Tamra Judge is a current main cast member on The Real Housewives of Orange County. She has starred in her own spin-off series, Tamra’s OC Wedding, plus additionally as an "All Star" during the second season on The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip.
Casting[]
Judge joined The Real Housewives of Orange County in its third season and appeared all the way up until its fourteenth before parting ways with the show upon its conclusion. Judge’s ex-husband, Simon, had been diagnosed with cancer which made her “re-evaluate her life” plus the fact that the network felt Judge’s salary was “too high to continue” which led to a mutual decision for her to exit the show after twelve seasons.
However, after a big decline in ratings and many fans calling for her return, Judge returned for the show’s seventeenth season and is filming for the show’s eighteenth season too.
Tamra has also appeared on The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, as an “All Star” in the show’s second series - as part of the “Ex-Wives Club” group which was filmed during Judge’s break as a Housewife.
In addition to this, Tamra landed her own three-part special, Tamra’s OC Wedding; which followed her life ahead of her nuptials to Husband, Eddie Judge. This aired in September 2013.
Storylines[]
In Season 3, Tamra is introduced as a doting mother, a committed wife and an ambitious businesswoman who is looking to get re-invovled in the real estate industry. Tamra’s eldest son, Ryan, however, causes a few issues between Tamra and his step-dad, Simon, as their parenting techniques oppose one another. In addition to this, Tamra is about to turn forty so is doing everything she can to stay, feel and look young.
In Season 4, Tamra turns her focus to mom, Sandra, who is still mourning the loss of her marriage as Tamra attempts to jump start her Mom’s dating life and get her involved in the dating scene. In addition to this, her son’s new aspirations after struggling with work commitment leaves her hopeful and astonished at the same time.
In Season 5, the tension between Simon and Tamra reaches fever pitch as the latter grows extremely frustrated of the former attempting to exert dominance over her. After Tamra get’s a tattoo of Simon’s name on her finger, tensions mount between the couple which the kids start to feel. In addition to this, their financial stability begins to wane and this takes an even further toll on their marriage. In the season finale, Tamra shouts at Simon that she wants a divorce.
In Season 6, Tamra is enjoying single life as she starts to get into a serious relationship with future Husband, Eddie Judge. However, Tamra starts to feel the affects of another broken family as she begins the divorce process from Simon.
In Season 7, independence for Tamra keeps on expanding as she continues to sell more and more homes. In addition to this, she feels the happiest girl alive when Eddie takes her on a trip to Bora Bora and proposes.
In Season 8, it is the busiest time ever for Tamra as she moves in with Eddie, prepares for her wedding which proves more stressful than first thought out and also joins forces with Eddie professionally too as they open a gym, CUT Fitness.
In Season 9, Eddie and Tamra discuss the possibility of having a child together. In an attempt to settle their indecisiveness and opposite feelings, they hire a robot baby, Astro, which helps them make up their minds not to have a baby together. Also, Tamra’s eldest, Ryan, goes through health issues and announces to Tamra that she is going to be a grandmother as he is going to be a father.
In Season 10, the relationship between Eddie and Tamra hits a small bump as they are disagreeing more than ever. However, they do decide to take time apart from each other which helps with things. When Ryan’s girlfriend, Sarah, gives birth to their daughter, Ava, Tamra is filled with lots of excitement and joy. However, she is also filled with worry as she is concerned about heir financial situation. When she secretly lends Ryan money, it leads to another clash between Eddie and Tamra. At the end of the season, Tamra get’s baptized as she feels she is closer more than ever to God.
In Season 11, Tamra continues to explore her Christianity and connection with God. She also attempts to salvage a relationship between her granddaughter, Ava’s, parents after Sarah and son, Ryan, start to have issues in their relationship.
In Season 12, after the continuous cycle of parental alienation and divorce in her family, Tamra attempts to address the cycle and come to terms with her past, her past decisions, and what has been done to her. As she goes through an emotional rollercoaster after a tumultuous relationship with her daughter, Sidney, since her divorce from Simon, she seeks support from her Mum and acknowledges how she has been affected by her parents’ divorce.
In Season 13, Tamra focuses on finding a new home since she feels that the house that she lives in was shared by Eddie and his previous partner so their new marital home is needed for more room and for new memories and is baggage free.
In Season 14, she helps deal with health issues that Eddie and Ryan are grappling with. As Eddie’s heart problems reach record breaking levels, she focuses on his recovery as she evaluates what is and isn’t important in her life.
In Season 17, Tamra returns to the social circle after two years away and documents closing her and Eddie’s joint business, CUT Fitness, after ten years and figures out what’s next from them as a couple and businesspeople.
Friendships[]
Vicki Gunvalson[]
The friendship between Tamra and Vicki is one of the most documented and one of the most tumultuous friendship that has ever been seen on The Real Housewives franchise. The pair first met during the third season as Tamra joined the fold and they immediately took a liking to each other and both had similar interests. As new housewives joined the fold, like Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino, the pair stuck together as they interrogated them and even tried to get the former “naked wasted”.
The fifth season saw the pair’s relationship take a turn for the worse as Tamra and Simon’s marriage was slowly deteriorating. As Tamra attempted to make amends with Simon, Simon wanted Tamra to stop seeing Vicki as she was a hindrance to their marriage. However, once Tamra and Simon separated, their friendship soon went back on track as Tamra lent on Vicki for moral support.
In Season 7, Vicki and Tamra were living parallel lives as they were both single women coming out of divorces. As Tamra introduced Eddie to Vicki, she felt that Vicki was a little too flirty with Eddie yet they managed to move past that small incident. However, when Vicki introduced Tamra to her new boyfriend, Brooks, things started to change and not for the better. In the season finale, things got pretty explosive between Tamra and Brooks and Vicki which led to the pair not talking for months.
Vicki and Tamra found it hard to move on from their explosive fight and due to Tamra’s new friendship with Gretchen. However, at Tamra’s bachelorette party, they fell back into their old partying habits and decided to make amends for real this time. They established not to talk about Brooks so that things could go back to how it used to be. Their friendship went through ups and downs during the course of Brooks’ and Vicki’s relationship as Tamra ran into many issues with Brooks but once that romantic relationship ended, things had the potential to blossom between the best friends. The introduction too of Shannon Beador to the group only strengthened their relationship as they all became known as the ‘Tres Amigas’.
However, in Season 11, the introduction of new housewife, Kelly Dodd, only made matters worse. As Vicki became terribly close to Kelly, she discussed rumors about Tamra’s Husband, Eddie, and said that she had heard that people thought he was gay. This got back to Tamra through Kelly and ultimately, led to a demise in their friendship as Tamra screamed expletives in Vicki’s face on a bus ride to the airport during their Ireland trip.
In Season 12, Tamra, alongside fellow housewife, Shannon Beador, wanted nothing to do with Vicki as they felt she was a dangerous liar and spread viscous information about them. Despite housewife, Lydia McLaughlin, attempting to make amends in the former best friends’ friendship, this did not materialize until the Reunion special where the ‘Tres Amigas’ hugged out their differences and put the past behind them. The pair did not interact much at all this season apart from during the cast trip away to Iceland.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth seasons, things remained harmonious between the pair. Vicki begun to hang around less in the group during the fourteenth season which maybe explains why things were so peaceful between the feuding pair. Tamra and Vicki also appeared together on The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip and they were as thick as thieves during the trip to the Berkshires.
When Tamra returned to the show’s seventeenth edition, Vicki made appearances in five episodes and their friendship looked like it was going from strength to strength. The pair were joined by Shannon in doing a ‘Tres Amigas’ tour but in early 2024, it was reported by media reports that the pair of best friends had fallen out once again and were not on speaking terms.
Taglines[]
| "I’m the hottest housewife in Orange County." | ||
| "I’m not the new girl anymore, so watch out!" | ||
| "Housewives come younger, but they don’t come hotter." | ||
| "I’m done being a trophy wife, freedom only makes me hotter." | ||
| "I call the shots in my life now, and I have good aim." | ||
| "The best thing about starting over, is never looking back." | ||
| "I’m not getting older, I’m just getting bolder." | ||
| "Boldness comes at a cost, and I’m willing to pay." | ||
| "My faith is strong, and my ass isn’t bad either." | ||
| "I’m pint-sized, baptized, and highly-prized." | ||
| "I’m still the hottest housewife in Orange County, and the toughest too." | ||
| "These days, faith, family and fitness, are the only F’s I give." | ||
| "I might’ve been on pause, but now, I’m ready to play." | ||
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–19, 2023– | The Real Housewives of Orange County | Herself | Housewife (Season 3–14, 17–) |
| 2007–2023 | What What Happens Live! | Herself | Guest; 27 Episodes |
| 2010 | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | Herself | Celebrity Guest Presenter |
| 2013 | Tamra’s OC Wedding | Herself | Three-Part SerieS |
| 2022 | The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip | Herself | Main (Season 2) |
| 2023 | Celebrity Family Feud | Herself | The Real Housewives of OC Vs. The Real Housewives of ATL |
| 2024 | The Traitors | Contestant - Faithful | Banished (Episode 5) |
Trivia[]
- Tamra is one of the longest serving housewives across the franchise - having appeared in thirteen seasons and filming for her fourteenth.
- When the eighteenth season of The Real Housewives of Orange County is announced, she will join Kandi Burruss and Teresa Giudice as the longest serving ‘Real Housewives’.
- Judge is the longest-serving ‘Real Housewife’ on the Orange County installment and has appeared in the highest number of episodes since despite original housewife, Vicki Gunvalson, having starred in thirteen seasons too - those seasons had lower episode counts.
- Judge is the third Housewife on the Orange County installment to leave as a ‘Housewife’ and then once again return in a main capacity. The first was Lydia McLaughlin who appeared in the eighth season and then once again in the twelfth season. The second was Heather Dubrow (who took a four season gap) after leaving in the eleventh season and re-joining in the sixteenth season. Tamra only took a two year gap as she exited at the end of the fourteenth season and returned in the seventeenth.
- This has occurred in many other American installments of The Real Housewives franchise; including Bethenny Frankel and Luann de Lesseps (from the New York installment), NeNe Leakes, Shereé Whitfield, Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams (from the Atlanta installment), Jacqueline Laurita and Dina Manzo (from the New Jersey installment) and Alexia Echevarria and Larsa Pippen (from the Miami installment).
- Tamra’s often considered one of the central pieces to the Orange County installment.
- This is reflected through her seating positions in Reunion specials as she sits at the helm of either side of Andy Cohen seven times. This happens in the fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth and seventeenth seasons.
- This is also reflected in Judge’s position on the theme songs. She opens the intro in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth seasons and closes the theme song in the seventeenth season.
- Tamra has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Darren Vieth (from 1985 to 1990); which is the marriage that she had her eldest son, Ryan. Her second marriage was to Simon Barney (from 1998 to 2011); whom she shares three children with, Sidney, Spencer and Sophia. She is now in her third marriage to Eddie Judge but shares no children with him.
- Aside from her children, her latest Ex-Husband and her Husband, she has also filmed with her first grandchild, Ava; the daughter of her eldest son, Ryan. Her mom, Sandra, has also been a recurring fixture throughout the last fifteen years on the show.
- Tamra hosts a podcast with a former The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave; titled: Two T’s In A Pod.