Sticking together. Tamra Judge spoke out after her ex-husband Simon Barney revealed he was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer.
“Please keep @sbarney855 and our family in your prayers,” the 52-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County alum wrote on Tuesday, February 18, via Instagram. “It’s been a very emotional 4 months and we are rallying together as a family to get through this.”
Judge and Barney, 55, who were married from 1998 to 2011, share three kids: Sidney, 21, Spencer, 19, and Sophia, 14.
“I wanted to speak before someone else does and uses their words, not mine. And to speak out about it so others can see how I’ve taken this fight on with optimism, and the good this has ultimately brought my life,” Barney told People magazine on Tuesday. “I think everything happens for a reason, I think your destiny is pretty much set for you, and you’re here to learn lessons. This has been a tough lesson for me. And I’m hoping it can be a lesson for others, too.”
Barney revealed that he went to the doctor after discovering his swollen salivary glands in May 2019. He later learned that his cancer spread into his throat, tonsils and lymph nodes.
“The process is the real bad part,” Barney said, noting he’s doing both radiation and chemotherapy. “It basically attacks all of your organs. You’re like poisoned. It’s been killing me. If I had a choice, I probably wouldn’t have done chemo and radiation at the same time, but that’s what they recommended. It’s like hitting your head with a hammer and pouring gas on yourself. I was ready to end it the other day, the symptoms were so bad. It’s almost worst than the cancer.”
Judge and Barney’s divorce turned tumultuous amid their custody battle over their three kids. While Sidney opted to live with her dad, Spencer wanted to be with Judge. (Sophia split her time between her parents.) Barney’s cancer battle as brought the family back together.
“It’s kind of like a new beginning for me and my family. It’s really brought everyone closer together,” he said. “When I told Tamra, she said she cried for like, two or three days. Things changed with our relationship from there, in a good way. We’re getting along in ways we haven’t in years. And she’s become close with my fiancée. And that shift carried across the board with my kids, too.”
While the Bravo star married husband Eddie Judge in 2013, Barney has been engaged to Catushia Ienni for nine years.
“That’s what I’ve always wanted,” Barney told People about the family reunion. “My fiancée, the same thing, she’s always wanted that with my ex-wife, for the kids. The kids would prefer it if we all got along. And they see that now, and it’s had such a powerful effect.”
Tamra confirmed her departure from RHOC after 12 seasons last month. While she confirmed she wasn’t asked back to the show for season 15, she also revealed she looking forward to the privacy.
“I’m not going to go into detail, but I’m going through some difficult times right now and it was best for me to step away so I can deal with it on my own,” she told Andy Cohen during an impromptu interview via Instagram Live on January 27. “I just need some privacy right now.”
