouth. And he said ‘If I do show you the records, you’re going to misconstrue them. So I’m showing you nothing.’ So I never knew one way or the other,” said Gunvalson.

In addition, Gunvalson said she believed Ayers had the best intentions for her during their relationship, which ended in 2015.

Brooks Ayers Released a Statement in 2016

Ayers released a statement about how he was portrayed in RHOC in a 2016 statement to People magazine. He said he did not appreciate that he was painted “as a con man, low life, gold digger, dead beat, etc.” during his relationship with Gunvalson. Ayers also said he did not take “advantage of [Gunvalson].”

He went on to say that he “was given the unfortunate news of [his] cancer diagnosis” before the production of RHOC season 10, which premiered in June 2015. According to Ayers, he had requested Gunvalson that they “deal with this in a very private manner so as to keep out the noise of any questioning of [his] treatment choices moving forward.” Ayers then said Gunvalson ignored his request.

“However, Vicki felt compelled to share a private email later that night with Tamra Judge and Lauri Peterson along with a text to Shannon Beador asking for all of their support during this time rather than conflict. I was not okay with that at all when I found out about it, however the information about my diagnosis was out,” stated Ayers.

Ayers also said he chose not to let Gunvalson know more information about his diagnosis due to the reaction from the RHOC cast.

“It wasn’t because I had anything to hide, yet I wasn’t going to be bullied into doing something that I wasn’t comfortable revealing to coworkers/cast mates of Vicki’s who did not have my best interest at heart,” said Ayers.

In addition, he said Gunvalson did not lie about him having cancer.

“First, Vicki was not ‘in on any cancer scam or created storyline. There is no scam. I simply didn’t continue to give her information about my illness when I learned of the devious nature and intentions of the cast,” stated Ayers.

Vicki Gunvalson Had a Health Scare in August 2024

Gunvalson had a health scare in August 2024. During the August 25 episode of “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast,” Gunvalson said that she exhibited signs of a stroke. She said after she was rushed to the hospital, she was misdiagnosed “as having a sinus infection.” Eventually, doctors determined that she had “pneumonia and sepsis.” Gunvalson has since recovered.

New episodes of RHOC air on Thursdays on Bravo.