Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Emily Simpson threw major shade at Heather Dubrow during an interview at the end of last month.
As she also claimed Shannon Beador seemingly dropped Heather after her reconciliation with Tamra Judge, weighed in on the never-ending drama between Tamra and Jennifer Pedranti, and explained the evolution of husband Shane Simpson, the Real Housewives of Orange County star addressed a potential role on Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip and slammed Heather as “opportunistic.”
“I would always pick [Gina Kirschenheiter] just because we’re so close. When I’m with her, we have fun together. … [And] Lisa Barlow from [The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City]. I know her pretty well: We talk pretty often, so that would be fun,” Emily told TODAY of her dream RHUGT cast on July 27.
But those aren’t the only Housewives she’s close to. In fact, when questioned about the last Housewife she spoke to who’s not on her cast, Emily named Lisa Rinna.
“She DMs me, and she’s always been very kind to me — always,” Emily revealed.
And when it comes to the RHOC cast, Emily remains in touch with former cast members Lizzie Rovsek and Gretchen Rossi, who Tamra once claimed were standing in the way of a true friendship between them.
“I’ve been friends with Lizzie for years… I don’t think it bothers Tamra now because I think she knows that me being friends with Lizzie has nothing to do with her,” Emily noted. “Gretchen and I are friendly. [But] I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw her in person, it was probably three years ago.”
Throughout the recent episodes of RHOC, Jennifer has been at odds with Tamra due to Tamra’s claims about her romance with Ryan Boyajian and Ryan’s past. And while Jennifer has accused Tamra of being dishonest, Emily believes Tamra “knows a lot of things.”
“I like Jenn a lot, I think she’s a very good, solid human, but I think Jenn also tries to create her own narrative about things. She tries to control the way it looks, and Tamra knows things that are different than what she’s trying to portray, so then I think that makes Tamra really mad,” she explained.
As for Jennifer’s issues with Gina, Emily understands where Gina is coming from in being triggered by the ongoing claims of infidelity.
“I think that Gina didn’t really process her feelings about everything that happened with [Matt Kirschenheiter] (her ex-husband), and I think that she also stopped drinking. When you’re not suppressing your feelings anymore, they come to the surface,” she noted. “I think she had to go through that process. And then I think she does realize that it’s on her, it’s her own feelings, and Jenn is not responsible for that.”
Moving on to husband Shane, who has gone from series villain to a show favorite, Emily admitted he’s “an acquired taste.”
“I think anyone who knows Shane goes on that journey,” she confessed. “I have real-life friends that I’ve had for years, and when they first meet Shane, they don’t like him. They’ll say things to me, like, ‘Why doesn’t your husband like me? Why is your husband rude to me?’ And then give them like a year, and they will be like, ‘I love your husband. He’s so funny.’ So I think he’s … I don’t know what you call it … an acquired taste?”
In the recently-released midseason trailer for RHOC, Heather and Dr. Terry Dubrow are seen selling their $55 million Newport home. And when it comes to Heather’s potential future on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Emily believes her co-star would jump at the chance to cross over.
“I think if she could move to [RHOBH], she would get in her private jet and fly there as fast as she could, then parachute down into a scene with caviar and a bottle of Champagne, like, ‘”I’m finally on the mothership,’” Emily stated.
According to Emily, Heather “is hard on everybody,” which she fails to recognize, and that may be why Shannon seemingly dropped her after reconciling with Tamra.
After being asked if she felt Shannon and Tamra ditched Heather after making amends, Emily signaled to Shannon.
“I know Heather and Shannon were close before we went into filming the season. They would run into each other, and they would have dinner together and stuff. I think once Shannon and Tamra kind of mended their relationship, I think Shannon was fine with just being like, ‘Buh-bye Dubrow,’” she reasoned.
Also during the interview, after naming Heather as the castmate she’ll have the most to confront about at the reunion, Emily offered an update on their friendship.
“We’re friends, that’s where I think you get a good show, too; a good cast, when you fundamentally can stay friends, but you can get really pissed off at each other, really irritated with each other and be honest with one another,” she explained. “So I am friends with her, and if she called me right now, I’d answer, and if she asked me to go to lunch, I would go.”
That said, Emily did say things between her and Heather “[get] worse” before the season ends, and she went on to accuse her and Tamra of having a friendship alliance.
“I feel like Heather sometimes tries to align herself with whoever she thinks is popular on the show. She’s opportunistic, so I think she would just go along with a friendship if she thinks that’s good for her on the show, or good for her career,” Emily suspected.
RHOC Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for tonight’s new episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County season 17, which airs at 8/7c on Bravo.
