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RHOC recently announced season 17’s cast and the queen is set to return. After missing the Bravo show for two years, fan favorite Tamra Judge is ready to make a comeback.
During BravoCon 2022, Judge opened up about returning for season 17 of RHOC and said that she was surprised by the call. She spoke about the overwhelming emotions she felt when she was fired and said that she was very sad.
She further said:
"I got to a state where, the first year, I was in a fetal position crying. I was very sad about not being on the scene, everybody else filming, and all that stuff."
She spoke about the shock she felt when she got the call. She recalled saying that they wanted to meet her and she could not believe it since she still didn’t know why she got fired from RHOC and wanted to return.
Also returning to the show is Vicki Gunvalson who, similar to Tamra, left the show post-season 14. While the news of Vicki’s return is recent, when the reality TV star found out that her friend Tamra was set to return to RHOC, she said that she was excited for her.
She further said:
"I would be a bad friend if I wasn’t. Yes, I have FOMO. I’m like any other woman that would be feeling that way."
Tamra joined the cast of RHOC in season 3 and was one of the main characters till season 14 until she was fired. She took to Instagram Live in 2020 and spoke to Andy Cohen, telling him that the firing was money-related. She also told him how devastated she was and that she had been crying and was unable to eat or sleep.
Tamra Judge was too expensive for RHOC
When Tamra Judge and Vicki Gunvalson were fired from the Bravo show, fans were quick to assume that it was because the network wanted to hire younger stars, however, that was not the case. Tamra took to social media to announce her absence from the show. She wrote in an Instagram post:
"It’s been a wild 12 years. But it’s time for me to move on, I’m sad to go but very excited about my future. Love you guys."
Although Judge enjoyed her time on the show for the most part, there were several occasions in 2019 when she expressed her discomfort with being portrayed in a negative light and even went on to hold the producers responsible.
The network was prepared to offer Judge a “friend” role in the later seasons, but that did not sit well with her. Andy Cohen said that he had offered her a chance to “wrap up her story line” in season 15 but she did not want to return in a limited capacity.
He said:
"We had offered her three episodes to come back and kind of wrap out her story…That is true. She didn’t want to do that. Look, she’s been on the show for 12 years. We wanted to give her a send-off."
Judge appeared on the Everything Iconic podcast and spoke about RHOC. She told Danny Pellegrino that it was a great run and that she was happy it happened.
She further said:
"I always said if it got to a point where I was friend status. I’m done. I’ve had a long run. It was a great run. I’m happy it happened. If that’s what it comes to, I just don’t see like – I’m either all in or all out."
The official release date for season 17 has not yet been announced. Season 16 wrapped up earlier this year in April. It is likely that the new season of Real Housewives of Orange County won’t be released until 2023.
