Entertainment

'Real Housewives Of Orange County' Fans Want An All-New Cast

by Kristie Rohwedder
Nicole Weingart/Bravo

Like tucking into an apology casserole that someone accidentally left out in the sun for a week, the most recent season of Real Housewives of Orange County wasn't the most satisfying of experiences. So much so, it has fans calling for a brand new Real Housewives of Orange County cast. Yes, some viewers wish the first Real Housewives series would overhaul its entire lineup. Out with the cast that seemingly can't stand to hang out together, in with the new.

Of course, Season 12 did have some hall of fame moments (e.g., Vicki Gunvalson throwing a robe over her face as she was carried out of a hotel and into the back of an ambulance, Shannon Beador throwing a plate in a restaurant, Lydia McLaughlin throwing menus across a table— hm, there might be a theme here). But all in all? Eh, it was… not the most exciting season of reality television. Shannon and Tamra refused to be around Vicki, Shannon and Lydia didn't get along, Shannon and Kelly Dodd butted heads, Meghan King Edmonds didn't hang out with anyone for several episodes, and newcomer Peggy Sulahian only sort of hit it off with Vicki. Suffice it to say, the dynamic of the group did not work.

TV Guide not only dubbed Season 12 the worst installment of RHOC ever, but also said it may be the biggest stinker out of “potentially any Housewives series.” Somewhere in Franklin Lakes, The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 6 is clinging to that title with two well-manicured hands.

As intense of a request as it is, it really isn’t that shocking that fans are calling for a major overhaul after Season 12. Oh, and some fans don’t just want the show to switch out one or two of the OC Housewives. They want Bravo to replace every single person on the RHOC Season 12 cast. They want the show to start fresh, to wipe the boring slate clean, to hop in a two-toned convertible and speed away from Season 12 as fast as it can. Given that one of the biggest dramas of the season revolved around someone getting left off of a group text, can you blame them?

An entirely new RHOC cast probably won’t happen anytime soon, but it does sound like there will be quite a few changes when Season 13 rolls around. Meghan, Peggy, and Lydia have all announced that they turned in their oranges after Season 12 wrapped. Moreover, on a recent episode of Bravo’s The Daily Dish podcast, Kathleen French, Bravo’s senior vice president for current production, revealed that Season 13 will introduce viewers to some newbies. French said, "There will be new faces on Orange County and I'm going to leave it at that.” Hopefully, the new faces help breathe some life into the series.

As for the rest of the Season 12 roster? It sure looks like Vicki, Tamra Judge, Kelly, and Shannon are sticking around after all. On Feb.9, Shannon teased that RHOC Season 13 filming had begun, and on Feb. 24, Tamra tacked a "#RHOC" onto the end of her Instagram post about someone being the Thelma to her Louise. And as Us Weekly reported, Kelly and Vicki are apparently feuding right now, which sure sounds like prime RHOC content.

The last couple of seasons of RHOC have kind of felt like Groundhog Day, but instead of Bill Murray reliving Feb. 2 over and over, it's been Vicki falling out of favor with the rest of the cast and demanding casseroles over and over. Sure, it's fine at first, but after a while, you just want everyone to make up, put their ancient feuds behind them, hang out of their own volition, and finally move on to some new drama. For good. Is this possible with Vicki, Shannon, Kelly, and Tamra? Only time will tell.

...Wait, if Kelly is not chummy with Vicki right now, who is? Are Vicki, Tamra, and Shannon still cool after making up at the reunion, or is the OG of the OC back out on an island? Oof, here we go again. Heat up the oven, because someone may be requesting yet another apology casserole soon.