Bravo’s franchise of Real Housewives is based on producing lots of drama for the viewers to see and the women who are featured on the show are carefully selected so that the show can produce high ratings based on epic cat fights. The Real Housewives of Orange County is the original Real Housewives show. It was the first to be created and dates all the way back to 2006! With 10 seasons under its belt we’ve seen a lot of women come and go with only one housewife remaining from the first season — Vicki Gunvalson. However, many other women haven’t fared so well with the series, whether they were on the show for just one season or spent multiple years with the show, some women just can’t seem to live up to Bravo’s high expectations of drama and more often than not, get the boot! Here’s a list of five stars who were booted off The Real Housewives of Orange County:
5. Alexis Bellino
Alexis Bellino was on The Real Housewives of Orange County from season 5 to season 8. She had a good run and was famously known for her barbie looks and religious preaching. While on the show Alexis was buddy-buddy with Gretchen Rossi; they spent a lot of time filming together and ironically even got fired together! Neither were asked to return for season 9 of the show and when it came to Alexis it might have been because she had become so isolated within the group of women and quite frankly was too boring. She didn’t get along with veteran housewives Tamra Judge, Vicki Gunvalson, or newbie Heather Dubrow and even had a falling out with her previous best friend Gretchen! The decision to let her go was most likely do to her not fitting in with the show anymore and an inability to string her into any kind of storyline for season 9. It’s rumored that Alexis was previously on the chopping block and was only asked back because another cast member dropped out.
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4. Lydia McLaughlin
This Canadian born housewife only lasted one season on Bravo’s reality series and it’s still unclear whether she was fired or left on her own accord — one this is definitely for sure she wasn’t exactly memorable. As much as we loved Lydia’s sweet personality, she didn’t stand a chance against some of the other women on the show and she would have eventually been fired for being too nonchalant and unexciting. The most memorable thing about her time on the show was her quirky, fairy dusting, marijuana smoking mother! Lydia wrote in her book that she was asked back to do season 9 but chose not to because it wasn’t God’s path for her: “When I was asked back to do season 9, I wanted to do it. Being on the show was everything the world tells us to desire and it was what I desired. But…I knew in my heart it was not God’s plan for me to go back.” Lydia told US Weekly there is no epic story behind her departure but just that she didn’t want to make a career out of being a housewife: “That’s never really been a dream of mine. I’ve always been really honest with the producers about that. I knew that while I was filming it that I probably wasn’t going to be doing it again.” She also said she felt sad while taping the reunion show because even though she had no part in all the conflict that was happening around her, it affected her deeply. Truthfully, Real Housewives was too trashy for this fairy child Goddess.
Source: Bravo Tv
3. Peggy Tanous
This holistic housewife was on RHOC for one season as a regular cast member and another as a recurring character, a friend of Alexis Bellino. She joined for season 6 and didn’t return for season 7, and it’s unclear what happened. Peggy claims she left the show so that she could spend more time with her family and look after her health, but housewife’s very rarely leave the show on their own accord, especially if there’s nothing lined up for the future. When asked about her departure, Tanous said, “After months of negotiation and soul searching, I have declined Bravo’s offer to return to the show. I just felt in my heart that…the time it would take me away from my family was just not a healthy path for me.” She said the negativity between some of the housewives was just too much to handle and couldn’t deal with the dramatic confrontations. While it’s possible Peggy left on her own, there’s a chance she got the boot because she just couldn’t provide enough drama to fuel the ratings. Bravo never released a comment, though they rarely do. Peggy thanked Bravo for the opportunity and was hopefully for more upcoming roles on television, but that never really happened for her. In fact, it was rumored she went through a bit of a financial crisis back in 2013 — sounds like she could’ve used the money from another season of Real Housewives!
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2. Gretchen Rossi
Gretchen Rossi joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County back in season 4 and she was scrutinized heavily for her relationship with older fiance, Jeff Beitzel, who has since passed away. After his death she continued to film with the show and a few seasons later struck up a relationship with serial housewife dater, Slade Smiley. Gretchen’s time on the Real Housewives of tumultuous because she constantly found herself on the defense against all the other women. She was fired at the same time as her former best friend, Alexis Bellino when she wasn’t asked to return for season 9 of the show. Apparently the two women were fired because they became “too boring” for the show and in Gretchen’s case it was always the same old story — not even her elaborate proposal could save her! Her story on the show was always about bickering with Slade on whether or not to have children and getting married. After she was fired, Gretchen said the rumors weren’t true and in fact she was asked to continue with Bravo for her own spin off series, but her and Slade turned it down because they weren’t ready and wanted to get away from the drama. That is hard to believe because the two were rumored to be handing out resumes looking for another television opportunity after they got the axe from Bravo and even appeared on the reality series, Marriage Boot Camp.
© Bravo / Courtesy: Everett Collection
1. Lynne Curtin
Lynne Curtin was one of the original housewives! She was part of the OG cast where the whole Real Housewives franchise began (Orange County was the first city to do a Real Housewives show about a decade ago). We got to hand it to Lynne, she was never boring, but rather bizarre at times and she struggled through a lot while filming the show. Through it all she had her head held high. Sadly, she got the boot after season 5 and was replaced with Peggy Tanous. When asked about being fired from Bravo, Lynne said this: “I am broken hearted! I was so let down the way this came about! We were the last to know! I guess Bravo has to do what they have to do! I thought we had a great relationship! I guess I was wrong! Its funny how fast offers came to us from other places! That’s how we found out we were not returning!” She went on to claim she’d be returning for a new show that is more honest and has no retakes or do overs…but that never happened for Lynne. She’s only suffered more heartbreak since the show ended. She divorced her husband, suffered financial problems, her two daughters have been linked to the porn industry and her handbag and jewelry line never gained much success.
Source: www.bravotv.com
