‘I know my daughter worries, but I don’t care’: Real Housewives star Vicki Gunvalson on why she’s back with Brooks Ayers despite family fears

PUBLISHED: 12:11 EST, 28 November 2013 | UPDATED: 15:08 EST, 28 November 2013

View
comments

I can take care of myself: Vicki Gunvalson, pictured in September, says she's continuing to date businessman Brooks Ayers despite her daughter's worries

Taking care of myself: Vicki Gunvalson, pictured in September, says she's continuing to date businessman Brooks Ayers despite daughter's fears

When it launched over seven years ago, the TV series The Real Housewives of Orange County proved such a hit with viewers that it went on to spawn a seemingly endless array of clones.

Providing a peek into the gilded lives of America’s wealthy and fabulous, the success of the show eventually led to further off-shoots such as The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, even extending overseas with The Real Housewives of Athens.

A complicated miscellany of catfights, hair extensions, marital discord, bling and group hugging, the shows make for baffling yet compulsive viewing – none more so than the original series which is currently filming its ninth season.

Vicki Gunvalson, the doyenne of the OC franchise, has the distinction of being the longest-serving member of the series and is the only housewife to last all nine seasons. ‘And I guess it’s because I’m just a glutton for punishment!’ she says. ‘I don’t know why I’ve lasted the distance, other than it’s because my life has been so eventful.

'I’ve raised children, become a grandmother, I have my own business and I’ve been through a divorce and that’s everyday life for a lot of people out there these days.’

While some viewers may relate to the show’s glamorous characters, it’s perhaps more reasonable to assume that most keep watching because of the incessant squabbling.

A cast reunion which aired earlier this year not only managed to throw up tears (from Housewife Gretchen Rossi) and tantrums (between Housewives Heather Dubrow and Lydia McLaughlin), but also accusations of a threesome (directed at Vicki, who promptly denied everything).

With tensions running high, little wonder then that some of the Housewives have reportedly been axed since the last series, namely the afore-mentioned Gretchen as well as Alexis Bellino, who appeared on the show for four seasons.

Indeed, Vicki herself seems to confirm this by saying: ‘I’m sad about Alexis – she was very beautiful and good eye candy for the viewers, but Lydia [who recently quit the show after just one season] I never really knew.’

And what of Gretchen, who recently took to Twitter, implying that Vicki had bullied her? ‘I never bullied her, that’s just not true,’ says Vicki. ‘And I’m glad she’s gone. She’s a troublemaker and 90 per cent of her stuff was fake.

On and off: Vicki pictured with businessman boyfriend Brooks Ayers last year

'Actually, who knows if what she did was real or fake but my perception of her was that she just wasn’t authentic.’

Authenticity may not always be the first quality Real Housewives’ devotees look for, but there’s no doubt that the show has its fair share of drama, not least when Vicki is on screen.

During her seven-year tenure on the show, she has divorced Donn Gunvalson, her husband of 16 years, taken up with a businessman Brooks Ayers (who then ended their relationship during the afore-mentioned reunion special) and has been accused by recurring Housewife Lauri Peterson of indulging in a threesome.

One imagines that her relationship with Lauri in particular is somewhat frosty these days? ‘There is no relationship,’ admits Vicki. ‘She’s a liar who caused trouble and then left. There was some dirty, dirty stuff she said which wasn’t true. [The threesome allegation] was all lies.’

It's a family affair: Vicki Gunvalson with daughter Briana, son Michael and grandson Troy

More troubling perhaps for fans of Vicki – and indeed for her own family – is that despite the apparent break-up between Vicki and Brooks, she now reveals that they are in fact still together.

Brooks has come in for repeated criticism throughout their on-off relationship, not only regarding rumours that he was unfaithful to Vicky with a stripper-slash-porn star (which he denied), but in particular when secretly recorded audio tapes were released where he declared his plans to ‘f***ing beat [Vicki’s] ass’ and referred to his girlfriend as a ‘f***ing whore’ (Ayers subsequently apologised for his comments).

'We are still seeing each other from time to time,' says Vicki. 'He lives in a different state – but he was wrongfully abused on the show, both by other cast members and my daughter [Briana].

'They magnified the truth. I wouldn’t be with someone who didn’t treat me right, who didn’t treat me like a princess, and I don’t need to be protected,’ she says, adding: ‘I mean, I’m 51 – I’ve got this!

'We tried breaking up and it didn’t really work for us, but I’m just dating him – we’re not married or engaged – and dating someone is how you find out about them.

'I know my daughter worries, but she’s only met him four times and in any case, we each have our own lives to lead – we can’t lead anyone else’s life for them. Other people have their opinions but I really, really care for this man.’

What a glamorous fivesome: Real Housewives stars Alexis Bellino, Vicki , Gretchen Rossi, Tamra Vieth-Barney and Heather Dubrow pictured last April together

She has been candid about the effects of the show on her marriage to estranged husband Donn and about harbouring feelings of ‘divorce remorse’, but insists that, ‘when you have a weak marriage to begin with and then it’s shown on air, then it doesn’t help.

'I was stretched so thin with work, my family, the show and I couldn’t let one of them go, but you either have a husband who supports you, or you don’t, so obviously that caused issues.

'I believe in marriage, so I regret the decisions we made to put in a wedge in that marriage, but I don’t regret our divorce. It’s been hard, but obviously, we weren’t meant to be together and at the end, it was more of a pain to be together than apart.’

Considering the adverse effects of the show on her life, one has to wonder why Vicki continues to appear year after year.

Viewers’ assessments aren’t always kind to say the least (‘You’re ugly, you’re this, you’re too old, you’re too fat, you’re too skinny, you’re too short’ are just some of the comments she says she typically receives) and she admits: ‘Of course I find it very hurtful. That’s when I get very self-conscious and have to look inside myself and tell myself I’m beautiful.’

Split: Vicki and husband Donn Gunvalson split after 16 years of marriage

Split: Vicki and husband Donn Gunvalson broke up after 16 years of marriage

Was the criticism she has received for her looks partly the reason she elected to have plastic surgery (earlier this year she admitted to getting a nose job, chin reconstruction and cheek implants)?

‘Well, the way I see it is that if you have a house, you change it to make it look better and so when a doctor approached me and said they could do my nose, I thought why not?

So, I’ve done some tweaking, but I’m not focused on my looks and they’re not the centre of my universe. I work too, so it’s not like I have the time to go to the gym five times a week either. I focus on my family and my soul and I do the best I can.’

With season nine of the show due to air next year and with E! currently re-running the first four seasons of the Orange County franchise in the UK, the Real Housewives juggernaut looks set to roll on for many more years, with promises of yet more squabbles to come.

Doesn’t the fighting ever become just the least bit tiresome? ‘Oh, you have no idea!’ says Vicki. ‘But I never thought that we’d last nine seasons. We’re just taking it all year by year.’

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs weeknights in the UK at 6pm on E!

MOST WATCHED NEWS VIDEOS

Comments (57)

Share what you think

View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

daz, croydon, 2 hours ago

Ugh Fake Yanks

Click to rate

crazyamerican, tampa, United States, 2 hours ago

she made a huge mistake with her husband. now, she's old and alone. even her children don't like her.

Click to rate

susancarol, Charlotte, United States, 2 hours ago

This woman is dumber than a box of rocks.

Click to rate

donnag, Appleton, 2 hours ago

I always thought Vicki was the most intelligent of the group. Obviously I was wrong. Very wrong.

Click to rate

spiritmom, Plymouth, 3 hours ago

Desperate much?

Click to rate

That is me, in the center, 3 hours ago

Brooks is a sociopath, but so is Brianna's husband. Brianna has no room to judge.

Click to rate

Me from the U.S., Farmington Hills, 3 hours ago

I refuse to participate in the moral tanking of society--I don't watch period.

Click to rate

Heather, Maryland, 4 hours ago

Cannot stand this guy. NOTHING against Southerner's at all, but his accent makes him seem even more gross...

Click to rate

Beta, Hafnarfjörður, 4 hours ago

All for money and ratings. These housewives have sold they'r souls and not only to Bravo.

Click to rate

ejais, canada, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago

thought vicki invested in this show especially when it first needed to get off ground. I could be wrong however if she did invest that would make sense on why she lasted the longest etc.