The Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson did not hold back while sharing her thoughts on Tamra Judge’s relationship with estranged daughter Sidney.
“If my daughter didn’t talk to me, I’d be on a flipping plane right now, knocking on her door, begging her for forgiveness, and I don’t even care what I did,” Gunvalson, 62, said on the Monday, September 2, episode of “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast” podcast. “Sidney has a very strong opinion of Tamra. ‘Stop embarrassing the family. Stop doing what you’re doing. Get off the show when you have a chance.’ Tamra did none of that.”
She continued, “That shows Sidney, ‘I’m not important to you.’ I don’t care about my money, my stuff. I care about my family, my daughter, my people in my life, so that’s the problem.”
Gunvalson alleged that when Judge, 57, was “off [the show] for two years” she “never connected” with Sidney.
When asked whether Judge confided in her about the relationship, Gunvalson replied, “No,” before adding, “Every now and then when she was crying in someone else’s arms this season, it’s like, ‘Oh please.’”
Gunvalson suggested that there’s a “pretty simple” solution to Judge’s problem. “Get off the show and reconcile with your daughter,” she said.
Gunvalson alleged that Judge would lament that the situation was “so hard” with Sidney. “No it’s not,” Gunvalson said. “You gave birth to your daughter, you f–ked up. Go apologize and make it better and move on. Maybe she chose Eddie [Judge] over her daughter, I don’t know.”
Gunvalson reiterated that there’s “no flipping way” she could go through life “not being close with my daughter.” (Gunvalson shares Briana and Michael with ex-husband Michael Wolfsmith.)
Reflecting on Tamra’s estrangement with Sidney, Gunvalson declared, “I don’t get how she cries on TV. And Sidney said, ‘Please don’t mention me. Please don’t do this,’ and the next thing you know, she’s bawling. She could turn on the water works like that. Anyway, that is a character issue and something that’s freaking weird.”
Tamra shares daughters Sidney, 24, Sophia, 18, and son Spencer, 23, with ex-husband Simon Barney. She’s also mom of son Ryan, 38, with ex-husband Darren Vieth. (Fans have seen Ryan and Spencer on RHOC on and off in recent seasons. Sophia has made cameos on the current season for the first time since her parents’ split.)
Back in 2015, Tamra opened up about her estrangement from Sidney during the RHOC season 10 reunion. Tamra revealed at the time that she and Sidney had not spoken in two years after her 2011 split from Barney.
In 2017, Sidney slammed Tamra in a since-deleted Facebook post, claiming her mom was “neglectful” and “mentally and emotionally abusive.” Sidney added that she extended an invite to her mom for her 2017 high school graduation at the request of her dad and Tamra shared photos of the moment against her daughter’s request.
Years later, Tamra gave an update on their estrangement. “I actually saw her at Sophia’s graduation, and things were nice,” Judge shared during a 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Tamra and Gunvalson, meanwhile, have had a series of ups and downs since Tamra joined RHOC in season 3. While they were close friends for many reasons, they are currently on the outs over how Tamra distanced herself from Gunvalson and Shannon Beador (and their Tres Amigas live shows) after Beador’s DUI last year.
