‘RHOC’ Star Tamra Judge on Being Held to Different Standard Than Cast

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Credit: Bravo

Tamra Judge signaled Shannon Beador‘s DUI arrest as she spoke of being held to a different standard than her Real Housewives of Orange County castmates on Lala Kent‘s podcast last week.

As she also spoke of not needing the show, speculated about the behavior of Katie Ginella, 41, and explained why son Spencer Barney doesn’t appear on the series, Tamra, 57, slammed social media haters, admitted to fearing being fired, and looked back on her decision to return to the show after a temporary departure earlier this year.

“They would be killing me [if I got a DUI]. And it comes up, [Gina Kirschenheiter] talks about how I’m held to a different standard in this group. Everybody else can do and say things, but if I do it, oh my god … It’s at the point now where I’m like, ‘What? I just don’t know if I can do this anymore. Honestly,’” Tamra shared on the August 20 episode of Give Them Lala.

According to Tamra, she finds it “exhausting” that she’s treated differently from her co-stars.

“I can’t hold the whole show all the time, and they want to pick on every word I say to make it a storyline, but yet other people say things far worse,” she noted. “If I would have said what [Gretchen Rossi] said to Shannon, ‘DUI’s illegal,’ oh my god, I would’ve been annihilated. It would’ve been talked about for the next 10 episodes.”

Then, after noting that she doesn’t need RHOC “anymore,” at least not “financially,” Tamra said that Katie seems to be acting out of hurt on the show.

“There’s something about her that I’m like, she’s hurt, there’s hurt in her. I know she had talked about being adopted and being raised in a mostly caucasian area, and all the hate she got, and I don’t really know where she stands now with her adopted parents, but to me, I can spot it. I’m like, ‘I don’t think this is who she is.’ I think this is like a trauma response,” she reasoned. “I’m not excusing any bad behavior whatsoever, but I just see something internally deeper.”

As for why Spencer doesn’t film, Tamra said he’s “so shy.”

“He filmed one year after he turned 18, and people just said such horrible things on social media, and he’s like, ‘Mom, I just can’t do it,’” she revealed. “He’s just the sweetest boy. And I go, ‘I get it.’ Every year I ask him and he’s like, ‘You know the answer, Mom. I don’t want to. I respect what you do, but it’s not for me.’”

“[Sophia Barney], she’s a natural performer,” Tamra added of her youngest daughter.

Agreeing with Spencer’s disdain for social media, Tamra said it is “in the toilet.”

“Even about [Teddi Mellencamp]. I’m just like, who says stuff like that? Like, why would you say something like that? It’s a platform now that people can buy bots to attack you. It’s dirty,” she complained.

While it was she who parted ways with production amid season 19, Tamra admitted to having a fear of being fired from her role on the show.

“I beat myself down, and I always think, every year, this is it. I’m getting fired. Every year, I think that they don’t like me, fans don’t like me. The cast doesn’t like me. I’m very close with production, and they’ve always been very kind to me, and I’m always very good to them, but you never know what Bravo thinks, and I’m like, ‘What if they read this comment and they really think I’m this horrible person?’” she explained. 

Also during the interview, Tamra looked back on her decision to return to RHOC after quitting, recalling a conversation she had with Heather Dubrow, 56.

“Heather had reached out to me, I believe, from New Orleans. A week had gone by, and I hadn’t responded to her, so I said, ‘Thank you. I’m okay now. I’m doing much better.’ And then we filmed together. She’s the first one I filmed with,” Tamra shared.

“When I come back, you will see a little bit of a change in me … I have some ups and downs still, but I’m stronger and I’m not putting up with sh*t,” she added.

The Real Housewives of Orange County season 19 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.