Going back to Cali! After nearly a year away, the OG Real Housewives franchise is back and better than ever heading into its landmark tenth year. Returning favorites Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, and Shannon Beador are joined by newbie Meghan King Edmonds for a season of The Real Housewives of Orange County that promises meltdowns, health scares, new babies, and even sharks!
The season premiere, “Under Construction,” laid the groundwork for all the drama to come, catching everyone up on what the Orange County Housewives have been up to since we last saw them on Bravo. Turns out a lot can change in a couple of months! Read on to find out all the details about each woman’s new status quo in the June 8 episode.
Heather Dubrow
Dubrow brags in her new tagline that her life is “pretty close” to perfect, and in the premiere episode she backed up that claim by showing off the new house she is building. Yes, she was stressed by the grandeur of the project, which keeps creeping over budget during its year-plus duration. Then again, she was positive that all the stress will be worth it when she gets her massive closet. Once that happens, she’ll be even closer to that perfect life!
Best Moment: At a certain point, Heather was confused about just how many bathrooms her new house will have. Eventually, she realized that there will be fourteen bathrooms in the new place. “It’s a lot of urine,” she cracked.
Tamra Judge
They’re baaaack! After a few seasons without her breast implants, Judge decided that it was time to bring ’em back. She went to a plastic surgeon (who wasn’t Terry Dubrow!) and got some new boobs. While Tamra was happy with the surgery, she was less thrilled by her lack of visitors at the hospital. Judge was ready to make a solid change in her life, though, so that she no longer feels like she is “on the outside looking in” with her friends.
The first step in her bounce back? Celebrating her impending grandmotherhood by throwing a shabby chic, Western-themed baby shower for her son Ryan and his fiancee, Sarah. It was a relaxed, laid back affair where Judge could shine. She gabbed with a bunch of her non-Housewives friends about her excitement for the new arrival and her overall plans to get her friendship with the non-attending Gunvalson back on track. Time will only tell if the plan will work in the long run.
Best Moment: While none of the current Housewives attended the baby shower, a Housewife from the past was there! Lynne Curtin showed up to dish with Tamra about being young and glamorous grandmothers, Gunvalson’s Instagram faux-paus, and Curtain’s journey to re-virginize herself. It was a wonderfully odd blast from OC’s past!
Meghan King Edmonds
The newest Housewife has arrived! The wife of St. Louis baseball legend Jim Edmonds, Meghan Edmonds, had just moved to Orange County after having spent most of her life in Missouri. While Edmonds was worried about adjusting to the California lifestyle, she took comfort in having Dubrow in her corner. The two ate dinner and Dubrow explained that she wanted to take Edmonds under her wing and make her transition to the area more comfortable. Given that Edmonds is the new, young, hot Housewife, that feeling of goodwill might not prevail for too long!
Best Moment: Edmonds promised herself that she wouldn’t marry a father, a much older man, or a professional athlete. Then she married Jim Edmonds: a former pro ball player 14 years older her senior with four kids. She broke all her promises to herself and was adorably ashamed of doing so when discussing her life in her introductory confessional. Whoops!
Vicki Gunvalson
Things are rough for the OG of the OC! Turns out that Vicki’s controversial, longtime love, Brooks Ayers, is facing Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Gunvalson was doing her best not to let the cancer bring them both down, and was making sure her love stayed healthy both physically and emotionally. They were not going to eat bread, but they were still going to go out and remember that there was happiness to be found during the difficult times.
Best Moment: Judge and Curtin gossiped about an Instagram faux-pas Gunvalson made when she accidentally posted a topless photo of herself when she thought she was uploading an innocent picture of a Beats by Dre box! While Judge wondered whether the topless pic was truly an accident, one thing was certain: Gunvalson had some really swank technology. Show off your swag, girl!
Shannon Beador
At the start of the episode, Gunvalson had dinner with Beador and publicly admired her for making her strained marriage to her husband, David, work through the highs and the lows. Turns out that the praise was ill-suited for the couple though, as Beador admitted halfway through the episode that even though they had a brief, blissful reconciliation period after last season of the Real Housewives of Orange County, they were now in a rockier position than ever. Apparently, on April Fools Day, Beador discovered that her husband was having an affair and that it wasn’t a prank. She was devastated, but she remained as committed to the marriage as ever. Divorce was not an option!
The solution? A marriage counseling retreat for the couple where they spent time diving into their pasts to figure out why they were so messed up in the present. They made relationship timelines and worked through their issues all in the name of becoming a solid couple once again. But is the foundation cracked for good?
Best Moment: While Gunvalson praised Beador for making her marriage work, the younger Housewife guiltily drank her cocktail while shifting her eyes about the room in what will certainly be the most GIFed moment of the premiere. Turns out that for once Beador did have something to hide!
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
Tell Us: What did you think of the RHOC premiere? Who’s your favorite?
