Tamra Judge was once again the topic of Tuesday’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
First, she accompanied son Ryan Vieth, 33, to therapy, where they both cried and expressed things that shocked the other. Later, she confronted Shannon Beador about why she had been ignoring her.
Last episode, Shannon was devastated to hear Kelly Dodd say Tamra talks smack about her behind her back. According to Kelly, Tamra said that Shannon’s put on weight and announced she doesn’t want to room with her on their next vacation. Dodd also showed Beador an alleged text message from Judge, making fun of Shannon for wanting to go to urgent care after Kelly bopped her on the head.
Therapy Bombshells
A few episodes back, Tamra urged her oldest son to seek help after she noticed he had become depressed and isolated from his family and friends.
The therapist asked Ryan to bring Tamra in for a session because she felt a lot of Ryan’s issues stemmed from his childhood. So Tamra joined Ryan in therapy, where she explained she still carries around guilt over the fact that she got pregnant with him at 17 and was a single, struggling mother for most of his adolescent life.
“I carry guilt ’cause I feel like I let him down,” she said, crying. “I look at my kids now and the opportunities that they have. I got two kids in college now. Ryan never… He ran out of the house at 18 ’cause he couldn’t stand his stepdad. He doesn’t want to be controlled, he doesn’t want to be told what to do, so he fights life.”
Ryan later told the camera that he resents the fact that his siblings received more opportunities than he did. He told the therapist he’s angry that his biological father wasn’t present for major moments in his life or for major moments in his granddaughter’s life.
That’s why Tamra thinks Ryan is such a doting father, but that worries her. “You are a good dad,” she said to him as they both cried. “But I see that he’s putting all of his energy — all of it — into her. He is so troubled by his past that he doesn’t want her to have that life.”
“I can look at my son’s eyes and see he’s just not himself,” she later told the camera. “He just wants to protect this little girl so much, like just smother her, and he doesn’t let other people in. He isolates himself with Ava, and it’s starting to concern me.”
The therapist then read to Tamra the list of Ryan’s beliefs he had written down: “I’m a bad person, worthless. I’m a failure. Can’t succeed. Powerless. I don’t belong. I don’t matter.” He sobbed. So did Tamra.
“It just makes me wanna die,” she said, later adding in her confessional, “I worry that one day Ryan might commit suicide. That’s my biggest, biggest fear.”
After therapy, Tamra filled in husband Eddie Judge about what they had discussed. Eddie tried to reassure his wife she did the best she could.
He later told the camera, “Tamra’s a great mom with all her children. Every kid is different. Some need to be coddled, some need to be motivated, some need a kick in the ass. When you’re struggling with your childhood issues as a man, I don’t think you’re a man, k? So just get over it, move on, grow up, take care of your responsibilities. That’s life.”
Tamra Confronts Shannon
During last week’s dinner, several castmembers started to piece together a puzzle they felt painted Tamra to be a “two-faced” person. Shannon tried to defend her friend, which is when Kelly informed her that Tamra talks you-know-what about her, too. Shannon was insanely hurt, particularly by the comments Tamra allegedly made about her having put on weight.
So Shannon distanced herself from Tamra, which Judge caught onto. She then texted Kelly and asked if she had said anything bad about her to Shannon. Dodd said she did, then went in on Judge. Last week, Braunwyn Windham-Burke also revealed to Kelly that it was Tamra and not Vicki Gunvalson who first uttered the word “train” (in regard to Dodd’s sex train rumor) on camera, so Kelly was pretty much over her friendship with Tamra.
“Yep! Because you bring my shit up and it’s bullshit!” Kelly’s text to Tamra read, according to Judge’s screenshot. “It’s not even true! I’ve had your back…so you want to play your games… It’s on girl!!”
Tamra asked Shannon to coffee and was less than pleasant from the moment they sat down. In fact, she was furious. She felt Shannon must have said something to Kelly to piss her off, but Shannon assured her it was the other way around.
Shannon explained who said what during the heated dinner, but Tamra refused to believe it. She went on to call Shannon a “calculated” “puppet master,” which are words some of the women have used to describe Tamra. Judge even pulled a Lisa Vanderpump and printed out Dodd’s mean texts to her to show Beador.
While Shannon felt bad Tamra was being attacked, she was still hurt over what Judge may have said behind her back.
Shannon also let Tamra know that it was said (she didn’t say by who) that Tamra was the first person to mention the “train” rumor on camera and that that’s why Kelly was so upset.
“If she wants to be pissed about that, I don’t really give a shit. But for her to go and try to make you mad at me because she’s hurt is bullshit,” Tamra said to Shannon. “I just don’t understand why this group of girls can’t… As soon as somebody’s not there, all they do is just bash ’em. It’s sickening to me.”
During a conversation about Kelly, Tamra blurted out angrily, “She threw her mother down the stairs, she got in a fight…”
“Who said the threw the mother down the stairs?” Shannon asked.
“Vicki did!” Tamra replied. Kelly has repeatedly denied this claim.
“So you’re saying that you said none of those things that Kelly said to me?” Beador pressed. “You didn’t say one of them?”
“No,” Judge said laughing. “No. Not that I recall! I’ll tell you that right now.”
Shannon later told the camera, “Tamra is the one that brought up the word train, and Tamra is the one that told me about Kelly’s bar fight. So much simpler in life if you say, ‘You know what, I make mistakes every day. I made one here. I’m sorry.’ Own your stuff!”
Tamra told Shannon she felt the “common problem” was Kelly. “I’m done with her, and for her to do this and to say those things to you is bullshit because she is playing a very dangerous game,” she added. “Very dangerous.”
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
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