Vicki Gunvalson is making a return to The Real Housewives of Orange County in Season 17, and she’s super excited for the “Tres Amigas” to be reunited. After a few years of some ups and downs — both on-camera and off — she, Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador are in a good spot again, and fans will see more of their shenanigans when the new season debuts later this year. But even though Vicki is happy to be back on the show, she isn’t a huge fan of her other co-stars.
“I’m fine with Heather [Dubrow]. Gina [Kirschenheiter] and Emily [Simpson] — I mean, there’s no real relationship there,” Vicki, who’s likely only returning to RHOC in a guest-starring capacity at this time, told us during a recent episode of HollywoodLife‘s Real Housewives podcast, Pay Attention Puh-Lease!. “They’re fine. I mean, truly, they’re fine. Emily’s great. Gina’s fine. [But] I don’t have a relationship with them. We don’t talk. There’s no [commonality].”
“I don’t really understand [their roles on the show],” she continued. “I don’t. I don’t. When I created the show — you know, [producer] Scott Dunlop, [and OG star] Jeana Keough, and I — we were about women working, showing our true life, and it just changed, you know? Everything just changed. They brought in people that weren’t friends together, and I don’t know if it’s worked as well. It hasn’t because the ratings have gone down.”
Vicki went on to say that she has a hard time connecting with new people, especially on the show — “I feel territorial” she told us. Gina and Emily both joined RHOC at the start of Season 13, and they recently filmed Season 17 with Vicki, Tamra, Heather, Shannon and RHOBH alum Taylor Armstrong.
Vicki thinks Bravo is currently making good changes by bringing her, Tamra and Heather back to the show. “It’s always good to bring back in the old ones — that’s why they’re doing these legacy shows and [RHUGT],” she said. “I do believe there’s room for the younger ones, but most of the people that I run into say, ‘I watched you since I was in college,’ and now they’re in their 40s,” she said, noting that longtime fans of the show want to keep following her and her life. “I think fun needs to come back in.”
To hear that and more, including Vicki’s recent AirSculpt procedure that helped her drop a ton of weight, listen to the full podcast episode above.
Season 17 of The Real Housewives of Orange County is expected to premiere later this year.