The Real Reason Tamra Judge Thinks RHOC Season 15 Will Flop

As a Real Housewives of Orange County alum, Tamra Judge knows what it takes to make a good show. With that said, her hopes are not high for RHOC Season 15, which she revealed during an April 1, 2020 appearance on the Kickin' Back With Kelly podcast. Tamra, who was on the Bravo series for 12 seasons, remarked, "[RHOC] has changed so much. It's so different now [and] we've had so many cast members that didn't work out." 

Although some might argue it's a good thing to keep things fresh with new faces, the mom-of-four isn't so sure. "It's hard for a cast member to get to know somebody. It takes a good season to even get to know them," she explained. "It's hard for the viewers too. They're not really invested." She added, "That's my concern for the show right now. There's a lot of new people on the show. A lot."

The most-seasoned cast members on the show, as of this writing, are Shannon Beador and Kelly Dodd, who have six and four seasons under their belts, respectively. Emily Simpson and Gina Kirschenheiter just finished their second season, while Braunwyn Windham-Burke joined the show last season. And, of course, with the departures of Tamra and Vicki Gunvalson, there's bound to be at least one or two new additions. 

But wait — that's not all Tamra Judge had to say about RHOC's supposed decline.

In March 2020, Tamra Judge appeared on an episode of Vicki Gunvalson's podcast, Whoop It Up With Vicki. During that conversation, Tamra said, "To me, the best cast we had was when Heather [Dubrow] was on the show." She explained, "I always thought that Heather was good TV. I felt that ever since they got rid of her that it just went downhill a little bit." Heather left the show after filming Season 11, FYI.

Tamra went on to shade former cast member Peggy Sulahian, Peggy Tanous (yes there were two women named Peggy), Lydia McLaughlin, and Lizzie Rovsek for "only being on one season," but, for the record, Lydia actually appeared on two seasons of Real Housewives of Orange County. Vicki responded, "It's hard for the viewers to follow them if they're a one and done or two and done," which is a sentiment Tamra shares. Obviously.

So what is Tamra Judge up to these days besides shading her former co-stars? It sounds like she has a new project in the works.

During that same podcast episode, Vicki Gunvalson said that the viewers had "adapted to [their] lifestyle" and want to see what's coming up next for her and Tamra Judge. That's when they dished on a new reality TV project they're working on, as Tamra revealed, "I feel that you, obviously being the original, me being the second-longest, we've paved the way for a lot of new Housewives shows. We paved the way and made a franchise. We are going to do exactly the same thing with what we're doing next." Wow, talk about shooting for the stars!

Tamra also said she has a job for Shannon Beador if she ever needs it, as she supposedly told her former co-star, "We've paved the way for you to be doing what you're doing now and we're paving the way for you to do what you're doing next."

Although Tamra is not enthused about the current Real Housewives of Orange County cast, she's moving onto her next show, and possibly bringing the cast members that she actually likes along for the ride. As for her assessment that there are too many "new people" on the show, it's up for the viewers to decide how they feel.