The OC ladies have been trippin’ (quite literally) this season. As the reunion for season 19 of The Real Housewives of Orange County concludes, it seems like a happy ending is not in the cards. Gretchen denies liking homophobic posts, despite following accounts that discuss that hate rhetoric, and Tamra gets accused of leaking content from the season.
When confronted, not only does Tamra deny involvement, but she becomes infuriated. After 15 years on the show, Tamra has never once had this sort of problem, but she finds it interesting that once Gretchen and Slade come back on, issues seem to appear from thin air…
From New Orleans, to Amsterdam, this group of women have traveled around… and they brought the drama with them. But they did manage to have some fun, mainly with recreational drugs. Shannon STILL believes she heard the OC theme song when she was on ‘shrooms and Andy lives for Heather wakin’ n bakin’. Speaking of Heather, she discusses the cathartic experience of spreading her father’s ashes and is grateful Emily was there to give the support she needed.
Andy brings up the emotional final dinner in Amsterdam when the ladies confront Gretchen’s alleged social media actions. Gretchen explains that there is no excuse for liking anything with “offensive sentiment” and she “completely denounces” anything that seems homophobic or transphobic. Gretchen claims she did not recognize any of the posts, but admits that she does follow the accounts.
Gretchen blames liking said posts on mindlessly scrolling without looking at the content of the post. WHAT. Tamra points out that Gretchen unfollowed over two hundred hate accounts when she got back from Amsterdam. Does that make Gretchen look guilty?
Tamra wonders why Gretchen would be following someone with that type of content to begin with, but Gretchen plays dumb. She claims she follows both left and right wing accounts, especially around the 2020 election, and Andy reminds the group it is a free country-Gretchen can follow whoever.
Heather explains that after 14 years of knowing Gretchen, she has never seen Gretchen in that light. However, she has heard “rumblings” about Gretchen and this type of rhetoric. Heather reminds Gretchen that if she follows these accounts, her For You page is going to be full of hate. Tamra printed out posts from two days ago that shows Gretchen STILL liking this type of content. Gretchen calls it a “good lesson” and shares that she unliked many old posts.
In order to prove to Heather that she was set up, Gretchen hired a cyber analysis company. The 25 page report confirms that the most egregious post may be a combo of AI and other imaging software. On top of that, the analysis found links between the hate accounts and Tamra!!
Tamra denies this wholeheartedly and explains that she has known about this situation since 2022. Gretchen claims someone called her to let her know Tamra and Gina were plotting to take her down with this hate rhetoric. Andy wonders why Tamra would bring this up after resolving the issues with Gretchen. But Tamra is engaged. She calls Gretchen a “homophobic b*tch,” but Gretchen believes that Tamra is the one putting everything out into the press.
In the end, Gina wishes that she brought up the post situation a different way. She apologizes to Gretchen since it caused some public drama.
Heather explains that she felt as though Tamra was trying to drop the Gretchen post into her lap to make her run with it, but Heather chose not to take the bait. Tamra wonders why she is getting blamed for Gretchen liking homophobic stuff. When Emily jumps, wondering why Tamra would bring Gina into the mix, Tamra calls Emily an a*shole and seethes with anger.
Tamra reminds Emily, “by the way sweetheart, we had to switch you back on because when you got off, it [your podcast] tanked.” Tamra feels like she can come for Emily like that because she called her an a*shole, but the reality is, Tamra called Emily that FIRST! Tamra is always the victim. She misremembers, claiming she has always been nice to Emily, but calling her Shrek does not seem nice to me…
Seeing remorse from Emily, Gina, and Heather makes Gretchen feel a little bit better after they all attacked her for liking homophobic posts. Emily searched for credible sources of this egregious post and came up empty. A screen shot is not clear evidence. Katie, who was not there, calls this situation heartbreaking as she is an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.
Gretchen is (sort of) crying because this is not who she is. She calls it a personal attack and feels like it was plotted and planned. In fact, it brought up PTSD of naked wasted with all the plotting and planning. Gretchen claims that Tamra disseminates information to purposely retaliate. Remind me again why Katie got banned from hanging out with the group when they’re doing the same thing?!
Andy shows Tamra that the cyber analysis is linking accounts back to her and, as Gretchen puts it, her “criminal network.” Tamra states that she never leaked information to bloggers…which does not age well once she sees the post filming clip with an anonymous caller.
Katie looks like she has seen a ghost and Tamra remains cool as a cucumber as they listen to the tipster shell out information that only those filming would know. According to the source, Tamra was leaking information all season long and the entire content was known by this person. Evidently, Tamra clearly wanted Gina there to do her dirty work this season.
Tamra wants to know who this guy is. Andy reminds the group that they all must agree to keep things confidential about the season. Tamra calls this an ambush and points out that after 15 years, there has never been a problem… until Gretchen came back on.
Shannon shares that the anonymous person told them Tamra has been doing this for years. The tipster even knew about Shannon’s up fronts drama, info that was not privy to most. Now Tamra seems to find herself in the same seat that Katie was in all season long. Katie is happy to be clean on this one, since the only people who knew about this information filmed the remainder of the season.
Tamra believes that Slade is working overtime to make her look bad and many people argue that the tone and cadence of the anon voice gives off Slade vibes.
Tamra shrieks and promises on her kids’ lives that she would never do this. Heather finds this concerning, but Tamra reminds everyone that the minute Gretchen and Slade are back in the picture, fishy things happen. Gina feels set up by Tamra, but Tamra thinks that Gina should feel set up by Slade. Andy reminds Tamra that Slade wouldn’t know the information because Gretchen did not even know it.
Shannon muses if Tamra’s “orgasmic face” on finale night had anything to do with this whole situation. According to Shannon, it was almost like Tamra was smug in knowing she’s got Gretchen backed in the corner.
Tamra explains there is no proof (other than the exact content and storyline from the season). Gina points out that if Tamra told anyone anything about the season, even with no mal intent, information is getting out there somehow.
Heather wants all of this to stop. Careers, kids, bloggers- it should all be off-limits. This show should solely be about conflict and resolution between the group. She reminds everyone this show is not a game of Survivor. Emily jumps in (what else is new?) to say it is imperative not to deal with outside people since it is hard enough as it is within the group.
If Gretchen could take back one thing she said this season it would be blabbing about Tamra’s alleged affair. Shannon apologizes once again to Katie for comparing her to Alexis and Katie regrets saying something about Jenn.
Heather wishes she was more vocal about the fatty photo and Emily goes back to last year and apologizes to Katie once again. Gina regrets having asked Katie what she was wearing and she feels bad for saying she does not think Heather is funny. Tamra regrets sharing the picture of Jenn and Jenn apologizes to both Shannon and Katie.
For Katie and Jenn, they need to have a conversation re: Nicole, a friend of Jenn’s. Apparently, Katie asked if Ryan was involved with Matt’s bookie gig. Jenn lets Katie know she can’t do things like this in true friendships, but Katie reminds Jenn that she had not spoken to her for weeks. Katie stands firm, despite Jenn’s accusations.
Heather leads the ladies in a path to clarity with a toast and season 19 wraps. Tamra is reeling, trying to claim her innocence to Andy, wondering where all of this information came from. She leans on Katie for support, which is rich considering Katie was also blacklisted this season for doing exactly what Tamra is accused of.
Katie reminds Tamra that she needs to remember who is in her corner. Tamra calls it retaliation, but Gina is headstrong that there were things discussed that only Gina and Tamra know…pointing all arrows back to Tamra. SO, is she guilty? Or are Slade and Gretchen truly behind this?
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THIS REUNION FINALE EPISODE OF RHOC?