Real Housewives of Orange County has ushered in a lot of changes for Season 16 in an attempt to breathe new life into the franchise. Kelly Dodd, Elizabeth Lyn Vargas, and Braunwyn Windham-Burke were all fired. Heather Dubrow reclaimed her orange and returned to make RHOC classy again. I can’t wait to peek inside Fancy Pants’ $21 million dollar mansion. She must have a couple of champagne rooms in there, right?
Heather was clearly aware that she brought the elegance and actual wealth to RHOC. In the tell-all book Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It by Dave Quinn, Heather discussed how she elevated the series. She said, “From what people have told me of the seasons before I joined, was that it was always perceived wealth, not necessarily actual wealth. It always felt a little more blue-collar.” Heather added that RHOC was “down-to-earth” and “certainly lower than RHOBH.”
Executive producer Chris Cullen claimed that Heather wasn’t a fan when Shannon Beador joined the cast. Juicy! Do tell. Chris stated, “Shannon lived in a gated community, Shannon had a big house, and all of a sudden, it was an even playing field.”
Chris continued, “Heather’s insecurities got the best of her, and she did not want to make Shannon welcome on that show and was going to make it as difficult as possible.” Heather called Chris’ remarks a “crock of s–t” and added that she “wasn’t jealous at all.” Sure, Heather.
After Braunwyn was axed from RHOC, two of her friends scored oranges. Noella Bergener, Braunwyn’s former bestie, joined the franchise along with Dr. Jen Armstrong. Noella is no longer friends with Braunwyn. Noella’s husband, James Bergener, owes back taxes to the tune of $5 million. And on August 9, James filed for divorce. Yes–Noella will fit right in on RHOC. Nicole James was also slated to join returning cast members Shannon, Emily Simpson, and Gina Kirschenheiter.
According to Radar Online, newbie cast member Nicole has already been demoted. Well, that was fast. She began filming as a full-time cast member with Jen and Noella, but after Nicole made some negative comments about her breast augmentation, which was performed by Heather’s husband, Terry Dubrow, her status changed. Duh.
RELATED: Kelly Dodd Slams Heather Dubrow As A Liar For Comments Heather Made In Real Housewives Tell-All Book
A source said, “Nicole was brought on by Heather but only filmed for a few weeks. A big storyline that will play out (but is also the reason why she’s no longer on the show full time) is that Nicole was unhappy with the breast augmentation Terry performed on her many years ago.”
Shannon allegedly told the rest of the RHOC cast about Nicole’s comments, but never told Heather. “It started circling around through the group, and Heather found out because Shannon was telling everyone but her,” the insider shared. “Cue the fight between Heather and Shannon.”
There were rumors in July of 2021 that Shannon and Heather had a blow up at a cast party when Heather supposedly asked Shannon about her ex-husband, David Beador, while Shannon’s boyfriend, John Janssen, was present.
RELATED: Shannon Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, & Emily Simpson React To Heather Dubrow’s Return To Real Housewives
Radar Online reported that filming finished earlier this month, but Nicole didn’t shoot scenes for several weeks prior to that. Evolution Media produces both RHOC and the E! series Botched, which Terry also stars in. It wasn’t clear if Nicole was demoted or chose to take a part-time role on her own. The source commented, “So for them to have a Housewife accusing Terry of such a nefarious, scandalous thing could affect their other show that makes them money.”
We will have to see how this plays out on Season 16 of RHOC.
RELATED: Kelly Dodd Claims Heather Dubrow Previously Quit Because “She Got Demoted” And “Her Ego Got The Best Of Her”
TELL US- DO YOU THINK THAT NICOLE’S ROLE WAS REDUCED BECAUSE OF HER COMMENTS ABOUT HER PLASTIC SURGERY? ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEASON 16 OF RHOC?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]
