Kelly Dodd isn’t shedding any tears over Real Housewives of Orange County cast mates Vicki Gunvalson, 57, and Tamra Judge, 52, not returning to the show for season 15. Vicki was an OG, although she had been reduced to friend status, and Tamra had been with the show for 12 of it’s 14 seasons. A fan on Instagram asked, “Would you oblige us nosy people like myself with any comment on your two now former cast members announcing they’re leaving the show?” and Kelly didn’t hold back.
“Everyone is expendable. Never think you are never going to be fired. I’m grateful that I have this job!!! Now I think the show won’t be so dark and fun to watch,” the 44-year-old replied. Ouch! So with the departures of Vicki and Tamra, the show is going to take a more positive tone? There will still be drama, because as we EXCLUSIVELY told you, Kelly and Shannon Beador, 55, are both returning and the ladies are still feuding. “Kelly and Shannon have been asked to return to the show,” a source close to RHOC production shared EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife. Shannon is “now going to have a chance to move past her issues with Kelly,” in the forthcoming season.
Vicki broke the news to fans on Jan. 24 that she wasn’t coming back to RHOC. In an Instagram post she wrote, “I will always be the OG of the OC, but it’s time to say goodbye to The Real Housewives of Orange County. It’s been an incredible ride for 14 years and I want to thank all of you for your support, for your love and for ‘whooping it up’ with me along the way.” She then said that she would be focusing on her new podcast
However, “Vicki was notified that she would not be coming back full-time, so the network agreed to let her walk away on her terms out of respect for her,” an insider spilled to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “The network knew Vicki would take this hard so they wanted to let her know before making final casting decisions for everyone else next season. She did have a conversation with Andy before posting on social media. Vicki is sad, but she understands it’s business and she seems to be looking forward to her podcast,” our source continued.
The following day Tamra dropped the news to fans that she was departing as well, saying she was “sad to go,” but that it was “time to move on.” But she joined Real Housewives Executive Producer Andy Cohen in an Instagram live session on Jan. 27 and explained everything seemed good to go for her returning for season 15. Then she got a text from the production offices to call them and she got the bad news. It caused her to unfollow some of her now-former cast mates and Andy as a result.
“I was a little bit in shock. And because I knew it was going to be a sh*tstorm. I didn’t want to read about it, I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to be hurt any more than I already was. So I just unfollowed everybody. It was just like my instinct. Out of sight, out of mind. I don’t have to see it. Now I’m good. I’ve accepted it,” she explained to Andy.