This season of Real Housewives of Orange County has been the equivalent of friendships in a blender, as the ladies have swapped buddies, traded aliases, and gotten us all mixed up with the flavors! First, Tamra Barney and Gretchen Rossi became BFFLs, bonding over blowjob helpers and bad dye jobs. And now, Alexis Bellino and Vicki Gunvulson have apparently discovered they have much more in common than their television jobs—the Bravo one, obviously, not the newscastering one.
While it’s no stretch to see Tamretchen joined at the hip and cackling, Vicki and Alexis (Vilexis?) are quite the odd couple. But apparently, Paula Abdul was right and opposites attract.
Taking to her Bravo Blog, Alexis explains how she and Vicki went from enemies, to frienemies, to friends. “The friendship between Vicki and I wasn’t immediate. It has taken three years for Vicki and I to GROW into our friendship. Yes, Vicki said some mean things about me in the past, and yes I wasn’t always the kindest to her. However, we have both been very open about the fact that we wanted to try to make amends over three years, NOT OVERNIGHT!”
And, of course, their former best friends defecting to enemy lines had absolutely nothing to do with Vilexis’ bond. “Vicki and I were trying to make amends last year, before Tamra ever thought about scheming a friendship with Gretchen, so don’t let Tamra or Gretchen fool you that Vicki and I are only friends because those two became friends.”
“The friendship between Vicki and I is not out of convenience, nor is it contrived. Vicki and I have both said we have nothing to dislike the other person for, and we really enjoy being around each other,” Alexis adds. “Not only that, but Vicki apologized to me for everything in the past and said that if Tamra hadn’t been in her ear she would have gotten to know me and befriended me sooner.”
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“It’s ironic to me that Tamra suddenly has an issue with Vicki becoming friends with me, but doesn’t seem to feel it’s strange what she is doing with Gretchen, and same goes for Gretchen. HELLO ladies, you two were talking smack on each other and are friends again!”
Moving on, Vicki is also defending her friendship status with Lex. “I really enjoyed spending time with the ladies and actually without Gretchen and Tamra there it seemed to be less stressful for some reason. I don’t know why, but it did,” Vicki muses in her Bravo blog.
“I don’t like the conflict that is brewing between Gretchen and Alexis, nor do I like Tamra not really liking that I am friends with Alexis. I like Alexis, and now that I have gotten to know her on a more personal level, she’s harmless, sweet, and very easy to be around. At the end of the day, that is much easier than someone who wants to fight, judge you, or is confrontational. It’s been very easy between us which I need more of in my life lately.”
But Vicki touches on something much more important in her blog—the other storyline that is attracting major attention this season: Her relationship with boyfriend Brooks Ayers! It seems no one can really understand her relationship and even her close friends are questioning Brooks’ sincerity and his motives! Vicki wants everyone to know, that despite telling Brooks her daddy needs to approve, she’s a big girl and everything is good!
“Some people, including Tamra, have voiced her opinion about ‘keeping her eye on Brooks to supposedly protect me.’ My question to her is. . .PROTECT ME FROM WHAT?!,” Vicki seethes!
Vicki adds, “Although I find it nice that she cares about me, I’ve told her she has nothing to worry about. I have known Brooks in the insurance/investment business for over five years, which quite frankly is longer than she has known Eddie [Judge].” Vicki has hinted that Tamra’s skepticism over her relationship has caused major tension in their relationship; including a big blow-out in the season finale, but the two friends have worked past things and are still very close.
“He makes me very happy and at the end of the day that is all what we should wish for one another,” Vicki gushes. “One thing that you do not get to do is get into his soul, his mind, and his heart, as the show captures us at times in a very skewed way.”
And she clarifies that while Brooks can check her email any ol’ time he wants—her bank account is off limits. And no amount of Hallmark card giving is going to change that! “Brooks does not have access to my money, my bank accounts, or any of my financial accounts. He has his own accounts, and I have mine — and neither one of us have access to each other’s personal finances,” Vicki explains. “I only said that to merely point out that I have nothing to hide from him and that we are completely transparent when it comes to one another.”
Vicki also requests that we be kind to Brooks and treat him with respect. Which c’mon—we’re not going to do that—if you’re on reality television it’s always open-season as far as snark goes!
Apparently, Brooks doesn’t need his ladylove to defend him (although I’m sure she’d like a card affirming that he finds it very sweet that she does), because he is speaking out to defend himself!
Speaking to Real Housewives Blog, Brooks describes how he met Vicki and what he thinks of appearing on the show. He says they met while she was filming Season 2 of RHOC and things stayed platonic for years. And he is adamant that he had no idea what RHOC was—that I believe, given it was only in its second season and not the hugely successful show it is today.
Brooks is very happy in his relationship and says he is very in love with Vicki—but no plans to marry—yet! “We both are totally committed to each other but have a long way to go before we even consider marriage,” he declares. “We both feel privileged to have our best friends (each other) as our ‘significant’ other,” he adds. “She is the most thoughtful person that I know.”
“As far as the show is concerned, I have learned that with editing the producers can capture a moment in time, take it out of context, and make it seem as though there is constant drama,” Brooks explains. “Off camera, we really enjoy the company of most cast members. I know the truth about where I have been in my life…the mistakes, the what if moments, and the fact that I have embraced and learned from my past is what I want to challenge others in never giving up the fight to continue growing as a person, partner, parent, or friend.”
Brooks claims the show “provides insight to peoples real worlds, but has a tendency to skew on the drama side. One has to realize that for every episode that airs, we film about 35-40 hours per 7-10 minutes of airtime. Logically, the audience doesn’t see the ‘build up to the drama’ or the ‘make up to the drama’….but only sees the ‘drama’!”
Brooks also admits that after getting off on the wrong foot, he and Tamra are now in a good place and she is supportive of his relationship with Vicki. “I believe and trust that Tamra, as any good friend would do, was simply being a good friend to Vicki by inquiring about me,” Brooks says. “We have spent more time with Tamra and Eddie on couple dates that anyone in the cast, so I know where she was/is coming from. I believe that Tamra would certainly concur that we are good for each other.”
Finally, Brooks discusses the infamous “dead beat dad” allegations that have surrounded him since word got out that he was Vicki’s boyfriend. Brooks openly discloses that he fell behind in support, he is now current on his payments.
“Being labeled a deadbeat is a tough pill to swallow, especially because I talk to, text, email, and visit my kids daily!;” Brooks shares. “I did fall on hard times in 2008… just like everyone did. What I would like folks to know is that I have always supported my kids emotionally, physically, and financially. For a period of 21 months, I could only pay my ex wife 60% of what I owed her monthly. In MS (Brooks lives in Mississippi) , if one falls back on child support greater than $3,000 in total, then they can be found in contempt and go to jail.”
“I was on the hook for $8,000 per month. So that equates to only 1 ½ weeks and I was in contempt,” he adds. “It needs to be noted, that I did try for months to get in front of the judge to get a modification…but that never went my way in terms of timing. I am now caught up and paying monthly, fyi.”
DO VICKI AND ALEXIS HAVE A TRUE FRIENDSHIP OR ARE THEY JUST TRYING TO MAKE TAMRA AND GRETCHEN JEALOUS? IS BROOKS SINCERE ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH VICKI? SHOULD SHE TRUST HIM?
