It's become a bit of Bravo custom to welcome back former Real Housewives stars to reinvigorate a season of the reality franchise as a guest star or "Friend Of"—think Denise Richards' cannabis dinner party cameo on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or Alexis Bellino returning to The Real Housewives of Orange County to ruffle Shannon Beador's feathers and fill the hole left by departing cast member Taylor Armstrong. Now, it looks like another O.C. alum will allegedly be making her grand return to the SoCal-set series: Vicki Gunvalson.
An O.G. cast member of RHOC, Gunvalson appeared on the reality series for its first thirteen seasons, before being demoted to a "Friend Of" in Season 14. After departing the franchise in 2020, Gunvalson made several guest appearances during the show's seventeenth season, a move that will reportedly continue in the show's upcoming Season 18.
As reported by TMZ, Gunvalson was recently asked back by Bravo to film as a guest on RHOC's eighteenth season, specifically to join Beador and the rest of the full-time cast — including Heather Dubrow, Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter and Jennifer Pedranti — to confront fellow cast member Tamra Judge. According to the outlet, show producers were allegedly hoping " the women would hash out their issues and move on," but instead the night "turned into an explosive fight between the trio" of Judge, Gunvalson and Beador.
Back in the day, the three women were incredibly close, even going by a "Tres Amigas" group moniker. (Remember when Shannon welcomed Vicki and Tamra with sombreros and tequila shots at the Puerto Vallarta airport and within minutes Gunvalson had peed her pants and fallen to the ground? We'll never forget.) However, it looks like the former friends are very much feuding, with Page Six reporting that Judge even left their "Tres Amigas" live shows and started a competing podcast tour, "Two Ts In a Pod," with Teddi Mellencamp.
Like Gunvalson, Judge herself had previously quit the Real Housewives of Orange County ahead of Season 15, with both former series stars throwing public jabs at their "boring" castmates. (That seems to be a trend among the departing Housewives, including Lisa Rinna.) However, it seems Tamra had a change of heart, as she returned as a main cast member on RHOC for Seasons 17 and 18 (much to the chagrin of Heather Dubrow).
However, like Tamra, Vicki is back in the reality TV fold, with TMZ reporting that, prior to the big blowout between her and Judge, Gunvalson also filmed a lunch with Shannon and Heather, where they discussed the ongoing drama with Tamra.
Vicki is one of Bravo boss Andy Cohen's favorite Housewives stars, and he has previously admitted to missing seeing Gunvalson on the series. So, who knows, the O.G. star might come back to "whoop it up" even more in future episodes. With filming having just kicked off last month, fans likely won't get to see the onscreen confrontation between the "Tres Amigas" on The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18 until later in 2024, but we'll keep everything updated on our 2024 TV premiere schedule.
In the meantime, revisit better times between the "Tres Amigas" by streaming RHOC with a Peacock subscription.
