Vicki Gunvalson isn’t holding back about her time on The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Gunvalson, an original solid member on the first-ever Housewives show, which premiered on Bravo in 2006, said she had no idea what she was signing up for on the time.
“I definitely feel prefer it’s a take care of the devil,” she said on the Tuesday, October 29, episode of Vice TV’s The Dark Side of Reality TV, per People.
Gunvalson, 62, recalled that she didn’t receives a commission for the show’s first season and made around $5,000 for season 2.
“Not much money, I didn’t even have an attorney look over my contract. I had no idea what I used to be doing,” she said.
Eventually, the Coto Insurance founder earned a cool seven figures for her final season as a full-time Housewife during season 13.
“My final full-time season was significant. Seven figures. I never really thought I’d make the number I used to be making,” Gunvalson said.
But her time on RHOC took a toll on her marriage to her ex-husband, Donn Gunvalson, the fact star said. Gunvalson filed for divorce in 2010 and it was finalized in 2014.
Shannon Storms Beador, Vicki Gunvalson, and Jennifer Pedranti. Casey Durkin/Bravo
“People ask me if I regret doing the show and once I have a look at my relationships I’d say yes. With Donn, 100%, the show had an impact on our relationship,” she said. “Being on TV 100% had a job in our divorce since it puts a variety of pressure on a wedding. I believe we might’ve survived if I wasn’t on the show. In order that I regret.”
Gunvalson has previously opened up about how allowing cameras into her home impacted her marriage.
“I believe that hindsight … I do know for a undeniable fact that if I wasn’t on a reality show, I wouldn’t have been divorced,” she said during a January 2021 appearance on the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast.
During Tuesday’s episode of Dark Side of Reality TV, Gunvalson also described the “traumatic” way she learned her mother, Joanne Steinmetz, had died on camera while filming at costar Shannon Beador’s home.
“[My daughter] Briana had been calling, calling, calling, they usually kept telling her, ‘Well, she’s filming immediately, blah, blah, blah.’ She’s like, ‘I want to refer to my mom immediately,’” Gunvalson said, referring to the show’s production team.
In accordance with Gunvalson, production arrange Beador’s wrapping paper room with “lights and cameramen” to capture her eventual phone call with Briana. Gunvalson was ultimately filmed bursting into tears and falling to the ground when she got the news.
“I used to be really upset that production knew for an hour, they usually didn’t tell me,” Gunvalson alleged. “They were out of line, and I believe they need to have taken me aside and said, ‘Your mom has passed. Talk over with your daughter off-camera.’ If I used to be a producer, that’s what I’d’ve done.”
“Let me scream and cry alone and be mad,” she continued. “It was very, very traumatic. I won’t ever forgive Bravo for that.”
Despite her criticisms, Gunvalson has continued to make guest appearances on RHOC since her full-time exit after season 13, including during season 18, which is currently airing on Bravo.
Us Weekly has reached out to Bravo for comment.
