Tamra Judge on Why She’s Not Concerned About Her Drinking

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Tamra Judge appeared on Thursday night’s Watch What Happens Live, where she addressed her messy falling out with Shannon Beador and spoke of the recent drama of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

As she admitted to being on Heather Dubrow‘s side amid her paparazzi drama with Gina Kirschenheiter, 40, and Katie Ginella, 40, defended herself against claims of making Emily Simpson, 48, meaner, and reacted to Jennifer Pedranti‘s divorce settlement, Tamra, 56, labeled her past friendship with Shannon, 60, “one-sided” as she shaded her decision to keep drinking after her September 2023 DUI arrest.

After being asked why she’s so concerned with Shannon’s drinking habits but not her own on the August 15 episode of WWHL, Tamra said, “I’m not even drinking tonight. I rarely drink. I have a little bit of liquid courage when I film and because I’m not a seasoned drinker like Shannon, I tend to act stupid.”

“Shannon should be thanking Jesus that [Alexis Bellino] is on the show because her drinking has just been brushed under the rug,” she added.

While many have felt that Heather, 55, overreacted to Gina’s involvement in Katie’s paparazzi allegations against her, Tamra said she did not feel that way.

“I think that Gina, being a good friend of hers and knowing that Katie had this information months prior, that Gina should have went to Heather and told her,” Tamra explained.

She then addressed claims that Emily is “meaner” since befriending her.

“No. I mean, she threatened to kill Kelly Dodd. There’s history. But I’d like to think that I have that much power,” she stated.

Although 89% of WWHL viewers sided with Shannon in their feud, Tamra defended herself from the poll, saying that fans “only have half the story.”

“After her DUI, I was by her side every single day, talking to her every single day, trying to make sure that she got the help that she needed and she didn’t get the help she needed,” Tamra pointed out. “I just know me personally, if I ran my car into a house three times the legal limit and then acted like I was walking my dog, looking like a zombie, I probably would never drink again.”

During another poll, viewers suspected she and Shannon would ultimately reconcile. But, according to Tamra, that won’t happen.

“No. She’s trying to trash my name and rewrite history and all I’ve ever done is try to help her, it was always a one-sided friendship,” Tamra explained.

As for whether Emily was too hard on Jennifer, 47, amid her financial struggles, Tamra said she “[didn’t] enjoy it.”

“I do think she went in kind of hard but I also understand where Emily’s coming from. Jen has been separated from her ex-husband for four years. It’s time to rebuild yourself and not have another man take care of you,” Tamra reasoned, joking that Alexis “named [her] Toe Jam Tam” after their OnlyFans scene on Thursday’s RHOC.

Despite not being friends with Shannon at the present time, Tamra admitted that she does take her side during the season at some point.

“I take the right side,” she teased.

Tamra then congratulated Jennifer on her six-figure divorce settlement.

“Congratulations. She got like $250,000, something like that. That’s good. She should.beause they had a house that they sold like three years ago and she should’ve got half of that,” Tamra stated.

Also on the live broadcast, Tamra suggested she was on board with a return from Gretchen Rossi, 45, saying, “Bring it on,” as she admitted she “[hated]” that The Real Housewives of New Jersey didn’t have a reunion and confirmed she’s holding no grudges against her co-stars on The Traitors.

“No. Love them all,” she declared.

Also on Thursday, during the WWHL: After Show, Tamra was asked how she felt seeing Vicki say she’d gone “looney tunes and coo-coo brain.”

“Here’s the thing with Vicki: I haven’t had a falling out with her,” she replied. “We filmed the season. She filmed about five times and we got along the entire time.”

Then, after wrapping production, Tamra said Vicki “started bashing” her.

“She started going after me. She said I had a black heart and vinegar running through my veins and I’m like, ‘I’m not saying a word about you. I’ve never said anything negative. What are you doing?’” Tamra recalled. “So I don’t know what’s going on with her. But I love her.”

“I’m surprised she’s doing this,” she added.

Tamra then mentioned her new podcast with Dan Gheesling from Big Brother and The Traitors.

“It’s called Talking a Big Game. We’re talking about competition shows,” she shared. “We’re interviewing people from Dancing With the Stars and Big Brother. We walk to talk to them. We want to know, what do they think success is and how they get successful on competition shows.”

The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.