Credit: Instagram, Todd Williamson/Bravo
Vicki Gunvalson reacted to Emily Simpson and Jennifer Pedranti‘s early exit from her home in La Quinta after Thursday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
As Emily, 50, and Jennifer, 49, explained why they left, Shannon Beador, 62, revealed why she stayed, and Carmella Garcia, 44, accused Vicki, 64, of playing the victim, Vicki declared that she would never invite Emily or Jennifer to her house again, and shaded their “disrespect.”
“I’m very disappointed. I want some time with my girlfriends to get to know them quietly without cameras. The camera crew was out on the lawn. I was done with all of them, so I told the camera crew, ‘It’s time for you guys to leave,’” Vicki began on the September 17 episode of the RHOC: After Show, adding that she was “really emotional” due to the way Emily and Jennifer were treating her.
“I was really not understanding where Jenn and Emily were coming from regarding all the picking at me,” she continued. “I’ve got your beds all lavendered up and fresh towels. I made all this stuff for the morning … I bought great stuff for a great breakfast, and I spent a lot of time and money on it, and they were very disrespectful. But if they wanna go, go. You’ll never be invited back again. Ever.”
According to Vicki, she was also confused about why things became so awkward in her home.
“[They] totally disrespected my home. You go into someone’s home, you’re a guest. You have manners. But they were raised differently than me,” she concluded.
As for Emily, she said that at 50-years-old, and with “kids at home,” she was “not gonna be somewhere where [she was] not wanted.”
“It’s uncomfortable … I don’t have to stay. I can leave,” she noted as Jennifer agreed.
“It was so uncomfortable that it was a better, more comfortable decision to zip up my suitcase, get an Uber, and drive from La Quinta back to Orange County,” she said.
Jennifer then said that the drama began after Emily mentioned Vicki’s “low-hanging fruit” diss.
“I wasn’t even rude. I was like, ‘Your words have meaning and weight, and it’s not nice.’ And then she’s like, ‘I’m not doing this in my own home,’” Jennifer recalled.
Meanwhile, Carmella said Vicki was ” so good at changing the narrative and [playing] the victim.”
As for Shannon, Emily said she agreed with the women that Vicki “was out of line,” and that Vicki’s boyfriend, Michael Smith, was “being weird.”
“But she said, ‘Are you mad? Because I’m not going to leave.’ And I was like. ‘No, we’re not mad. If you want to stay, stay.’ Because she’s like, ‘I can’t leave Vicki. Like, I can’t leave her like this.’”
“Why can’t she leave her like that though? She’s with her boyfriend in her home,” Gina Kirschenheiter, 42, wondered.
“She couldn’t deal with Vicki being mad at her,” Emily replied.
At that point, Gina accused Shannon of operating based on Vicki’s feelings and not on her own.
“I feel like that is not a balanced friendship. If she felt uncomfortable and she felt minimized, she should’ve left. And somebody being mad at you is certainly not a reason to stay,” Gina stated.
Then, explaining why she remained at Vicki’s home, Shannon said, “I know how excited Vicki is to have people visiting her house, and so I don’t want that to be ruined.”
Shannon also admitted that she understood why Emily and Jennifer felt it was best to leave, and added that the situation could’ve been easily resolved with an apology from Vicki.
“What I tried to explain to Vicki the next day was, ‘This could’ve ended like that.’ All Vicki had to do in that situation was, ‘I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry.’ Bam. Would’ve been done,” she reasoned.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 20 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.