‘RHOC’ Star Braunwyn Windham-Burke Reveals She’s Gay & Admits A Kiss With Tamra Judge Helped Her Come Out

Braunwyn Windham-Burke is living her most authentic life. The Real Housewives of Orange County star, 43, officially came out during an interview with GLAAD — Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation — on December 2 and was so excited to live her truth in the public eye. “I like women. I’m gay,” the reality TV star proudly announced. “I’m a member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

The Bravo star went on to share that it’s “taken me 42 years to say that but I am so proud of where I am right now. I’m so happy where I am. To be able to be comfortable in my own skin after so long is just so nice,” she continued. “I’m just now starting to feel like I’m becoming the woman I’m supposed to be. I’ve always known it, but it took me, personally, 42 years to be comfortable in my own skin to say that,” she added.

Braunwyn further explained when it was that she really began to come to terms with her sexuality. “I had a scene with Tamra [Judge] that everyone kind of talked about,” she recalled of an October 2019 episode of the reality TV series, in which Tamra and Braunwyn made out at Shannon Storms Beador‘s birthday party. “When we were getting ready for the reunion I was talking to a producer that I trust a lot, his name was James, and he said, ‘How do you feel about this? Was it a drunken mistake or is this a part of who you are?’ And I said, ‘This is who I am,'” Braunwyn shared, reflecting on the moment.

“When I went to the reunion last year I kind of started baby-stepping into, ‘This is who I am. I like women.’ I was testing the waters with my friends, my cast, my family,” she confessed. Braunwyn also opened up about meeting someone she wanted to pursue — a woman she had fallen for. “I met someone that I was interested in pursuing a relationship with,” she said. “It became something that I didn’t want to hide anymore and I didn’t want to keep secret anymore.”

Braunwyn is still married to her husband, Sean Burke, and the couple share seven children together —  Hazel, 2, Koa, 4, twins Caden and Curran, 7, Jacob, 15, Rowan, 18, and Bella, 20. The reality TV star also elaborated on her current marital status, revealing that she and Sean “are still married” and that she plans on “staying married. We are not sleeping in the same bedroom right now, but we are in the same house. We are raising our kids together, he’s my best friend. He knows the girl I’m dating.”

While Braunwyn admitted that she and her family are in “unchartered territories,” they’re all still making it work, and her family has her back. “It’s only as weird as you make it,” she explained. “I don’t know how we are making it all work right now, but we are.”