Season 17 of The Real Housewives of Orange County was nearly enough to make Heather Dubrow want to walk away from the franchise again.
“I think in that moment I was like, ‘Ah, I can’t do this. I’m done,’” Heather, 54, exclusively recalled to Us Weekly at BravoCon on Saturday, November 4. “It was so much, and of course we filmed so much. There was more and more and more that wasn’t even shown. So it definitely took its toll on me.”
While catching up with Us at day 2 of the fan convention, both Heather and her husband, Terry Dubrow, revealed how hard season 17 was for their family.
“The behind the scenes was really difficult. That’s one thing you don’t see with these reality shows,” Terry, 65, said. “The amount of emotional toil that it takes on someone like Heather, and it really does. There’s crying, there’s a lot of need for support. It was [a] tough, really, really tough season.”
Heather noted that the show’s “unbelievable platform” is part of the reason she’s continued to stick it out year after year.
“It’s done so much for us, for our family, and we’ve talked about this, but the reason I came back was to use our platform for good and start conversations in other people’s family,” she told Us. “I think we’ve been able to affect a bit of change and at least start dialogue and I feel so good about that, that even though some of it is painful for me personally, the greater good means a lot.”
Over the summer, Shannon Beador teased how much Heather was up against during season 17. “I think at times [Heather] had people behind her but for the most part … she was on her own,” Shannon, 59, exclusively told Us in June.
One of Heather’s biggest hurdles this season was dealing with Tamra Judge, who was accused by Gina Kirschenheiter on the show of talking behind Heather’s back and “maligning” her career.
Heather exclusively told Us in September that Tamra, 56, is “clearly” two-faced after she watched the season back. “She was saying one thing to my face, and another thing behind my back,” Heather explained at the time.
Following the season 17 reunion, which aired last month, Heather confessed that she didn’t feel like she got the apologies she deserves from her costars. However, she has chosen to take the high road and move on.
“I think that after the reunion, we’re all in a good place of, ‘We may not agree on all these things and you may not see eye to eye with me, but we have history, we are friends,’” Heather told Us on Saturday. She added that as a group, the woman said, “‘I love you and we’re going to find a way to move forward.’”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
