Tamra Judge Admits She’s a “Problem” When She Drinks

Credit: Bravo

Season 18 of The Real Housewives of Orange County might be a turning point for Tamra Judge. While some fans give her credit for bringing the other ladies’ drama to the forefront, others feel she’s more of a bully. This has caused a ton of backlash for the RHOC veteran online. Now, the Two Ts In a Pod co-host is opening up about her own drinking and admitting that she’s a bit of a problem when she partakes too much. Plus, she discusses the drama from this season.

As fans know, Tamra has talked a lot about Shannon Beador‘s DUI this season. In fact, she even went as far as to call her out at a dinner party in an episode earlier this season. This led to fans online discussing Tamra’s drinking habits.

Recently, Tamra sat down to have a conversation with Decider. They started by discussing Tamra’s relationship with Shannon and the backlash she has gotten for bashing her. Tamra said, “I know her better than anybody. I have been there for her. I have kept her secrets. I have lied for her. I have done everything to protect her for so many years, and I just can’t do it anymore.”

They then discussed Jennifer Pedranti, who says that Tamra is a problem when she drinks. Tamra explained, “Oh, I am a problem when I drink. I’m an asshole when I drink. I just say whatever I feel like saying. I don’t lie. That’s one thing. But I just say the things that are deep down inside.”

Tamra then went on to say that she slowed down her drinking after filming a certain scene for this season. She said, “I rarely drink the rest of the season. I mean, I didn’t have to run my car into a house to say, ‘You know what? I need to stop drinking.’”

Tamra also discussed Vicki Gunvalson, calling her evil and saying she has a black heart. She said, “I would say as far as the Vicki situation, I have done nothing to Vicki. I have been there through her lying about cancer, through [her ex-boyfriend] Brooks [Ayers], and through [her ex-fiancé] Steve [Lodge].”

She continued, “And I’ve cried on the phone with her for many, many years. We’ve gone through issues with kids and marriages and divorces and grandchildren. I am sick to my stomach that she would go to that extent to say such horrible things about me.”

They then discussed the videos Alexis Bellino threatened to release. According to Tamra, “I do think that she probably — John will never release those videos, I don’t think. I think that they will be brought up at the reunion. And I think that Alexis will probably tell everybody what’s on them, and I think everybody’s going to be shocked. I’ve heard, and it’s bad.”

Of course, it’s now being said that the ring camera footage shows Shannon almost running over John Janssen‘s daughter. 

The interviewer then asked Tamra about getting annoyed at Alexis for constantly talking about Johhny J. Tamra responded, “Well, I don’t know. I mean, they seem very much in love. It’s going on a year now, and we just poke fun at her because we’ve seen Alexis in past years, and whoever she’s with, she’s very into and very supportive of her man, and I respect that of her.”

She continued, “But we went on this trip to not talk about any of that stuff. And I clearly say in the car — which I don’t think they showed — ‘Guys, my Big Bear house is zero drama. It is called My Happy Place. We do not talk negatively at the cabin.’ And it just came up. It just came up. But I love seeing Alexis giggle and laugh. Her giggle is infectious, and she’s funny, and there’s so many other things she talks about, but they just haven’t shown it.”

Tamra also responded to the idea that she’s changing Emily Simpson for the worse. She explained, “I was totally shocked with this narrative that I am turning Emily into an asshole. Emily’s a very smart woman. She’s educated. She’s an attorney. She has her own opinions. Me and Emily do not have powwows talking about how we can possibly be b**ches to people.”

She added, “And I took offense to it, and I thought, ‘Wow, Gina, that’s what you think of me. You think that low of me that [you think] I’m going to go persuade people to be mean.’ It was just a couple of episodes [ago when] she was yelling at Jenn to pay her bills and calling her a squatter. So who taught you how to be a b**ch? So it’s very confusing. It just wasn’t okay with me.”

Tamra also discussed the belief that Gina Kirschenheiter set Katie Ginella up regarding the Heather Dubrow pictures. She said, “Well, first of all, it was because of what Katie had been telling me. Katie told me that basically months before we started filming, Katie and Gina became friends, and Katie gave Gina this information, and Gina said to her, ‘You need to bring that up. If you get cast on the show, you need to bring it up because Heather — it would be so great. And it would be so funny. Heather would think it’s funny.’”

She continued, “She was just pushing for Katie to be on the show. She was calling each one of the cast members trying to sell us on Katie. And we’re like, ‘Okay, but we don’t do the hiring, but whatever. That’s fine.’ Then when Katie does say it, Gina got questioned at the golf tournament, and I think somebody said, ‘Well, Gina, you know about this. You were sent the text messages confirming that Heather called the paparazzi.’”

Tamra added, “And she suddenly couldn’t use her phone, didn’t know why it wouldn’t turn on and was like, ‘I got to go.’ And she acted very suspicious. So I’m like, ‘It looks like she set you up.’ So we’ll see. We’ll see what happens though.”

Fans can watch RHOC on Thursday nights on Bravo and stream the episode the next day on Peacock.