Why is Vicki Gunvalson so mad?
The Real Housewives of Orange County reunion’s third and final installment—which aired Thursday night, Dec. 26—was nothing short of an emotional roller coaster, complete with trash talking, tears and a well-deserved round of tequila. Gunvalson only sat on the reunion couch until the first commercial break (the original OC housewife returned to the series this past year in a recurring “friend” role, as opposed to her previous slot in its main cast), but managed to leave her mark on the spirited sit-down nonetheless.
Before bombarding the camera with a series of emphatic f–k yous from her Bravo dressing room, Vicki took aim at RHOC newcomer Braunwyn Windham-Burke, whose personal life became the unlikely subject of a spirited diatribe by Gunvalson at the start of the evening.
“We have got to be women that people want to emulate to be,” she said first, referencing the lighthearted smooches between Braunwyn and Tamra Judge that played out onscreen this past season.
Also seriously bothering Vicki was the fact that Braunwyn shared her and husband Sean Burke‘s occasional propensity for threesomes with the RHOC cameras during an earlier episode.
“Do you think people want to emulate this trash? Kissing each other,” Gunvalson scoffed, nodding to Judge and then, more pointedly, Windham-Burke seated across from her.
“We are all supposed to be role models for our children, for our grandchildren,” she continued, just minutes ahead of host Andy Cohen‘s reminder—bolstered by supporting comments from Tamra, Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson—that Vicki’s RHOC history does include topless antics, sex act demonstrations and alcohol-induced bed wetting.
But after performing the sign of the cross in response to Braunwyn’s subsequent comment that lots of people “actually do find something in [her story] that’s a role model,” Gunvalson segued into a lengthy bout of frustrated shouting.
“I think it’s disgusting!” she screamed both angrily and ironically, igniting a due chorus jaw drops and eyebrow raises from around the room.
“You think her life choices are disgusting?” Cohen reiterated, to which Vicki—still yelling—told Braunwyn to “choose your lane.” Why? Because that’s how Vicki Gunvalson “was raised!”
“I didn’t do what this one does to try to figure out a way to stay on the show to be sensationalized,” Gunvalson continued, pointing again to Windham-Burke, who she additionally suggested should “get off the show” so the rest of the cast could “elevate.” Can we revisit Vicki’s rationale here for a second?
“Fifteen years, I started this show,” the RHOC veteran told cast mates for not the first nor last time Thursday night. She pretty much, like, invented them! And according to her, “We don’t do that.”
“You’re not the boss of me!” attested an almost amused Windham-Burke, vowing later to never change who she is, “no matter what happens.”
See snippets of the RHOC reunion drama in the highlight clips above.
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