Kelly Dodd: Fire Vicki Gunvalson! She"s Past Her Expiration Date!

Season 14 of The Real Housewives of Orange County will be here before any of us know it.

Kelly Dodd is well aware, but revealed on The Talk she thinks that the cast needs one major mix-up before filming begins.

She thinks that most of her colleagues should return, and she has specific reasons for that.

But she thinks that Vicki Gunvalson needs to go.

And her metaphor in explaining why will be enough to curdle your blood.

Take a look:

1. Kelly Dodd says Vicki is old news

And she has a very specific analogy to share — after she shares why her other castmates deserve to remain on the show

2. Kelly on Shannon:

“I’m obviously friends with Shannon [Beador],” Kelly says. “I talk to her every day.”

3. Kelly on Tamra:

“I talk to Tamra [Judge] every day,” Kelly adds.

4. The show wouldn’t be the same without those two

“So,” Kelly continues. “I want them to be back for sure.”

5. Kelly on the new girls:

“I like Emily and Gina,” Kelly notes of Emily Simpson and Gina Kirschenheiter.

6. Kelly welcomes her newest castmates

“I think they should get a second chance,” Kelly says of the newcomers.

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Shannon Beador and Vicki Gunvalson Wake Up From Surgery on This Sneak Peek

In the aftermath of Shannon Beador flipping out and then apologizing to her fellow Housewives, the show needs some levity.

In this The Real Housewives of Orange County sneak peek, Shannon and Vicki have both undergone surgery.

When they come to, however, their experiences are very different. One of them is deeply hilarious.

"In a perfect world, would I like to have my partner waiting for me when I get out of surgery?" Shannon asks.

She asks if she would love to have such a partner "putting his arm around me, saying ‘I’m going to take care of you and everything’s going to be OK?’"

She answers her own questions: "Absolutely."

Obviously, anyone wants emotional support, especially when they"re just coming out of surgery.

Since Shannon is currently single, however, she doesn"t have that.

Fortunately, Shannon knows how to keep things in perspective.

"But you know what?" Shannon asks rhetorically.

"I have a driver," Shannon says. "And Sophie and the kids are waiting for me when I get home."

That"s more than a lot of people have.

Shannon concludes: "And that’s all I can ask for."

It"s always good to focus on the positives in your life, rather than simply on what you don"t have.

We promised that there would be some levity in this clip, and there absolutely is.

Vicki Gunvalson also went into the hospital to have some face-fillers removed.

Her boyfriend, Steve Lodge, arrived to show her moral support — you know, the kind that Shannon would have liked.

Vicki was still a little loopy, however, and immediately asks Steve some awkward questions.

"Do you love me?" Vicki asks. "Am I pretty?"

It sounds like Shannon might be better off. People aren"t always at their best when they"re under the influence.

Vicki then tells Steve that she has "no panties on right now."

Earlier this year, Vicki explained why she intended to have her face fillers removed.

"I had a lot of fillers in my face and I didn’t feel like it was me anymore," Vicki said.

"I had too many doctors, too many different times say ‘let’s do this, let’s do that, let’s fill here, let’s do Voluma, let’s do Sculptra,’" Vicki continues.

You know, on the very first episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County that I ever saw, she was having a botox party.

It seems that she"s changed her tune.

"And," Vicki says. "By the time I was done I looked in the mirror and was like COMMA ‘I don’t even look like myself.’"

Apparently, part of that has been Steve"s supportive influence. 

"I said to him the other day, ‘My boobies are a little bit lower. I want them higher up here,’" Vicki shares.

Vicki says that Steve didn"t agree: "He goes, ‘You promised me you wouldn’t do anything else,’"

"No," Vicki decides. "For right now I’m at peace."

Good for her!

It"s always easy to poke fun at women who undergo multiple cosmetic procedures on their faces and breasts.

Of course, it starts to get considerably less funny once you think about the powerful social forces that demand that women look a certain way.

These cultural pressures are compounded for women who are on television, for older women, and for women who are trying to date.

Some would say that Vicki and Shannon almost had no choice but to go under the knife a time or two if they wanted to remain on television.

That is a grim thought.

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Vicki Gunvalson Defends Shannon Beador, Slams Gina and Emily

Maybe a year and a half ago, Shannon Beador was blaming Vicki Gunvalson’s rumor-mongering for her weight gain. Now, things are very different.

On the most recent episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon Beador flipped out.

Vicki is riding to Shannon’s defense, saying that the situation was unfair — and was Gina and Emily’s fault.

Vicki Gunvalson took to her Bravo blog to defend Shannon.

First and foremost, Vicki set the stage for Shannon snapping the way that she did.

“We were all miserable in Jamaica, as it was way too hot,” Vicki shares.

She writes: “And the hotel rooms did not have air conditioning due to an air compressor being broken.”

(I wouldn’t wish for even my worst enemy to be in Virginia without air conditioning. Jamaica? I’d have quit the show and flown back right away)

“They were able to eventually accommodate us on the last few days and moved us to a new villa where it was nice and cool,” Vicki says.

“I think all of our nerves were shot,” Vicki explains. “And things heated up and got out of control.”

Now that she’s explained everyone’s frayed nerves and Shannon’s ponytail, she starts in on the actual conflict.

“I think we should have calmly discussed our concerns or issues with Shannon, without going on the attack mode,” Vicki writes.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of this type of argument when people go after you,” she says. “And it’s not fun by any means.”

Vicki wants to make it very clear that she was not a deliberate participant in this, and that her concern about Shannon appearing to be drinking alone was genuine.

“I told Shannon just today that she is in a much better place than she was six months ago when this was filmed,” Vicki adds.

“And,” she continues. “I’m proud of her strength and accomplishments.”

“It was taken out of context when I said Shannon has ‘rich girl problems’ when she was talking about having to move again,” Vicki writes.

“She was not discussing the amount of support she receives,” Vicki clarifies. “Or that she was ungrateful for it.”

Vicki says: “she was just saying she just got settled in her home and now she had to look for a new place.”

You know what? That’s valid.

Also, has anyone noticed how much Vicki is trying to hold herself accountable for her words these days? Good for her.

Hey, so, remember that part of this week’s episode when Tamra responded to Shannon by screaming at her? Vicki remembers.

“I don’t know all the history of why Tamra got so upset with Shannon,” Vicki says. “Other than what I have heard from Tamra.”

“She was truly concerned for Shannon,” Vicki continues. “And felt Shannon wasn’t there for Tamra during that time.”

Vicki continues: “I just think the delivery could have been a little ‘softer."”

“Like Shannon said, she thought it was resolved at their lunch date at Roger’s Garden,” Vicki notes. “So clearly there was more that transpired after that, which I wasn’t aware of.”

As we discussed, Tamra no longer feels sorry for Shannon, which is quite a thing to say about your BFF.

Vicki sounds fed up: “I don’t know why Gina and Emily are so obsessed with ‘being friends with Shannon."”

“It’s clear that they don’t have an authentic interest in her life or what she is going through,” Vicki assesses.

“Nor do I think it’s fair to continue to talk about it,” Vicki says. “Friendships happen naturally and are never good if they are forced.”

(Spoken like a woman who’s never used overt friendliness as a weapon to get her way, we take it)

Real talk, though, Gina and Emily probably want to forge these friendships to cement their place on the show.

“It’s like they are obsessed with talking about it,” Vicki continues.

In Vicki’s eyes, “Just because they are hanging out with Shannon doesn’t mean they have to be BFF’s.”

“My feeling,” Vicki writes. “Is to let it flow naturally.”

It can be difficult to very naturally form friendships while on camera, however.

“Shannon and I don’t see much of Gina and Emily,” Vicki shades. “So I don’t know why they are so focused on it.”

In Vicki’s eyes: “For some of the girls to continue to prod Tamra on her friendship with Shannon when they knew it was issue is just plain mean.”

“It is disingenuous of Gina to purposely try to drive a wedge between Tamra and Shannon and then claim to be some victim,” Vicki accuses.

Vicki has a theory: “It’s like she thinks she is going to win Tamra over if she is friends with her and not Shannon?”

“Are we in grade school?” Vicki asks. “Is this a game?”

“Gina does not have the history Tamra and Shannon do,” Vicki says. “And my advice is to leave them be and let them sort this out on their own.”

“They sure don’t need Gina’s advice on this,” in Vicki’s opinion.

“Shannon’s situation is completely different than anyone else’s,” Vicki affirms. “Her divorce is nasty and very difficult to handle.”

“Kelly stirred the pot by telling Shannon that Tamra thinks Shannon isn’t a good friend,” she accuses. “That’s not being a friend at all.”

“She threw that out there and then walked away smirking, which is extremely mean,” Vicki writes. “It is NOT ok talking ‘crap’ on your friend behind her back.”

“And,” Vicki continues. “When Kelly said ‘David must have been a saint’ is wrong and NOT ok.”

“She owes Shannon an apology,” Vicki concludes. “As they are very good friends still.”

Who’d have thought this time last year that Vicki would come riding to Shannon’s defense?

View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Orange County Premiere Just Gave Us So Much More Hope For Season 13

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Vicki Gunvalson: I Still Think Gina Kirschenheiter is Lying ...

On the most recent episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Vicki Gunvalson was feeling very argumentative and accused Gina of being “selfish.”

Vicki is trying to clear the air, now.

But she still insists that it’s frustrating to hear Gina speak so casually of her divorce.

Taking to her Bravo blog, Vicki Gunvalson writes about her blowup fight with Gina Kirschenheiter.

“I did feel like I was too hard on her when we all had dinner at my house,” Vicki admits.

“And,” she continues. “I regret saying anything to her that may have hurt her feelings.”

“It’s been frustrating for me to see her so casual about divorcing her husband,” Vicki expresses.

“It doesn’t make sense to any of us,” Vicki says. “And I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a lot we don’t know.”

Vicki then shares her personal conspiracy theory about the Kirschenheiter divorce.

“My personal take on this is,” Vicki writes. “They were probably separated when we met her and that is why he decided to move to LA without her.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Vicki admits. “But that’s what makes sense to me.”

“If there is anything I do know, it’s the mistakes I made in my two marriages,” Vicki acknowledges.

“And if there is anything I could do to help her or anyone else,” Vicki says. “I feel inclined to speak up.”

“I have spent my entire professional life of almost 30 years helping people ‘plan for the unplanned‘,” Vicki writes.

“And my goal is to always make sure their financial future is secure,” she says, referring to her insurance work.

“It’s hard for me not to want to offer my advice to Gina,” she confesses.

In other words, if she knew how to keep out of other people’s business, she wouldn’t be a Real Housewife.

“This is not my first rodeo,” Vicki says. “I know how this ends and it’s hard.”

“I want the best for Gina and her family,” she says. “And in the future I will not dismiss her reasons but will be there to help her if she needs me.”

“When Gina asked me a question about regretting my decision to be divorced,” Vicki writes. “Knowing that I am in a better place got me really thinking about it.”

Divorce is complicated, and everyone has different thoughts on the difficult process.

“I think it comes down to not making the same mistakes I made before,” Vicki suggests. “And being the best partner for Steve I can be.”

“I’m in an amazing place,” Vicki says. “And I’m incredibly grateful and thankful that such a solid, gorgeous, loving, ‘no drama’ man came in my life.”

That’s certainly an improvement over that total creep Brooks Ayers.

“We both live with the decision of divorce,” Vicki writes. “And we talk openly about it.”

“The truth is we both agree we should have done things differently in our past marriages to have saved them,” she continues.

“Divorce is difficult on the kids,” Vicki acknowledges. “Difficult financially and emotionally.”

“And,” she concludes. “I’m much clearer now than I was 10 years ago on what it truly takes to make a marriage work.”

After that, Vicki plugs her business and then encourages readers to follow her on Instagram.

Gina Kirschenheiter has really resonated with a sizable chunk of fans and viewers of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

She is, quite frankly, relatable.

Divorce can be difficult, but a lot of viewers were happy to see someone speaking casually about a difficult process.

Not every unpleasant experience is the end of the world.

If Gina is pretty chill about her split, maybe that’s a good thing.

View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Orange County Premiere Just Gave Us So Much More Hope For Season 13

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Vicki Gunvalson: Beware of Men Like Brooks Ayers! He"s Like Dirty John!

Many people have had a toxic ex. Most have been lucky enough to avoid an ex who fabricated medical paperwork in order to fake having cancer.

In that regard, Vicki Gunvalson has been very unlucky.

In this video, she"s talking about hearing from fans who"ve been through the same thing — 

"The truth always comes out," Vicki says optimistically.

"Karma is a b–ch, baby," she adds with a smile.

She is speaking about her own experience with Brooks Ayers, who dated her for four years and ended up faking cancer, chemo, and chemo symptoms.

She is also speaking about the experiences that others have had — experiences that eerily mirror her own.

Dirty John is true crime anthology series based upon a podcast of the same name, and it tells a very similar story to Vicki"s.

"Well, I"ve gotten a lot of letters from people," Vicki shares, before specifying: "Women, mostly women."

Vicki says that these letters were "saying what a sociopath, what a narcissistic man is."

While buzzwords like sociopath can lose thier meaning or be used to demonize people with mental illness, she is speaking of toxic manipulators.

Vicki says that these letters spoke of their struggles "and what they experienced, and our stories were exactly the same."

"The love letters, the flowers, the ‘Baby, we got this, they’re the enemy,’ you know," Vicki says.

That practice, known as "love bombing," can be used as a weapon to manipulate a victim and ot mask a lack of genuine affection.

Vicki acknowledges that Brooks was "really shielding me from my safe people which was my daughter, which was my cast members."

These, she says, were people "who loved me."

"And I didn"t see it as that," Vicki admits.

"My daughter would have probably really hurt him if he"d kept pushing into my life," Vicki says.

Vicki is still awed by the sheer scope of how common this can be.

"But the amount of letters I received from people, emails, and letters in the mail," Vicki says.

All of these were "from people that have gone through what I went through …"

That shows how common this sort of thing can be.

This is probably why the Dirty John podcast was so popular that it"s becoming a Bravo series — with a companion docuseries on Oxygen.

"Dirty John, that is my life," Vicki laments. "He portrayed he was somebody he wasn’t."

"That happened to me, and we’re intelligent women," she says, referring to herself and to other women.

"It happened to me with my eyes wide open," Vicki says.

To be clear, victims are never to blame. They"re not stupid or deserving of the attention of creeps.

"So if it can happen to me," Vicki says. "Can you imagine how many women it’s happening to?"

"And," Vicki adds. "I’m a smart cookie."

You know what? That"s true. Say what you will about Vicki, she"s not dumb.

"Everybody told me he was a bad boy," she says. "And I didn’t see it till it was over."

Vicki knows that her warning will fall on deaf ears: "I guess I can’t say ‘Listen to me’ because you can’t listen to anybody when you’re in it."

"You gotta really trudge through it," she concludes.

Of course, being familiar with the red flags in advance could help a lot of women — and others — to avoid toxic relationships.

The differences can be subtle, of course. Not everyone who buys someone a bunch of presents is trying to manipulate a victim.

But if someone is trying to isolate you from your loved ones and convince you that they"re really enemies, that is almost always a bad sign.

Vicki"s story clearly resonated with a lot of people who have had brushes with these same sorts of manipulators.

Brooks Ayers may be out of her life, but he"s left a stain on her story.

Of course, Brooks doesn"t care what Vicki thinks. At all.

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The Real Housewives of Orange County Recap: Vicki Gunvalson Flips Out

Vicki Gunvalson and Kelly Dodd’s friendship might never be the same again. 

Monday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County picked up in the aftermath of the fight that found new housewife, Emily Simpson, threatening to kill Kelly. 

But Vicki wanted to know how her boyfriend, Steve Lodge, wound up being put on blast. If you watch The Real Housewives of Orange County online, you know that Kelly was livid to learn that Steve was friends with her ex-husband. 

For Kelly, it was like a betrayal, and it was made worse that her then-BFF Vicki failed to see the issue with all of it. 

Gunvalson unpacked what went down with Tamra Judge and Emily. 

“Kelly thinks Steve’s mad at her, and I don’t know what’s going on,” Gunvalson solemnly said to her friends. “And now, Steve doesn’t want anything to do with her.”

“Shane neither,” said Simpson as though anybody cared whether her pot stirrer husband would be friends with the newest cougar in Orange County, adding “he doesn’t have time for it.”

In all honesty, Shane was the one who butted in when Dodd was trying to get the answers from Steve, so if anything, he should be apologizing to Kelly for trying to sink her storyline to get one of his own. 

Emily then went on to say that she was wrong about the way she reacted to Kelly. 

“I probably shouldn’t have said, ‘I’m going to kill you, but obviously it’s a figure of speech,” she said, trying to defend her actions. 

“[Kelly] said the entire time, ‘I just wanna go talk to Steve and fix it,"” added Tamra of the whole scenario. 

“She doesn’t give a rat’s a— about Steve, and I guarantee you she wants to see our relationship fold because she doesn’t want anyone happy,” Gunvalson balked, adding:

“Miserable people like miserable people. I was there.”

That’s when Tamra opted to light the fuse on the dynamite and secure her contract with the show for another season. 

“She said that Steve is only with you for your money,” she said while acting like it was not going to cause another war between the housewives. 

“I thought it appropriate to tell Vicki about what’s being said because the worst thing in this group is a rumor going to another person, another person, another person and not the person who’s directly involved,” Tamra said in defense of her actions. 

“Of course Kelly says that!” Gunvalson screamed as she stopping chopping vegetables.

“Shame on her for talking about my relationship. It’s bulls— that everybody’s always after what I have! Leave me alone! And by the way, I don’t have that much money.”

For what it’s worth, we did get to see Kelly and Tamra have that conversation earlier in the episode. 

“Do you think that guy is hitting it and quitting it?” Kelly asked, of Steve to Tamra.

“My friend was dating the girl that Steve was dating. He told the girlfriend that he’s only using Vicki for money. Swear to God. Dinero! Money talks and bulls— walks.”

“In my book, Steve’s a bad guy,” she added. “He’s hiding something. And everyone should know what kind of a person he is.”

While Tamra was trying to imply she was being nice to Vicki by telling her about the earlier comments, there was also footage that suggested she, too, was not taken in by Steve. 

“She doesn’t love him,” Judge said during a group dinner sans Gunvalson. “I’m sorry, she does not love that man.”

Never one to come to a party without some proof, she reminded the ladies of Shannon’s matchmaker.

“When I was talking with the matchmaker with her, she was like ‘Maybe I should go to him too?’” Judge recalled.

While everyone seemed to be against Gunvalson’s relationship, it was all playing out swimmingly for the cameras. 

“You better not let me down,” she told Lodge as they celebrated her birthday.

“I feel great at 56. It’s been a bumpy couple last three years, but now that Steve’s in my life, I finally feel like I’m at peace.”

 “I don’t need a man for money, and he doesn’t need me for money,” she continued. “I don’t care about stuff. I care about the person.“

“I would date a trash collector if that’s who I fell in love with.”

Lodge seemed to agree. “I think in her mind she feels, ‘I’m successful I don’t need another man’s money, so I’m going to fall in love not because he has money,’ ” he said. “Unlike some other people we know.”

That last little bit of word salad was very likely a jab at Kelly. 

Oh yes, it’s on. 

What are your thoughts on the latest action?

Hit the comments below. 

The Real Housewives of Orange County continues Monday on Bravo.

View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Orange County Premiere Just Gave Us So Much More Hope For Season 13

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Vicki Gunvalson: My Daughter Almost Lost Her Leg ... And Her LIFE!

Even though The Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson blocked her son-in-law on FaceTime over a feud back in May, she loves her family.

She especially loves her daughter, Briana Culberson, and misses her. They live on opposite coasts.

Now, Vicki is reflecting on what it was like to almost lose Briana to a dangerous infection just a few years ago. These details are chilling.

Even if you watch The Real Housewives of Orange County online, you won’t have seen this particular story.

Speaking to the Daily Dish podcast this week, Vicki Gunvalson relives the painful memory of daughter Briana Culberson’s brush with death.

“We almost lost her a couple years ago,” Vicki shares about her 31-year-old daughter.

“That was one of the biggest fears I had in my life while I was filming,” Vicki admits. And that’s no surprise — it’s every parent’s worse fear.

Vicki says: “It’s my ‘Oh, my God,’ moment.”

Vicki elaborates, revealing some of the details of her daughter’s ailment.

“She was super, super sick,” Vicki shares, explaining that Briana “got a very, very bad infectious disease from the hospital.”

Your mind might jump to a staph infection, but this was no ordinary situation, as we’ll explain in a moment.

Revealing how bad things became at one point, “They almost amputated her leg.”

We are relieved that it didn’t come to that — but Vicki and Briana herself have to be much more relieved.

“The viewers don’t know” the details, Vicki says. “But we can share it now because she survived it.”

That entire ordeal must have been scary and nightmarish.

“But it was horrible,” Vicki says, stating the obvious.

This isn’t the first time that she’s mentioned this terrifying ordeal.

Back in 2017, Vicki said that Briana contracted the infection during a surgery that she received in Oklahoma.

“It almost killed my daughter,” Vicki revealed at the time.

Vicki shared: “[The scalpel was infected] with feces from a previous surgery the day they put inside her body.”

“So, not good,” Vicki said. “She almost lost her leg.”

“I mean she almost died,” Vicki clarified. “And all this stuff.”

Briana actually works as a nurse at UNC Medical Center. The Triangle area of North Carolina is home to a number of world-class hospitals, and we’re sure that they’re lucky to have her.

“[That] is actually where she works,” Vicki gushed. “She’s an ER trauma nurse.”

Briana lives in North Carolina with her husband, Ryan Culberson, and their sons, Troy and Owen.

Briana also has lupus, a dangerous autoimmune disease.

“They’ve got a great lupus center out there,” Vicki says. “So if God brought her out there to help her get through this, that was the good thing from it.”

Vicki misses her daughter but is glad that she’s where she wants to be with her loving family and where she can receive the medical treatments that she needs.

Still, with this happening just a few years ago, we imagine that the trauma and heartbreak of that near miss are still haunting Vicki.

She is probably still processing it — and extra anxious about her family.

We are so sorry that Briana had to go through this, and so sorry for her entire family — her husband, her children, and her mother — that they had to endure that harrowing experience with her.

View Slideshow: The Real Housewives of Orange County Premiere Just Gave Us So Much More Hope For Season 13

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