Tamra Judge, 52, made the difficult decision to walk away from The Real Housewives Of Orange County after 12 seasons on the show. The news came after she was only asked to return as a “friend”, instead of a full-time housewife. But she’s now revealing that there’s still hope for a future full-time return. At least based on what Andy Cohen told her. “[He] did contact me afterwards and just said, ‘You know what? They want to mix things up a little bit,’ Tamra told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY during a live episode of TVTalk on Instagram on May 8. “[He said], ‘Take some time off, come back the following year.'”
Sometimes everything happens for a reason in life and Tamra is no exception to the rule. After production on Season 14 wrapped, it was revealed that Tamra’s ex-husband Simon Barney, 56, was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer, making it hard for her to imagine filming such dramatic scenes her co-stars. “I knew that it was going to be a difficult year for me to film because of Simon and the kids,” Tamra shared. “I couldn’t imagine partying and drinking and going out. That was weighing heavy on me so, when I got the call, they were like, ‘Well, they decided to go in a different direction,’ and I was just shocked. I was like, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ And they were like, ‘Oh, well they wanted to give you a limited role,’ and I’m like, ‘No way.’ I didn’t want to do it.”
Tamra is still trying to figure out how the demotion to a “friend” role happened. After all, producers led her to believe that everything for Season 15 would be business as usual. “It was kind of a shock to me because I knew I was going back. The production office called to set up the kickoff meeting, which means they come to the house before filming stuff, [and find out] what’s going on, let’s schedule some things, let’s talk, so I thought, ‘Oh man, this is happening,'” Tamra revealed. “I feel like I wanted to give 100 percent to that show and I have for the past 12 years and I never sell short any drama. I don’t produce, I don’t edit myself, I am who I am and if I come to an end where all good things come to an end and I’m not that interesting anymore, then just let me go.”
The VENA CBD and CUT Fitness owner isn’t missing much though, as filming has officially been halted due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Still, the former orange holding housewife has hoping for a return, should the show go on when this pandemic is over. “I don’t know,” Tamra said on her thoughts of eventually returning. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t even know if there’s going to be a season at this point. If it happens, it happens. I’m not counting on it. I’m moving forward. I’m not really a person who dwells on the past. I’m like, ‘Let’s go. What’s next?'”
