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Tamra Judge addressed why she shortly quit Real Housewives of Orange County, how Andy Cohen and Alex Baskin responded, and where she stands with Alexis Bellino. Plus, the star shaded Emily Simpson and Gina Kirschenheiter’s lack of “compassion.”
On the latest episode, Gina called out Tamra for getting “sloshed” and being unkind to Katie Ginella. In response, Tamra stormed out of the dinner and quit the show. In a preview for the next episode, Gina seemed to suggest that Tamra, who had hinted she quit to focus on her mental health, was more worried about her public image. Emily then accused Tamra of throwing a fit.
In an interview for Us Weekly, Tamra explained why she shortly exited the show.
“Going into filming, [my friend] Teddi Mellencamp had just gotten diagnosed [with brain cancer],” said Tamra, speaking at Alexis’ bridal shower. “I think people don’t understand the other side of cancer. When your friends or your family member or somebody is diagnosed, you don’t know what’s gonna happen. When someone says you have stage four brain cancer — you’re having brain tumors removed from your head — it’s scary as hell.”
Tamra said she “wasn’t eating or sleeping” because she felt “devastated” seeing Teddi in such pain.
“I would have to take Xanax to even cope during the day without crying,” Tamra continued. “I was wasting away. I was down to, like, 108 pounds.” The star, who records multiple podcasts each week, shared that she was also working too hard.
Did Tamra watch the latest episode? She explained, “It was such a painful time in my life, and I just didn’t want to relive it … I had a few drinks and I had a Xanax, and it was the worst thing I could have done. I just decided this isn’t for me right now. I can’t do this anymore. And I left.”
According to Tamra, her break from filming was helpful.
“Everybody was calling me. Andy [Cohen] was calling me. [Executive producer] Alex [Baskin] was calling me. They asked me to please take a week off,” she shared. “They said, ‘We know how much stress you’re under, and I want you to take a week off. Come back to us in a week, and if you still want to quit, we respect where you’re at in your life and everything that’s going on.’ They were very nice to me, very kind to me about that.”
“I’m not asking for grace. I’m not asking for people to feel sorry for me but I’m a human,” she added. “I might seem tough but it doesn’t mean I don’t have any feelings. To see people like Emily [Simpson] and Gina [Kirschenheiter] say the things they said about me and not have any compassion? Honestly, Heather’s the only one that truly had any compassion whatsoever for me.”
“I am a person that gives 100 percent in everything I do, and when it came to the show, I wasn’t given 100 percent,” Tamra stated. “You wouldn’t know that, because every story line is about me.”
Regarding her friendship with Alexis, the star shared that they’ve stayed in touch.
“I think it’s pure love,” said Tamra of Alexis’ engagement to John Janssen, who is Shannon Beador‘s ex. “I think John gets a bad rap. I think that people don’t know John was a single dad raising kids and has not been married since his ex-wife and he met Alexis, he knew immediately that he wanted to get married. When you know, you know.”
