The Real Housewives of Orange County season 15 premiered on Bravo, on October 14, to a significant 25 percent drop in viewers.
Months after both Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge, who were the series’ longest running stars, announced they would not be returning for the new episodes, the remaining members of the cast, including Shannon Beador, Kelly Dodd, Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter, Braunwyn Windham-Burke, and newbie Elizabeth Vargas, premiered to nearly 370,000 less viewers than the series received last year for its season 14 premiere.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Wednesday night’s season 15 premiere episode garnered just 1.051 million viewers, which is way less viewers than the show has received in recent years. In comparison, the RHOC season 14 premiere was seen by 1.416 million viewers when it debuted on August 6, 2019.
In fact, since season six of RHOC, there was just one episode that was lower than the recent premiere, and that wasn’t even a regular season episode. Instead, it was part three of the season 14 reunion, which saw Vicki storming off set after learning she would not be seen for the entirety of the special.
News of the ratings plummet comes just two months after Vicki and Tamra were seen poking fun at the new season by suggesting it would be lacking in content.
“There’s no more tres amigas!” Tamra said during a brunch date with Vicki. “They filmed the season finale two nights ago and oddly enough, we weren’t invited!”
“And guess what? The episodes are down to 12 versus 22,” Vicki interjected. “Maybe there’s no content because they’re all fake b–ches!”
In response to the diss, Kelly assured her fans and followers on Instagram that season 15 of RHOC would be the “best season yet.”
“I love that she works on production now .. lmfao!” Kelly said in response to Vicki and Tamra’s clip. “Move on girlfriend it’s none of her business how many episodes we have .. ITS actually up to 15 plus the finale and the reunion .. don’t be jelly sister !! It will be the best season yet .. We filmed during COVID .. real reality not fake bullsh*t like she did for 10 years .. Emily winning season watch!”
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 15 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
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