Tamra Judge and Vicki Gunvalson have had a lot of ups and downs in their friendship.
The pair hit it off when they first met during season 3 of Real Housewives of Orange County, which aired in 2008. Judge and Gunvalson’s friendship blossomed the following year after they bonded over their disdain for costar Gretchen Rossi.
Gunvalson and Judge hit their first friendship roadblock in season 7 over Gunvalson’s then-boyfriend Brooks Ayers. From the start, Judge was skeptical of Ayers’ intentions and Gunvalson didn’t want to hear it.
Tamra Judge, Vicki Gunvalson. Photo: Getty Images
After getting into arguments over Ayers, the women’s friendship was damaged. However, the duo resolved their distances and made up while Ayers was still in the picture — but the truce didn’t last long. Gunvalson and Judge argued again over Ayers. In 2016, Judge shared she wasn’t sure if their friendship could be salvaged.
“That’s where I’m at – I’m burned. I said, ‘You know what, one more thing. One more thing, and I’m done. I’m done,” she recalled during Jenny McCarthy‘s Dirty, Sexy, Funny SiriusXM show. ”It actually hurts my feelings because we’ve been friends off and on for 10 years, so we’ve gone through a lot together. We’ve gone through our kids getting married … health concerns and divorces and all that stuff, so, we have a lot of history.”
Keep scrolling to see Judge and Gunvalson’s ups and downs over the years:
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
2008
Gunvalson, who has been a staple on RHOC since its premiere in 2006, took Judge under her wing when she made her debut in season 3.
2012
The women’s relationship hit a snag after Judge shared her dislike for Ayers. Gunvalson didn’t appreciate her pal not being more supportive of her relationship.
“You’re supposed to be my friend no matter what. You don’t talk that way to me or him. You’re supposed to be my friend!” Gunvalson said in a season 7 episode of RHOC. “My friend, my soul mate, my sister. That means you have respect for the man I love … Everyone’s always scared of you. I’m not scared of you.”
That same season, Judge and Gunvalson got into a heated exchange after Ayers claimed Judge was giving his girlfriend the “evil eye.”
2013
After a year of drama, Gunvalson and Judge buried the hatchet at Judge’s bachelorette party.
2014
While the duo were on friendly terms, they made a group called Tres Amigas with fellow RHOC costar Shannon Beador. However, Judge and Gunvalson’s truce didn’t last for long as Judge continued to talk badly about Ayers. During a group trip to Bali, the RHOC cast sat down with Judge about the drama. Judge accused Gunvalson of not having her back.
"You sat back and you did nothing this year,” Judge said. “You [sit] back, act nice to my face, you text me the entire time we are filming and the entire time you were mean behind my back.”
Gunvalson replied, “You’re supposed to be getting better but you just get bitter and bitter and bitter.”
2015
Judge got her vindication about her feelings toward Ayers after it came out he was lying about having cancer.
“From day one I called him out. I felt he was a con man. I could see it in his eyes and nothing he said was making sense,” Judge said to E! News. “He’s a charmer, but then you get to know him and after a while his stories don’t add up. In the end, I stopped questioning him as much, started accepting him for Vicki. I knew that if I let go, he would do it to himself.”
2016
Judge revealed that Gunvalson apologized to her over the Ayers drama but it didn’t help change how hurt she felt by her friend over the years.
“I took her back this year, accepted her apology — well, her half-ass apology — forgave the past and tried to move on, only to get burned again,” Judge said on SiriusXM’s Dirty, Sexy, Funny show. “She was behind my back with a machete this time,” she explained. “We have so much fun this year and I’m like, ‘Oh my friend’s back, she’s away from the douche, now she’s gonna be like the old Vicki.’ No. Not so much.”
Noel Vasquez/FilmMagic
2017
Judge gave an update on her fractured friendship with Gunvalson. “I’m not saying I don’t care about [Vicki], ‘cause I did care about her, but when you get hurt so bad, it’s just, like, whatever.” she said to Entertainment Tonight. “We go from me and Vicki not even speaking, then going to Iceland and kind of speaking, and then we go to the season finale and not speaking again.”
2018
Gunvalson and Judge finally worked out their differences and got on good terms again.
“Long story short, she came clean and that’s all it really took,” Judge said to ET. “I’m not that tough of a girl. We all mess up and we all screw up. I know that for a fact. You just say you’re sorry and you mean it, and you move on and you learn from your mistake, and I’m OK with that.”
2019
Gunvalson learned in July 2019 that she got demoted from the RHOC main cast in season 14. Judge shared a sweet message of support for her pal.
“Omg @vickigunvalson two dunk [sic] housewives. Where do I start … the hats , the tan , the can of beer & the 12 years of crazy shenanigans. I love you, I hate you! I’ve gone through so much with you my friend,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “I said it 12 years ago and I’ll say it again #BFF (or until you piss me off again … jk). “It makes me sad that you’re sad right now . I love you so much pinky swear.”
2020
Both Gunvalson and Judge exited RHOC. Us Weekly reported at the time that Bravo offered Judge a “part-time role,” but ultimately declined.
2022
After Judge and Gunvalson departed from RHOC, the twosome appeared on the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip together. Shortly after UGT aired Judge returned to RHOC. Gunvalson shared that she was happy for her friend, but wished she could join her.
“Of course I’m excited for her. I would be a bad friend if I wasn’t,” Gunvalson, 60, said during an appearance on E!’s Daily Pop in August 2022. “Yes, I have FOMO [fear of missing out]. I’m like any other woman that would be feeling that way.”
Later that year, Gunvalson confessed to Us that she was initially “jealous” Judge was asked back before her. However, she came around after she realized Judge “wanted it more.”
2024
Judge shared that she and Gunvalson were feuding again over Tres Amigas drama with Beador.
“I backed out of the ‘Tres Amigas’ for some reasons that you probably will hear about on Orange County Housewives. You know, it’s tough,” she said to ET in January 2024. “It’s so twisted, and there’s so many layers to it, it’s hard for me to explain everything — but I didn’t do anything to either one of them.”
The following month, Judge called Gunvalson a “f–king liar” for blaming the drama on her assistant. “It is an absolute blatant f–king lie,” Judge said during an appearance on the Jeff Lewis’ show. “The reason why I am not doing the Tres Amigas is because I caught them talking behind my back. That’s why.”
