As we previously reported, Heather Durbow‘s new podcast, Heather Dubrow’s World, debuted yesterday. Heather and her first two guests, Shannon Beador and Tamra Judge, spent A LOT of time talking about Brooks Ayers and Vicki Gunvalson, but they somehow managed to fit in a few other subjects as well.
Heather kicks off her podcast with Five Minutes of Heather, a look back at how she came to live in California. “I do come from New York,” she says. “I was actually a theater major in college, and I thought I was going to go to Broadway. But we had a friend of the family who was producing Divorce Court in Florida – Yes, I know you may think Divorce Court was real. I think it was based on actual cases, but… – I had two episodes. In one, I played an agoraphobic ex-ballerina lesbian. It was a script. It was an acting gig.” Ha! Ha! I think this is way more entertaining than rehashing the Vicki and Brooks drama for the millionth time!
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Heather goes on to say she moved to California after Divorce Court. She got a job at Disneyland, playing Miss Lily in the Golden Horseshoe Jamboree, and ended up putting together a 14-piece big band with one of her co-workers. “We toured for four years together,” she says. “It was the Kent and Miller Orchestra. It was all big band, swing, and jazz. It was a lot of fun … We ended up being the house band for The Nanny, Fran Drescher‘s show.”
Moving on to how Heather came to be a Real Housewives star, “Me and my girlfriends were sitting around and we decided to open a restaurant – this was totally drunk plans. We were absolutely inebriated and decided we wanted to open a restaurant, and Terry goes, ‘Hey, that would be a great show.’ Long story short, we started taking meetings around Los Angeles about opening a restaurant and one of the places we went to was Evolution – who produces the Real Housewives of Orange County and Botched.”
That idea didn’t pan out but…
Later, Evolution called Heather and asked her if she wanted to join the Real Housewives of Orange County, “I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ I had seen Beverly Hills and we knew Paul Nassif and his wife Adrienne, so I knew the format of the show. But I had heard the girls on Orange County threw wine on each other. I was petrified. Also, I was an actress and that seemed like a really big step down, and I was a snob about it. I said, ‘Absolutely not, I’m not going to do it.’ Terry really wanted me to do it because having been on all these reality shows, like The Swan and Bridalplasty, he really felt like he knew the value and the platform it represented. So, I said no, and unbeknownst to me, Terry said yes. He signed the contracts. He signed the contracts for me.”
Heather gave in, obviously, but she admits she thought it was the “final nail in the coffin” to her career. But, she begrudgingly adds, “Terry was right. It’s been an incredible platform.”
“It took me a few years to really settle in,” says Heather. “I was very buttoned up and nervous the first couple years. I thought, my mom’s going to listen to this, my friends are going to see this, I’m being judged. I just did not like it. It felt very unnatural to me to not have a script. Even though I had done things like hosting, it was different. This season – this fourth season – I felt like I had been more myself than any other season.”
Heather loves it now, and she’s really excited about season ten’s high ratings, “I think the audience is responding to real relationships and real story lines. I feel in season’s past there were members of our cast who were self-producing, and it doesn’t work. I think the audience has a bullshit meter and when it starts going up, they don’t want to watch. That’s why I think the response is incredibly good this year.”
Um, I don’t know about you guys, but my “bullshit meter” maxed out this season thanks to Brooks and Vicki. Not to mention the stalker relentless seeker of truth and justice Meghan Edmonds. <shrug> I did not enjoy this season at all.
Speaking of Meghan, Heather asks Shannon where their relationship stands.
Shannon: We’re good, but someone actually made a comment on my Facebook and I responded in a not-so-nice way on the way here.
Tamra: You gotta stop doing that.
Heather: Talk to the nice people.
Shannon: I do. I talk to the nice ones, but I’m not gonna just gloss over it. She said I was nasty and a bully, then she gave a shout out to my husband which I thought was inappropriate.
Tamra: That’s a rude little hooker.
Shannon: Well, I didn’t say that, but I did say that Meghan and I are both honest and direct. I told her what upset me this season. She told me what upset her. We came to an understanding. I don’t feel as though I attacked her in the reunion. I explained where I was coming from, and I was honest. She was fine with it and we went out afterwards.
Heather, Tamra, and Shannon all agree that Meghan is a good addition to the cast. “Because she speaks her mind,” says Tamra. “Usually a new girl coming in doesn’t do that. If this is any indication of what’s to come in the next couple of years, she’s going to be off the charts.” Heather agrees and says Meghan works so well because she’s the same person on and off camera. “I understand her,” adds Shannon. “She is quite funny. Her ways – while some people say they are invasive – can be quite funny.”
Because no chat about the Real Housewives of Orange County season ten would be complete without talk of “The Affair,” Heather asks Shannon about David‘s mistress, Nicole McMackin. “Each time that I have seen, I just keep walking,” shares Shannon. “I’ve never exchanged a word.” HAHAHA! Well, that changed shortly after this was taped! HAHAHA!
Shannon reveals Nicole reached out to David recently. “She says I tried to friend request her on Instagram,” she shares, denying it. “This is what’s crazy, this is what she said [via text], ‘You and your wife are sick. Tell your wife to stop harassing me. Hasn’t she put me through enough?‘”
Heather questions the timing of the affair, adding, “Last year, when everything was going down with the Fig & Olive and the email and who was talking about Shannon and her marriage, I remember hearing that David‘s affair was telling people around town, ‘Oh my gosh, isn’t it funny how much trouble we’re causing on the Real Housewives of Orange County?’ She knows you’re going to be on the show. She knows you’re going to be famous. Why would she put herself in that position?”
Tamra suggests that Nicole is jealous of Shannon.
Shannon agrees, sharing, “I went up to her and I told her that I got the show. It needed to stay confidential. I went up to her, because she was in an organization where everything that you said was confidential so I knew it was in the vault. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, can you believe it? I’m going to be on the show.’ And her face dropped significantly. I remember walking away thinking, that’s not a normal response, you’re supposed to be happy for someone. That’s a person who’s a little bit jealous. She started the affair a couple weeks after that.”
Heaven help me, but I agree with Tamra. I think Nicole was more interested in sticking it to Shannon — for whatever reason – than David sticking it (pun intended) to her. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Nicole joined the show? (I’m kidding!)
TELL US – DID YOU LISTEN TO HEATHER’S PODCAST? DID YOU ENJOY IT? DO YOU AGREE THAT 1) MEGHAN IS A GOOD FIT FOR RHOC AND 2) NICOLE IS JEALOUS OF SHANNON?
Photo Credit: Donna Ward/Getty Images
