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Vicki Gunvalson reveals that she will “never forgive Bravo” for how they handled her receiving the news of her mother’s death. Plus, she calls reality TV “a deal with the devil.”
In 2015, Vicki Gunvalson was filming RHOC when she received a call that her mom passed away. In the heartbreaking scene, Vicki Gunvalson collapsed to the floor, crying and screaming over the shocking news.
According to the RHOC OG, production “knew for an hour” about her mom’s death and set cameras up to film it.
“We were playing Bunco at Shannon’s, and my brother, my sister, my son, everybody was trying to call me, and the phone was not working, so they called production,” Vicki Gunvalson recalled on VICE TV‘s The Dark Side of Reality TV. “Briana had been calling, calling, calling, calling, calling. And they kept telling her, ‘Well, she’s filming right now. Blah blah blah.’ She’s like, ‘I need to talk to my mom right now.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay we’re gonna have her call you from Shannon’s wrapping paper room.’”
“They had set up the room with lights and cameramen,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ I was really upset that production knew for an hour and they didn’t tell me. They were out of line, and I think they should have taken me aside and said, ‘Your mom has passed, talk to your daughter off camera.’ If I was a producer, that’s what I would have done. Let me scream and cry on my own. And be mad. It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that.”
On the VICE series, Vick Gunvalson, who left RHOC in 2018 after starring on the show since 2006, also compared reality TV to the devil.
“I definitely feel like it’s a deal with the devil,” she stated.
The 62-year-old also revealed that she made “nothing, zero” for her first season of RHOC.
“Season 2 I believe I got paid $5,000 for the whole season,” Vicki confessed. “Not much money, I didn’t even have an attorney look over my contract. I had no idea what I was doing.”
However, when Real Housewives became a huge hit for Bravo, Vicki got a giant payday.
“My final full-time season, [the pay] was significant. Seven figures. I never really thought I would make the number I was making,” she said.
Despite the fame and money RHOC gave her, Vicki Gunvalson says she had major regrets doing reality TV as she paid the price for it – mentally and emotionally.
The OG of the OC regrets having her divorce from Donn Gunvalson play out on camera.
“People ask me if I regret doing the show and when I look at my relationships I’d say yes,” the mom of two said. “With Donn, 100% the show had an impact on our relationship. Being on TV 100% had a role in our divorce because it puts a lot of pressure on a marriage. I think we would’ve survived if I wasn’t on the show. So that I regret.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
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