‘Real Housewives of Orange County’: Vicki Gunvalson does not regret learning news about mother’s death on TV
Last night’s “Real Housewives of Orange County” episode contained within it what has to be one of the most devastating moments that we have seen on a show, as Vicki Gunvalson had to learn the news about her mother’s passing in probably one of the most devastating ways possible. She was on the phone, and with cameras for the Bravo series watching her.
Ever since we saw the first promo for this, we were very uncomfortable for a variety of reasons. For one, we’ve always considered this show to be of a certain tone, and focusing on something so serious was hard to do. We also just felt if we were in Vicki’s position, the last thing we would want to do is have cameras watching us at one of the most vulnerable moments of our entire life.
So does Vicki regret having it happen in this way in retrospect? It doesn’t seem like it. She spoke with Andy Cohen last night for a pre-taped “Watch What Happens Live” interview, and she said that she does not hold anything against production for the way that they handled it:
“It’s part of my reality. I lost my mother. I signed up for all areas of my life to be exposed — the good and the bad. There’s been a lot of great moments that have been aired and there’s a lot of moments that I wish I wasn’t on a reality show … This is not a moment that I feel, as of right now, that I regret, because statistically people are going to lose their parents, right? We’re going to be alive when our parents die, statistically … I don’t blame Bravo, I don’t blame [show production company] Evolution, I don’t blame anybody … it’s my life.”
Clearly, Vicki has a lot of strength for handling it this way, but this doesn’t make it the right or wrong way for other people to handle something like this. The truth is that everyone is going to tackle something so raw and serious in their own way.
You can watch a video of Vicki discussing this below. Meanwhile, sign up to have some other TV news sent over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Bravo.)