'The Real Housewives of Orange County's Tamra Judge and Vicki Gunvalson reveal they are no longer estranged from Shannon Beador.
The Bea-door is open for a Tres Amigas reunion!
Yes, after years of feuding over interviews and on social media, it seems that The Real Housewives of Orange County stars Tamra Judge, Vicki Gunvalson and Shannon Beador are in a good place... or at least headed toward one. Fans took notice when Tamra re-followed Shannon on Instagram recently, and Tamra says that is in fact a positive sign.
"We were on a three-way text, Shannon, Tamra and I, talking about getting together," Vicki confesses to ET, seated beside Tamra as they ramp up for the premiere of Peacock's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club. "I Facetimed with Shannon the other night. ... She told me she loves me, she misses me, she needs me back on the show... blah, blah, blah. It was great, and then she called me afterward. She goes, 'I really love you,' when she got home. I said, 'OK, I love you, too, but where's the last two years been? Because I wasn't on the show you didn't love me?' She goes, 'I did...'"
Vicki, Tamra and Shannon seemed like an unbreakable trio until Bravo fired Vicki and Tamra from RHOC at the end of season 14. Vicki and Tamra have maintained that they felt abandoned by Shannon, but Shannon has always said she did not kick them to the curb. The fact that they spoke about the supposed estrangement publicly seemed to cement it as real.
"There's a lot to talk about, I think," Tamra admits. "Most of all, our feelings got hurt. It's a hard place to be, where you get fired from a show that you've been on for so long ... and then have one of your good friends not reach out to you."
While the ladies have yet to meet up in person, Tamra says reconciliation became realistic after it got back to Shannon that Tamra was defending her on her podcast, Two Ts in a Pod, which she co-hosts with fellow fired Housewife Teddi Mellencamp (of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills).
"We recap Orange County, and at the [season 16] reunion I had mentioned I really felt sorry for Shannon," Tamra explains. "I felt like she was being ganged up on and all that, and then she had told one of my friends, 'Oh my god, that was nice of her to say that...' like, 'Let her know thank you...' and then there was kind of that communication, and then on Mother's Day there was a text, a group text, between the three of us which was very sweet."
Fans will surely want cameras there to capture the in-person reunion, whenever that plays out. Over the course of the two seasons of RHOC without Tamra and Vicki, there's been some viewer push to bring them back to the show in some capacity. Vicki claims she recently spoke to Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen about the possibility, while Tamra had to assure him that her podcast -- which recaps all things in the Bravo universe -- is not a conflict of interest when it comes to being a Housewife. He voiced concerns on a June episode of Jeff Lewis' RadioAndy show.
"He was under the impression that I had this [gossipy] type of podcast, behind the scenes, and I’m like, 'No, we don't. We are literally supporting Bravo. We have some of the best guests on the show,'" she shares. "I was able to clear the air and, yeah, he didn't say on there, 'Tamra will not be back!' It was just, I mean the press went crazy with it and it is what it is. We'll see what happens."
During her own appearance on Jeff Lewis' show following Andy's interview, Tamra suggested Heather Dubrow got in the Watch What Happens Live host's ear about her and her podcast, seeing as Heather shared a similar sentiment on her own podcast, Heather Dubrow's World.
"At this point, how would you have someone back who just talks about the show all the time?" Heather asked when a guest brought up the idea of Tamra returning to RHOC. "Once you become someone who talks about shows, especially a show you were on, how can you then go back to that show? It doesn’t work."
Tamra says she's spoken to Heather about those comments, too, but doesn't offer anything beyond a conversation that took place. Heather returned to RHOC for season 16 after her own four-season absence.
While she waits for word on a potential comeback of her own, Tamra's happy to focus on Two Ts, much to Vicki's chagrin. The OG of the OC is not exactly a fan of the show, or at least Tamra's co-host.
"I don't know Teddi Mellencamp, but I don't like Teddi Mellencamp," she shares. "I don't know something about her bugs me."
Vicki was one of Teddi and Tamra's first guests, an appearance which ended with Vicki giving them feedback about needing a better rundown and calling the show boring. "They used me for better ratings," she quips. The show has actually only grown since Tamra joined Teddi on it (the show was formerly known as The Teddi Tea Pod), becoming one of iHeart's top reality show-focused programs.
"This is rude that you keep pitching your TWOTs," Vicki exclaims after a little more discussion of the pod, invoking the show's NSFW acronym-turned-nickname. She also refers to it as "Two Twits" and "Two Ps in a Todd" before busting out her trademark fake snore. Fans can see more of this duo in action on RHUGT. Tamra promises some very unexpected drama, beyond the feud Vicki's found herself in with The Real Housewives of New York City's Dorinda Medley, who hosted the trip.
"We talk about our time on the Housewives show," she teases. "We break the fourth wall and I feel like people are really interested in that."
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip starts streaming June 23 on Peacock.
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