Fans of Real Housewives of Orange County have long been familiar with Tamra Judge’s difficult relationship with her oldest daughter, Sidney Barney. But now she’s sharing a hopeful update.
“She is reaching out to her brother and sister now, so that’s good news,” Tamra told Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast.
“So we do have some progress,” the mom of four said. Tamra shares three children (Sidney, Spencer, and Sophia) with ex-husband Simon Barney.
A painful estrangement
In 2016 during the RHOC Season 11 reunion, Tamra first opened up about the trouble with her daughter. She tearfully told Andy Cohen and her castmates that Sidney had taken her dad Simon’s side during their contentious 2011 divorce.
“My oldest daughter, Sidney, said, ‘I don’t want to live with you anymore. You’ve ruined my dad’s life,’” Tamra said at the time. “[She] left that day and has not come back.”
Even though the mother and daughter are still estranged, Tamra hasn’t given up hope that she’ll someday be able to repair their relationship. Meanwhile, she celebrates her daughter’s achievements from afar.
“She’s doing amazing and — without crying, guys — that’s all I can wish for as a mom,” the Vena CBD owner said. “She’s very successful, she’s in the film industry, as well, behind the camera. So she’s doing amazing things with her life, and that’s all I can really wish for.”
“I mean, I can wish for more,” Tamra added, “but it’s in God’s hands really. God’s timing.”
Holding onto hope
During the July 11 premiere of RHOC, Tamra broke down in tears over the situation with Sidney.
“Every time I see 111, I always make the same wish that … maybe one day Sidney will come home,” Tamra told her younger daughter Sophia before getting the angel number tattooed on her arm.
“I know you don’t want to talk about her,” Tamra admitted, as Sophia agreed that she didn’t want to discuss her sister but was still willing to give her mom a comforting hug.
“I’ve always been super close to Sophia,” Tamra said in a confessional. “I was very close to Sydney. With Sophia, we talk all the time and I tell her that I love her all the time.”
“Unfortunately, Sidney’s on Simon’s side,” she added. “She doesn’t really speak to any of us. It’s difficult. It’s like your child’s dead, but they’re still alive.”
Tamra married her current husband, Eddie Judge, in 2013, two years after her divorce from Simon was finalized. The RHOC star and her ex have worked hard to achieve an amicable relationship for the sake of their children.
Real Housewives of Orange County airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WILL TAMRA AND SIDNEY EVER RECONCILE?
