It’s hard to believe but the current season of The Real Housewives of Orange County has come to an end! It seems like just yesterday Tamra Judge hopped on her motorcycle and zoomed back into the OC and onto our screens. She introduced us to new housewife Jennifer Pendranti and the d*ck pic scandal with her graffiti jacket loving boyfriend Ryan Boyajian. Tamra and Jenn came to a truce during part one of the reunion. Only time will tell if it lasts.
Everyone else had their turn going at Heather Dubrow. Emily Simpson didn’t feel she supported her career, while Taylor Armstrong felt Heather was condescending towards her acting career. Time for Andy Cohen to whip out the IMDb receipts! Heather and Tamra were also at odds as to who called the group losers. Then Gina Kirschenheiter obliterated Shannon Beador. Shannon didn’t know the names of Gina’s kids, and Gina was upset Shannon brought up saving Gina’s kids from CPS to the group.
Let’s see if Andy can bring the group back together during the last episode! Here’s everything that went down in Part 2 of the Real Housewives of Orange County Season 17 reunion…
Shannon unlocked the vault
Things were still tense with Shannon and Gina. Shannon apologized for saying the CPS comment and insisted she didn’t mean to insinuate Gina’s kids would be taken away. Gina said her kids were more hurt in all this than she was. And with that it was time for a quick lunch break. Gina told Emily she would never forgive Shannon, while Shannon told Tamra that Gina could F-off. So that went well.
After lunch Andy did lighten the mood briefly when he made a joke about Shannon unblocking her friends with her at home colonic. Which did work for Jenn! But then this lead to her relationship issues with John Janssen and whether or not Shannon drank too much. Hence the reminder at the beginning of the episode that Shannon was arrested for a DUI after the taping.
Shannon blamed Heather for spilling the secrets in her vault about John. To which the group all replied in unison that Shannon called when she was drunk to spill the tea. But Shannon focused on Heather and said she was going behind her back. Cut to Heather’s confessional where she dished on Shannon and John’s relationship. Ultimately, Shannon was afraid for John to leave her. She shared that John said he was ready to propose on camera, and then left her after filming wrapped. He’s a stand up guy.
Friends with benefits
Gina and Shannon were still at it when Gina told Shannon their job was to be open on the show. It then became a one up competition between the group as to who was the most open. Shannon said she took her shirt off when she was 40 pounds overweight, and was the first housewife that delved into infidelity. Gina had a DUI, and Emily got weighed at the gym. Shannon decided to take the crown as most authentic.
Andy asked Shannon why Heather was the bad guy for talking about John, when Emily brought it up first on camera. Emily said it all started when she filmed with Gina and Heather and they talked about Shannon’s relationship. Heather then asked production when were they going to follow Shannon’s real relationship. Ouch. Shannon felt embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed John’s behavior. The group comforted her and reiterated that they just wanted her to be more open about her situation.
And now Shannon had her chance. Andy wondered why John would want to date someone on TV if they were a private person. Shannon thought he was private but noticed he would light up when the cameras were around. Tamra was then accused as the culprit who gossiped about Shannon. She denied it and only admitted to talking about Jenn. Tamra said she was harder on Jenn because John was a good guy. He only left Shannon stranded in New York, while Ryan was a cheater. Makes sense. Andy asked where she and John stood now, and Shannon admitted they were friends with benefits. Everyone cringed.
I love you, but you’re an assh*le
We couldn’t go the whole reunion without an appearance from Vicki Gunvalson. She texted Andy a picture of him surrounded by six Vicki’s on a seating chart. Maybe next year, Vicki! Now it was time to focus on Emily. We got a quick recap of her supporting her daughter’s modeling endeavors, and her tumultuous relationship with Heather. She blamed her behavior on childhood trauma and being a devotee of Tamra’s book on etiquette. Emily was one step away from shouting, “That’s my opinion!”
Emily and Tamra’s newfound friendship struck a nerve with several cast members, namely Shannon and Heather. Shannon had excluded Emily from her Tres Amigas show, and Emily wanted to know why. She wasn’t Gina! Shannon couldn’t talk her way out of it so Tamra told her to just admit she didn’t like her. Emily knew there were bigger fish to fry so she dropped it with Shannon and moved on to Heather.
She accused Heather of being phony with Tamra. Heather said she wasn’t afraid of Tamra, she was just afraid to go against her. She seemed to hold her own against Tamra at the finale. Emily then said Heather called Tamra an a**hole. Heather agreed. She loved her, but she was an asshole! Andy had his popcorn and was loving it. Emily got annoyed with Heather talking over her and called her a Judy. Is Judy the next Karen?
Gina treaded lightly and said Emily’s delivery was rough. Emily said it wasn’t aggressive, it was passion. Sure, Jan. Or is it Judy? Heather said Emily was rude when she made fun of all the HD’s at her party. Emily retorted that being called a mammoth was rude. She also heard Heather called her an asshole and said she should be fired. In a hilarious moment Heather shouted, “I never said you should be fired!” Emily totally missed Heather admitting to calling her an a**hole. We were then brought back to the merry-go-round between Tamra and Heather regarding who said what.
Loser-gate remains an unsolved mystery
After a quick recap of their wacky vacation moments, Andy got down to business. Was it Heather or Tamra who called the group losers? Heather denied it and had proof that Tamra called the group losers on her podcast. Tamra claimed to be mocking Heather after she heard her say she wanted Alexis Bellino back on the show. Heather told Tamra she was working with a bunch of losers. Mystery solved!
But no, Heather denied it. Case reopened. Emily brought up Heather telling her and Gina that someone was saying bad things about them at BravoCon. And Emily had mistaken that for Shannon. Heather told Emily she should have talked to her instead of bashing her at the party. She also denied calling Noella Bergener a loser. If I recall, Heather was pretty clear on saying it was Noella and not the cast.
Shannon and Heather admitted to having conversations about the cast and what it would be like if they weren’t on the show. The group was in a huff. Andy deemed it a conversation most people would have. We then got a split screen of Shannon and Gina arguing at the same time as Tamra and Heather. Heather felt she was held to a different standard. Shannon claimed Gina told people she was going to be fired next season. Andy quelled the situation with his patented … moving on!
However, he moved right back to solving loser-gate. He asked Tamra what she said at BravoCon. She said she joked if Heather was sitting with a bunch of losers. Andy noted that Tamra spoke poorly about the cast when she wasn’t on the show, to which Tamra shouted at Andy to “F-off!” Welp, Tamra might be put on pause again. Tamra was upset because she and Heather had gotten back on track. Only for her to find out later Heather told Emily and Gina that Tamra said bad things about them. Heather admitted it was stupid, but was upset that Emily ran with it. The mystery of loser-gate remained.
The perfect cast
Heather and Shannon finally had some resolution when Heather thanked Shannon for texting her the other day. They both agreed they got along and needed to work on their friendship. Andy also asked Tamra and Heather where their friendship stood. Tamra apologized for her behavior and said she did not want Heather to feel excluded. She missed their friendship. Heather said the more friends the better. With the two back on track, did that mean Heather was going to come back next season?
Andy ended on a high note and shared a tweet that stated the cast was perfection. He asked everyone to share what they would miss about the season. Emily said she was going to miss their fun times, and Jenn was just thankful she survived her first season. Gina was happy to move along, and Shannon said she would miss filming with her kids. Heather told the group she was happy they could all count on each other. Tamra realized she bit the hand that fed her. She told Andy if he’d have her back she would focus on getting to know Ryan better.
Andy brought out the tequila shots and Tamra lead a toast thanking the cast for accepting her back into the group. Her faux pas was forgiven as Andy welcomed her back into the fold. Afterwards, the group left to party it up. Tamra promised Jenn she would not come for her next year. Sure, Judy. And she jumped on Terry Dubrow and informed him she and Heather were besties again. It was hugs all around. Congrats to the ladies for another great season!
Real Housewives of Orange County streams on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK HEATHER WILL COME BACK NEXT SEASON? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE JENN COME BACK FOR A SECOND SEASON? WERE YOU HAPPY TO HAVE TAMRA BACK?
