Season 16 of Real Housewives of Orange County has started off with a bang. On the second episode, Gina Kirschenheiter and Shannon Beador brought up a 20-year-old lawsuit against Heather Dubrow’s husband, Terry, regarding his former patient, Nicole James.
In the episode, Heather tried to block the cameras from filming, and she eventually called off her expensive party. Behind the scenes, the Bravo star shared more details about this harrowing scene.
In an interview with StyleCaster, Heather revealed she wanted to quit the show after Nicole’s alleged lawsuit was discussed. “I felt like I was walking in fog,” she said. “It was so surreal to me.”
She explained, “I’m sitting there like, ‘I’ll be right back.’ I’m weirdly calm at that moment. A million things were going through my mind. Mostly what I thought was I felt so betrayed. I felt betrayed by production. I felt betrayed by Shannon. I felt betrayed by Gina. I was like, ‘Oh my God. Did I really just open my family up to this? This is the first party and it’s in my house. How did this happen?’”
Heather described the conversation she had with her husband, saying, “When I went upstairs, I was like, ‘This is a mistake.’ Terry was like, ‘Great. I agree. We’re done.’ Then I went, ‘Wait a second. Hold on. We’re not thinking through this very clearly.’ First of all, what’s going on here? He goes, ‘Well, where’s Nicole?’ He felt so bad for her that she was probably sitting downstairs by herself feeling ambushed by all these women when really this was something between us. It had nothing to do with them. That was our first thing like, ‘Let’s go find Nicole. Let’s make sure she’s OK. And then we’ll figure it out from there.’”
Before Heather and Terry made peace with Nicole, though, the couple shared a heated exchange with producers. “I was very upset, saying, ‘I’m leaving! I’m done!’” said Heather. “It was an honest account. We were asked to come back. It was a big conversation in our family. They wanted us to come back, which we appreciated. We felt completely blindsided and betrayed.”
The Bravo star forgave Nicole, expressing, “It was something that happened 20 years ago. Nicole and I became friends eight years ago. It never came up. Personally, I think she either knew and didn’t want to discuss it or maybe she felt uncomfortable bringing it up. At the end of the day, it was something that happened a long time ago. It was dropped. It’s her private medical information. I don’t think it’s fair. She’s a victim in all of this. Everyone is allowed to have a fresh start. She’s a different person.”
Although she made nice with Nicole, Heather felt Shannon committed a “huge violation” by spreading the information. When StyleCaster asked if Shannon wanted the lawsuit to be on the show, Heather responded, “One has to know when you’re on a reality show, when you’re having conversations, whether it’s on or off camera, those are conversations that will be on the show. There’s a code in this show. You don’t go after each other’s kids and you don’t go after careers.”
Heather was asked why she forgave Gina so quickly. “When [Gina] told me the story about her ex-husband and being at that party, I completely understood how triggering being the only one not knowing a piece of information was,” said Heather. “I really liked that Gina wanted to meet up with me so quickly. She had Emily reach out because she was scared, which I understood . . . She took accountability for her part in it and didn’t qualify it or make excuses.”
Heather also revealed why she came back on the show: “When my daughter Max came out as bisexual a couple years ago, we were really flooded with so many wonderful comments and support, and a lot of sad stories about people who were estranged from their children or parents and even people who had gone so far as to take their own lives.”
“I was like, ‘OK. I have these four kids. Different genders. Different sexualities, all trying to figure out their place in the world,’” said Heather. “Not that we do it perfectly, but we have a lot of open communication and conversations in our house that I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could use the platform to start those conversations in other people’s homes and try to help some families?’”
She said the current season was different from her past experiences on RHOC because she’s “more relaxed. When I first joined the show, I didn’t know anybody, so I was literally put in the center of all those women. I was figuring out the show and navigating all those new friendships. This time coming in, I knew all of that but I pretty much got a fresh start. Except for Shannon, I didn’t know anyone.”
Heather was surprised to be offered alcohol during the confessional interviews: “I don’t remember that from my day. People drink during these things? Are you kidding me? I had a little system. I don’t drink until 30 minutes before we’re done, and then I’ll have a little champs.”
Before Bravo announced Heather’s return, she was sworn to secrecy. Shannon, however, asked the actress directly. “[Shannon] had texted me because it had been a very strong rumor the week it was announced I was coming back. I never lie. But I wrote back something like, ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be so ridiculous?’ So I think she had an idea.”
Heather also wants Alexis Bellino to come back on the show (which was discussed as a possibility). “I’ve seen Alexis over the years. She’s great. I’d be happy to see her back,” she explained.
The actress also said she would never consider an appearance on Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, saying, “Absolutely not! Don’t ask me! Send me a postcard. I don’t want to go. I think it’s phenomenal. I love it. I love it for the audience because it’s so fun for people to see girls from different franchises all together. But I have enough anxiety doing our show. I can’t imagine doing that. No, don’t want to do that.”