Hills I’ll Die On: Tamra Judge Is Actually *Not* The Villain ‘RHOC’ Needs

Nothing gets me more hot and bothered than a Real Housewife with a diamond-encrusted axe to grind. The perfect Alpha Housewife is more than wealth, a hot husband, and hijinks with her best friend. She also has to be able to go toe to toe with the best of the bad bitches, and sometimes that makes her a villain in certain fans’ eyes. However, there’s a line between playing the villain for what you believe in and reveling in unprecedented villainry for ratings and a spot on the roster. In my humble opinion, Tamra Judge has seen that line, tossed on a Cut Fitness logo tee, and sprinted past it at full speed ever since she clawed her way back to RHOC. To be honest, I was all for a Tamra comeback. The show was struggling without an anchor and I thought her big personality and compelling family life might be it. But Tamra’s return has been a round-the-clock ruthless takedown that plays on the most vicious part of her tenure with almost none of the fun fake titty-shaking blind leading the blonde energy that once made her OTT personality palatable. I’m going to say it with my chest: Tamra Judge should leave RHOC. Let’s unpack why.

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There’s a certain protocol Housewives default to when they realize their calculated season-long storyline has backfired and the fans are not responding how they thought they would, leaving their backs up against a wall between a designer bag and a hard place. On season 18 of Orange County, Tamra banked on a group takedown of Shannon Beador being applauded by the audience because of the blowback from Shannon’s DUI. I’m sure part of Tamra really was angry when her friend messed up in the middle of their Tres Amigas tour but it almost instantly became obvious to me that Tamra’s concerns were not purely out of concern. Tamra repeatedly dunks on Shannon like they’re ballers at the NBA All-Stars competition for a mistake that wasn’t personal to Tamra and that Shannon was so openly already expressing a boat full of shame for. It was disappointing but not entirely surprising even though Tamra was supposed to be Shannon’s close friend.

Last season, Tamra picked another easy target to metaphorically demolish, her new friend Jen Pedranti, who she invited to audition for the show seemingly just to have someone she could rip to shreds for our entertainment. Like Shannon, Jen had nowhere to hide her mess (in Jen’s case, a questionable boyfriend who Tamra caught sending dick pics on Snapchat) so Tamra showed up like the garbage man, ready to capitalize on every little detail of drama before dropping her off at the dump. The thing is Tamra is no stranger to rocking the hot seat for sport. She nicknamed Alexis Jesus Jugs after screaming for her to “get the fuck out” at the Cut dinner because Alexis was giving 10 percent of the energy back that Tamra was dishing out. She got so frustrated with Vicky standing by Brooks (who, to be fair, later publicly apologized for “fabricating” medical records for reality TV) that she punished Vicky for the mistake of investing in a really bad guy. I don’t even have the word count to give an oral history of her long-standing beef with Gretchen Rossi.

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Every season that Tamra has been on the show she’s instigated an adversary to outscream over ice-cold cocktails, but there’s something notably different with her recent vendettas. Tamra keeps slinging low blows (like beneath the floor boards, low) asserting that Shannon is an alcoholic (“Oh yeah an alcoholic should drink” “Is that after you have a drink?” “I didn’t crash a car into a house”) as if that’s how you should speak to get someone who actually is an alcoholic who needed help!

Tamra takes every opportunity on RHOC to verbally cut Shannon to her core, telling her she was never a good friend, she was always a drunken burden that everyone has dealt with, she’s a user since she allegedly owes Johnny J 75K, and even telling Shannon she is point blank “not a good person” and a “liar, liar, liar” while banging her fist on the table like she’s Logan Roy in the middle of a business merger. With all of this vitriol, you’d think Shannon slept with Eddy and ran off with him on his motorcycle to take a bubble bath on camera in Tahoe. But the truth is Tamra doesn’t even bother to share her own storyline anymore. Maybe she’s gotten RHOC confused with Traitors (a show with the objective of outing the big bad wolf) since Tamra got booted from Traitors halfway through season 2.

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Now that the fans have reacted with a Lala-Kent-level of disownment towards Tamra, she’s pulled out the classic damage control as previous Bravolebs before her. First, tell alarmed fans to keep watching and all will be explained. Then, when it becomes obvious we know more than enough, claim we’re only seeing half the story. Finally, when it’s decided that even half the story is too woofy bleak to ever be justified, turn yourself into the victim, which Tamra has moved onto on WWHL right on time. Now she’s the one who’s been victimized by Shannon and we’re all collectively too blind to see it. Well, Tammy Sue, in the words of Heather Dubrow, “When everyone says you’re dead lie down.” It’s time for Tamra to relinquish her orange before this shit gets any more sour. Plus, no one asked for more Teddy.