Vicki Gunvalson Says She’ll “Never Forgive Bravo” for How They Handled Mom’s Death, Plus RHOC Alum Defends Brandi & Says Caroline’s “Got Some Explaining to Do”

Vicki Gunvalson said she’ll “never forgive Bravo” for how they handled getting the call that her mom died, and she claimed production “knew for an hour” and set up cameras to film it. The Real Housewives of Orange County alum also reacted to Brandi Glanville’s recent claim that Caroline Manzo is gay.

Two years ago, Caroline accused production of encouraging Brandi to sexually harass her on Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. She’s now suing the network, though Brandi and a production insider denied her claims. Earlier this month, Brandi posted that Caroline was gay.

Back in 2015, Vicki was filming RHOC when she got the call that her mom passed away. In the heartbreaking scene, Vicki fell to the floor as she cried and screamed.

“We were playing Bunco at Shannon’s, and my brother, my sister, my son, everybody was trying to call me, and the phone was not working, so they called production,” recalled Vicki on The Dark Side of Reality TV, via @therealityrundown on Instagram. “Briana had been calling, calling, calling, calling, calling. And they kept telling her, ‘Well, she’s filming right now. Blah blah blah.’ She’s like, ‘I need to talk to my mom right now.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay we’re gonna have her call you from Shannon’s wrapping paper room.'”

“They had set up the room with lights and cameramen,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ I was really upset that production knew for an hour and they didn’t tell me. They were out of line, and I think they should have taken me aside and said, ‘Your mom has passed, talk to your daughter off camera.’ If I was a producer, that’s what I would have done. Let me scream and cry on my own. And be mad. It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that.”

Around the same time, Vicki reacted to Brandi’s recent post about Caroline. All three women starred in RHUGT season four, which never aired – presumably because of the lawsuit.  

“I think that [Caroline]’s got some explaining to do to her husband if that does air and him seeing that she was not pushing back at all,” she said on her new podcast, My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast, via @breakingtherulespodclips on Instagram. “And the truth will come out if the show airs. If the show never airs, it’s he-said-she-said.”

“Whatever you do is good with me, but if you like that, then own it,” said Vicki. “Don’t make Brandi feel like she’s a freak. I think that [Brandi]’s trying to just basically say, ‘Caroline, you enjoyed the moment we had together, whatever that was, and you need to own it.’ Because she’s not owning it and she’s having Brandi go through hell and back.”