Vicki Gunvalson is opening up about the moment that ended her years-long friendship with Tamra Judge.
As Tamra, 57, continues to say she’s done nothing to Vicki, 62, the Real Housewives of Orange County alum discussed the moment in which she knew Tamra was not someone she wanted in her life while also addressing the fallout from Shannon Beador‘s DUI and explaining why she doesn’t regret her comments about Tamra’s estrangement from her daughter, Sidney Barney.
“We were doing a show, Tres Amigas, and … the start of it was we were doing a great show. It’s like a song and dance. And, obviously, we know Shannon got a DUI and Tamra was so brutally mean to Shannon. And Shannon did have a cocktail after the show. She wasn’t driving. We had drivers, and you know, she started judging Shannon,” Vicki recalled on Hollywood Raw With Dax Holt and Adam Glyn. “And I’m Shannon’s friend as well. And I just said, ‘Can you just like lay back a little bit on her?’ You’re so hard on her.'”
“It just got so ugly and mean, and it wasn’t pertaining really toward me, but I saw the character of the person that I called a friend, and I just realized, like, I don’t want to be around that in my life,” she added.
According to Vicki, Tamra called Shannon “terrible things” amid filming on season 18, and she continuously tried to hold her accountable despite the steps Shannon took after her arrest.
“Shannon has been in therapy. She’s been in counseling. She went to, you know, everything she had to do for her police record to be allowing her to drive with a breathalyzer,” Vicki revealed. “It was like a pivoting moment when I had been at a dinner and she was calling Shannon a c*nt and all this. And I thought, ‘Why are you making this your business? This is not your business. This is Shannon’s problem.’ And, you know, I felt bad for Shannon.”
Vicki also feels Tamra has made a habit of going after people on each season of RHOC.
“She’s attacked me some years. She’s attacked, you know, [Gretchen Rossi], she’s attacked [Gina Kirschenheiter]. She attacked every single, [Heather Dubrow] last year, it’s like every single year she’s after somebody. It’s, like, stop. We can film a great reality show without hurting people,” she noted. “She got back on, and she thought she had to prove a point that she’s this mean girl. And I don’t want to be around it.”
After observing Tamra’s behavior, Vicki prayed about their relationship and decided to take a step back.
“She’s not [a] person I want to call a friend. If I got a problem, I’m not going to call Tamra. And that’s sad to me,” Vicki admitted. “She’s just she’s a mean girl [on] and off camera … I don’t need friends like that.”
As for whether she misses her friendship with Tamra, Vicki confirmed they had fun at the start of their Tres Amigas tour.
“We had a lot of fun and we loved each other and hugged each other,” she recalled. “But when I think about every season, she was going after somebody … And I don’t miss that.”
After labeling Tamra “unpredictable,” Vicki said that when it comes to a potential reconciliation, Tamra is simply not someone she wants “in [her] life,” especially after her recent health scare.
“Tamra’s not going to change. [And] I just don’t need that in my life,” she stated. “It makes me realize my circle’s super small. And … if she really cared about me, she’d call me and say, ‘You know what? I’ve been out of line with Shannon and you.'”
Following her near-death experience, Vicki said she heard from all of her RHOC castmates, except for Tamra.
“All my cast members reached out except one. And we know who the one was,” she revealed. “Bravo sent me a huge bouquet arrangement. Our production company said, ‘Please get better. We love you. You’re Bravo family.’ That brought tears to my eyes. My kids were so great. They don’t live near me, but they sent me the first beautiful floral arrangement, um, and a lovely note, just saying, ‘We love you, Mom.'”
As RHOC fans may have recently seen, Tamra shared a video of herself crying after learning that Vicki had suggested she didn’t care enough about saving her relationship with Sidney to leave the show.
“Were there tears? There were no tears. She’s a good actress,” Vicki said of the clip. “What is the point of her doing that? Why doesn’t she call me if that’s how she really felt? She wants attention. That’s what she wants. She wants attention.”
Looking back, Vicki confirmed she didn’t feel bad for mentioning Sidney.
“She keeps talking about it all the time. Every, every season, ‘My daughter doesn’t talk to me.’ Like, if you don’t want anyone to know, then stop talking about it,” she advised.
Also on the podcast, Vicki said that Tamra is likely sharing videos of her recent plastic surgery procedure and chemical peels because she “wants attention.”
“She’s an attention seeker. And she’s trying to divert from how bad she’s looked on the show this season,” Vicki suspected. “I’m sure she got it comped if she would show it … That’s what a lot of people do when they show their services, and that’s fine, but I just think she’s going overboard with all these, you know, FaceTime videos and stuff.”
“It’s like … go to bed,” she concluded.
