The most toxic tea spilled during Dark Side of Reality TV: The Real Housewives

Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise has been going through a so-called reckoning for the past couple of years — from journalistic exposés to lawsuits from former cast members — and Vice wanders into the fray with the latest installment of its Dark Side of Reality TV series.

The episode, which premiered tonight on Vice, doesn't tread any new territory that hasn't been covered in the past, but it does give former Housewives stars Vicki Gunvalson and Jeana Keough from The Real Housewives of Orange County, Cynthia Bailey from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Aviva Drescher from The Real Housewives of New York City the chance to speak their truth and spill some tea.

The ex-'Wives discuss the behind-the-scenes machinations from some of their most iconic and/or worst moments, revealing the shadowy hand of producers while continuing to cast Housewives whisperer Andy Cohen in the dubious light that has followed him since the franchise took off well over 18 years ago.

Here are a few takeaways from Dark Side of Reality TV: The Real Housewives.

One of the most damning moments in the episode comes courtesy of OC OG Gunvalson, who recalled playing an innocent game of Bunko during season 10 at fellow Housewife Shannon Beador's house while her daughter was trying desperately to get a hold of her on the phone.

"Briana had been calling, calling, calling, and they kept telling her, 'Well, she's filming right now, blah, blah, blah,'" Gunvalson said. "She's like, 'I need to talk to my mom right now.'"

Production eventually set up Beador's wrapping room for Vicki to receive the call where she received the news that her mother had just died, unexpectedly. The entire moment was caught on camera.

"I was really upset that production knew for an hour, and they didn't tell me," Gunvalson explained. "They were out of line, and I think they should have taken me aside and said, 'Your mom has passed. Talk to your daughter off camera.' If I was a producer, that's what I would've done."

She added, "Let me scream and cry on my own and be mad. It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that."

On a lighter note, Gunvalson also reminisced about her iconic "family van" rant from season 2, which Cohen has deemed his favorite Housewives moment. Gunvalson didn't even think they were going to air the tirade, calling it "stupid," but sure enough, she noted, "It's one of the biggest things ever in the history of Bravo."

Cynthia Bailey was on 11 seasons of RHOA, and she doesn't really regret much from her time there, save for maybe two moments. The first involved her dropping a "bomb" on fellow Housewife Phaedra Parks about a cheating allegation. Bailey didn't want to do it, but said producers forced her to deliver the news.

"I'm like so stressed out about it. I don't like it. I'm literally praying for a power outage, anything to happen so I don't have to say this," Bailey shared. "I'm getting texts on my phone [from producers] and people in the corner with the teleprompter like, 'Drop the bomb, drop the bomb.'"

She continued, "I don't like bringing hurtful things to people, but unfortunately on a reality show, we have to talk about it. And that's how it works."

The second moment involves the usually calm Bailey getting into a physical altercation with Porsha Williams, which Bailey calls "one of my biggest regrets" from the show. In season 8, Bailey was going through some tough times with her husband and she recalls not eating the day she was set to film on a yacht with the other ladies.

The alcohol started flowing, as it often does, and a simple misunderstanding blew up into a fight. Kicks flew between Bailey and Williams, and the two women had to be separated.

"I was not in the best headspace," Bailey explained. "I remember actually Porsha and I drinking together. At one point during the scene, she calls me a bitch."

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And that's when all hell broke lose on the yacht. Again, as it often does.

"I just kinda snapped. I don't fight women. I've never been in a fight in my life," Bailey said, adding that she still finds the scene hard to talk about. "I don't even know, I just felt so upset with myself. One of the things I promised myself was I will never, ever, ever lose myself in a moment where I show up in a way that I don't feel good about."

But that's what happens to nearly everyone who becomes a Housewife: They end up doing things and acting in ways that are incongruous with who they are, or think they are, otherwise. Aviva Drescher logged two seasons on RHONY and initially she went on the show in hopes of bringing awareness to her philanthropic work raising money for causes that helped amputees by prosthetics, having lost part of her leg in an accident as a child.

Despite her good intentions, Drescher soon found herself dragged into the Housewives circus, and after calling the women "white trash," she became the villain — a role she leaned into.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," she said. "It was more important to please production than to be myself."

Drescher put her own needs behind those of the show, citing one particular scene with Ramona Singer. Drescher claimed production asked her to meet Singer at a restaurant to resolve a "fight" they were in over a shot of tequila. Because she was on antibiotics, Drescher asked the showrunner at the time if she could replace the vodka with water, but her request was denied.

"In that scenario, I was forced to drink," she explained, though Dark Side of Reality TV stresses that both Bravo and Cohen have denied Drescher's allegations.

Drescher felt as if she was losing herself and so she called it quits, but not before making a memorable exit.

"I remember we stopped, some of the girls were laughing, I was laughing. It was really just a funny scene," Drescher said of her heavily meme'd leg toss. "When I was done with the drama and nonsense, the partygoers applauded. And if that doesn't also speak to the fact that this is theater, I don't know what does."

Drescher refers to the Housewives as "gladiators with tits" and, well, are you not entertained?