RHOC: Inside Kelly Dodd And Heather Dubrow's Feud
The Real Housewives of Orange County may be Bravo's OG franchise, but it's also the most problematic. Vicki Gunvalson has started fights with other Housewives shows – including RHONY and RHOBH — to win the crown of Bravo queen bee, while executive producer Andy Cohen has hinted that the series will be rebooted with a cast shake-up, per People. At the center of RHOC controversy sits Kelly Dodd, whose homophobic and racist remarks have landed her in hot water with her fellow costars and fans. Kelly even dared to call Cohen "anti-American," according to Cheatsheet, and was criticized for wearing a "Drunk Wives Matter" hat (via YouTube) in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Kelly has also butt heads with costar Braunwyn Windham-Burke over politics. "Now we're at the point where she's attacking people and it's more than I can be around," Braunwyn admitted on Getting Real With the Housewives podcast. Kelly even gave RHOC an ultimatum: if Braunwyn returned for the next season, she would quit, according to Us Weekly.
But Kelly Dodd's long-running feud has been with fellow RHOC star Heather Dubrow. Keep scrolling to find out what started their fight!
Kelly Dodd claimed Heather Dubrow's plastic surgeon husband killed people
It all started back in 2016 when Kelly Dodd's erratic behavior just rubbed Heather Dubrow the wrong way. Per The Daily Dish, Heather believed Kelly set a bad example. "I'm teaching [my daughters] that you're known by the company you keep," Heather revealed. "It's really hard to be in a group where people are screaming 'see you next Tuesday' at each other."
By 2017, things got uglier — and more serious. First, Kelly dug up an old photo of Heather to prove that she got a nose job (via All About RH), but then Kelly took it too far: she stated in a since-deleted Watch What Happens Live! clip that Vicki Gunvalson had started a rumor that Heather's husband, Botched star Dr. Terry Dubrow, had killed patients, per Reality Tea. Kelly later issued an apology via Twitter that it was all a misunderstanding.
Yet Heather didn't think it was merely an accident and left RHOC after five years on the series, per Bustle. "This stupid woman saying such a dumb, inaccurate thing now has put this out there for people," Heather stated on her podcast, Heather Dubrow's World. "All I've been hearing for the past year is that Kelly ... says terrible things about me." In January 2021, Heather observed to Us Weekly that the scandals surrounding Kelly were a long time coming. "A leopard doesn't change its spots," Heather coyly stated. True that!