Plus, we get into Real Housewives of Miami, including all the drama surrounding the private jet and what really went down.
Speaking with The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, Judge responded to the unofficial title with a mix of self-satisfaction and trademark smugness.
“As for the ‘longest-running’ title,” Judge admitted, she doesn’t take it too seriously, but added with a snicker, “It doesn’t suck.”
One might assume that with longevity would come humility, but for Judge, it’s more about the perks. “Andy [Cohen] texted me something because it was announced on social media, and I said, ‘What do I get, boss? What do I get? Do I get an award?’” she recalled. “And he’s like, ‘No, you get to be famous and rich.’ And I said, ‘I’ll take it.’”
With The Real Housewives now a global franchise, the series has evolved far beyond its early voyeuristic roots. Tamra concedes that much has changed, although one could argue she hasn’t. “Of course the show is different. The world is different,” she said. “The things that we did back then, the things that we said back then, would never fly today.”
Social media, Judge argues, has transformed how cast members present themselves, or, in some cases, try to self-produce. “Now cast members and talent can see what people are saying, and they might self-produce themselves, or want to pull back because everybody on social media is saying you’re a horrible person, or go kill yourself, or whatever they’re saying to you. It’s tough.”
It’s hard not to hear a note of self-pity, especially given Judge’s well-documented role as one of the franchise’s most polarizing figures. “To stay on the show, you have to be an open book,” she insisted. “Everybody’s talking about me, even if I’m not in the scene. They’re talking about me as if I’m this horrible human that is just evil, [asking], ‘Is she going to change? Can she change?’” she said. “It’s like, Oh my God, guys, leave me alone. ‘She’s damaged. She’s this, she’s that.’”
Her husband Eddie, ever the voice of reason in the Tamra-verse, apparently reassured her: “‘Babe, they’re talking, and they’re talking about you. And the whole show so far is about you.’” A statement that perhaps says more about the state of the show than it does about her.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Tamra Judge interview without a feud refresher. This time, she revisits her long-standing rivalry with former castmate Gretchen Rossi, a feud that has outlasted most Bravo contracts. “When she was let go [after Season 8], we were on decent terms. I mean, she went to my wedding. I sat there and hugged her at the reunion when people were all talking about her fake proposal,” Judge recounted. “When she got fired, I moved on. She didn’t live rent free in my brain, so I went on with my life.”
And yet, for someone so “unbothered,” Judge had a surprisingly detailed account of Rossi’s every move. “I noticed all the time that she was talking about me, if it was a podcast, if it was her coming back to the show for a little cameo,” she said. “She’s gotta bring up, ‘Eddie’s gay!’ and [she] connected with my old best friend [who was] just talking badly about me back then. Every podcast she does, it’s about me. She even did her own podcast for a little while, and she talked about me.”
It’s clear that after all these years, Tamra Judge knows how to keep herself at the center of the narrative, whether it’s with longevity, controversy, or just sheer volume. She may have outlasted her castmates, but one has to wonder: is staying power the same as staying relevant?
The 51-year-old reality star and entrepreneur recently traveled to New York City with her boyfriend, 31-year-old pro basketball player Jeff Coby, as part of a press tour for RHOM. Among her stops was an interview on Good Day New York, where she opened up about her relationships, lifestyle, and even got candid about intimacy in relationships.
But while fans were listening to what she had to say, many couldn’t help but focus on her appearance. Unfiltered photos and on-screen footage led to immediate buzz on social media, with viewers pointing out that Larsa looked noticeably different, with a fuller, more contoured face that some believe may be the result of additional cosmetic enhancements.
Comments quickly circulated across platforms like Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), where some users speculated she may have undergone new procedures. One popular Reddit thread read, “Larsa got a new face for the summer,” while another user on X asked, “Larsa, what made you think you needed to change your whole face and body?”
It’s not the first time Larsa has faced public scrutiny over her appearance. Throughout her time on The Real Housewives of Miami, she’s been open about the work she’s had done. She’s previously confirmed procedures including her nose, lips, and breasts, but has denied having anything done to her butt, a topic that’s been hotly debated among fans.
“I’m into trends and I feel like whatever makes me feel good and look good, I’m willing to do. I’m that person,” Larsa once said during a reunion episode. “I’m very happy with the way I look.”
As with many reality stars who live in the spotlight, Larsa’s evolving appearance continues to stir conversation, and sometimes backlash, online. But true to form, she remains unapologetic about embracing her personal style and doing what makes her feel confident.
“This is gonna bite me in the a**, but Kelly Dodd, sometimes she’s been a wonderful friend to me, and then other times, depending on her mood, she goes for the jugular,” Shannon confesses on Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa. “I just kind of keep at peace with her. I don’t wanna fight. I don’t like to fight, but I will fight.”
The drama isn’t limited to her time on-screen. Beador also drops a bombshell about how she initially joined RHOC—without telling her then-husband, David Beador.
“I didn’t tell my ex-husband that I was interviewing,” she says about her Season 9 audition. “They called me and they said, ‘Can you send us a red carpet photo?’ I go, ‘I can send you my Christmas card photo,’ and I faxed over a Christmas card picture of my family and they go, ‘We wanna meet you.’”
Thinking she had little chance, Beador went to the meeting alone. “I thought, I’m gonna be 50. They’re not gonna want me,” she says. “And then they gave me a callback on the spot and I came home going, I wasn’t really where I said I was gonna be and foreshadow because he had an affair, but he thought, ‘Oh, she had an affair.’ And they came down and met my family. And I got it.”
Speaking with E! News, Tamra said she tried hard to mend fences this season, but claimed Shannon wasn’t having it. “I tried all season, and Shannon holds onto a grudge like nobody’s business,” she said. “I mean, the whole show is about conflict and resolution.”
Tamra didn’t stop there. She implied Shannon’s inability to move forward could signal it’s time to move on, not just from the drama, but from the franchise entirely. “When you get to a point where you can’t move forward, then move out,” she declared.
It’s a blunt comment, especially considering Shannon’s long tenure on the show and her loyal fanbase. Over the years, Shannon has built a reputation as someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, often sharing the highs and lows of her life in raw, emotional detail. While that vulnerability has made her a fan favorite, it’s also left her open to criticism from fellow cast members who interpret her sensitivity as stubbornness.
Tamra’s comments add fuel to the ongoing tension between the two, but they also raise questions: Is it fair to expect emotional resolution on a production schedule? And does refusing to reconcile, especially when hurt runs deep, mean someone no longer belongs on the show?
Not everyone agrees with Tamra’s tough-love stance. Many viewers have defended Shannon’s right to take her time with forgiveness, especially if past betrayals feel unresolved. Reality TV thrives on drama, yes, but not everyone heals on a timeline that fits neatly into a season arc.
It’s also worth noting that Tamra has had her own history of fallouts and grudge-holding over the years, making her sudden call for closure feel a bit one-sided to some.
As RHOC continues to unfold, the friction between Tamra and Shannon will no doubt remain a central storyline. But whether it ends in resolution — or in someone’s final curtain call — remains to be seen.
When Real Housewives of Miami rebooted four years ago after a long pause, few expected it to come back stronger than ever, yet here we are, with more episodes of the rebooted show than the original. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Anderson and NBCUniversal’s Kathleen French spill the tea on why Miami’s got that underdog reputation, the explosive season seven fight, and which Latin pop star should join the cast next.
Did they see this comeback coming? Kathleen French is confident: “Absolutely. We have done BravoCon since 2019, and anytime Real Housewives of Miami was mentioned, the audience would go nuts. There was such a fan fever for this show and it never died. The question I was asked all the time was, ‘When are you going to reboot Miami?’ We knew there was an appetite for the viewers to see this show again.”
Producer Anderson adds, “We did it. Now, there are more episodes of the reboot than there are of the original. Once we crossed that threshold, it was like, Wow, we are on the other side of that equation, which is pretty amazing, because rebooting is a hard thing to do.”
What makes Miami’s “friends of the housewives” so unique? Unlike other franchises that swap out friends each season, Miami’s trio—Marysol, Adriana, and Kiki—are “super friends” who appear regularly and have built a dedicated fan base. Anderson explains, “They do interviews, they go on every trip, they’re almost at every cast event… There’s a lot of talk of, like, ‘Give her her mojito! Give Marysol her mojito! Give Kiki her mojito!’ They’re doing so much, they should be full time.”
Why does Miami get labeled “underrated” despite the nonstop drama and glamour? Anderson believes it’s partly due to the passionate fanbase holding the show accountable: “I think that the fan engagement with this show in particular… they feel in a way responsible for bringing it back. The amount of engagement… [they] want to make sure everything is being done for it.”
He embraces the underdog label: “There is something about being the underdog that gives you a chance to exceed those expectations, which I feel like this season does.”
What about the marketing? Why wasn’t a Miami housewife on Watch What Happens Live during the premiere? Kathleen French clarifies, “It wasn’t a strategy, it was a reality. Watch What Happens Live was on hiatus during the premiere week… When the show came back for episode two, Alexia and Marysol were on together. So we’re always promoting the show. They all get equal love.”
Then there’s the intense physical altercation between Julia and Guerdy in season seven — how was that handled? French stresses, “We have a strong code of respect in the workplace here… Julia said openly and honestly that there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t regret having made that choice. She has apologized to Guerdy, she’s apologized to the production company.”
Anderson adds, “As soon as something like that happens, we gotta step in, because we don’t support any kind of physical altercations on the show. These are dynamic, intelligent, very witty women that can use their words in arguments. We stop it immediately.”
Did it surprise you that most of the cast was more upset about Guerdy sharing text messages with Julia than the actual drink throw? French says, “I think they were a little more stunned in the moment when the drink throwing happened… but there was a little bit of a shock reaction at Marysol’s wedding party when the texts were revealed.”
Anderson reveals, “There were people on the cast who were not thrilled about the water throwing, and they expressed that to Julia, but not everything always makes it onto air… There was definitely a feeling that they didn’t love the water throwing, but everyone was all in the same place at the same time with the text thing.”
In a recent E! News interview, Tamra revisited the drama surrounding what Gina Kirschenheiter called the “former fatty photo of Jen,” a moment that left viewers, and cast members, divided. While the comment may have seemed like a dig at Jenn’s past appearance, Tamra insisted it wasn’t meant that way.
“Jennifer was not even fat,” Tamra clarified. “She’s just so skinny today.”
According to Tamra, the image was part of a broader conversation she had with Heather Dubrow. “Heather, when I showed her the picture, she’s like, ‘Oh.’ And I go, ‘Well, she was heavier. She was heavier back then.’ But there was a whole transformation that happened …. It was just me, like, ‘She’s changed.’ And she looks great. She looks beautiful.”
Still, the moment drew comparisons to past body-shaming controversies within the franchise, something Tamra was quick to distance herself from. “It wasn’t like Slade Smiley throwing a picture up of me on the Jumbotron and saying that I’m the Michelin man like he did, or calling Vicki ‘Miss Piggy’ or anything like that,” she added.
Beyond the photo, Tamra hinted that her real frustration with Jenn may come down to what she saw as a calculated friendship. “What I wanted to say, but I couldn’t say because I didn’t want to break the fourth wall, is I felt like she was obsessed with my life, so she wanted to get on the show. She wanted on the show, and that’s why she befriended me, so that’s what it was all about.”
That accusation raises eyebrows, especially given Tamra’s long-standing role in the cast and history of clashing with other Housewives. While Tamra maintains that her comments were not malicious, the overall tone came off as dismissive to some viewers, especially those who’ve seen Jenn open up about her own personal growth and struggles.
Speaking on Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast, the 44-year-old former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star reflected on a deeply personal chapter of her life: an affair with her then-married horse trainer, Simon Schroeder. The relationship, which came to light late last year, played a role in the unraveling of her marriage to Edwin Arroyave.
“I’ve never talked about it at all, just because of the kids,” Mellencamp said, her voice breaking. “And I’ve never wanted anybody to have a guarantee of whether it happened or didn’t happen, but what I can say is: Did I do things that hurt other people? Yes.”
Mellencamp, who was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in October 2022, candidly shared the guilt she’s carried, and the unsettling connection she sometimes draws between her actions and her illness.
“To this day, does it still hurt my heart and I wonder if that’s why I got cancer? Yes, like it was my payback,” she admitted, fighting back tears. “Nothing goes without payment, I guess.”
Despite her efforts to “minimize everybody’s pain,” she acknowledged that the fallout from the months-long affair only intensified once it became public. “It ended up all over the press,” she recalled. “Not only do you have yourself, you have your significant other, your kids, the other person’s significant other, their kids. I mean, so many people are hurt in the wreckage.”
She added, “The wreckage doesn’t happen on its own.”
Looking back, Mellencamp said she was at one of the lowest points in her life, emotionally and physically. “I was so broken as a human being,” she explained. “I did things out of my better judgment.”
Her physical health was deteriorating as well, though she didn’t realize the extent of it at the time. “I think I was so sick during that stage, ’cause remember how I told you there was months of headaches and stuff like that, I was looking for comfort anywhere I could get it,” she shared. “I felt so much pain. I felt so sick. I didn’t go to the doctors. I just felt some certain kind of way, and the pain was so much that I had gotten to the point of, like, almost hating waking up in the morning, which I had never been that kind of person.”
Mellencamp underwent more than a dozen surgeries after her melanoma diagnosis. By January 2024, she was declared cancer-free.
Just a month earlier, in November 2023, she filed for divorce from Arroyave, 48. The former couple shares three children: Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5. Arroyave also has a teenage daughter, Isabella, from a previous relationship.
Now co-hosting the popular podcast Two Ts in a Pod, Mellencamp is continuing to work through the aftermath — without trying to justify her actions.
“But I do think a bunch of things happened in my life all around the same time, and I had zero control of any of them,” she said. “Like, I just was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.” She admitted to bouncing from one distraction to another, simply hoping something would make her “feel better.”
Though she’s moved forward with her health and career, Mellencamp isn’t shying away from taking accountability.
“There’s no excuse,” she said. “I just hope being honest about it helps someone else who’s going through something and feeling lost.”
While fans might expect her to be diving right into the cast, Dolores keeps it clear: she’s just visiting and offering a little guidance to the fresh faces.
When asked what’s next for her, Catania revealed, “So, what’s in the future. So, I’m right now visiting, there’s a new franchise called ‘Housewives of Rhode Island.’”
Nikki Garcia was quick to clarify the rumors circulating online, and Dolores confirmed with a smile,
“I’m visiting. I’m just visiting.”
And as for stirring up the classic Real Housewives drama? Catania admitted she’s been a bit of a peacekeeper and occasional instigator,
“Yeah, we haven’t heard much about, well actually, it’s so great to tell the other girls to fight because they’re not, I don’t know them as well. I have one friend there, so I kind of, like the girls are, yeah. I’m helping out. Let’s say that. I’m visiting.”
Curious about when the show will hit screens? Dolores was honest:
“No, we wouldn’t know. They’re just started filming. They’re babies. They don’t know what’s in for them. They don’t know what they’re in for.”
Clearly, Dolores is dipping her toes in the water of this new franchise, supporting the next generation of Housewives from Rhode Island, but for now, she’s content to just visit and see where it leads.
Last month, the tennis legend took to social media to share her strong disapproval, writing in a since-deleted post, “Surrogacy is just wrong. Sometimes you can’t have it all.” The statement sparked backlash and confusion, and fans have been waiting to hear what Cohen—who is a father to two children born via surrogate—had to say.
During the August 5 episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, a listener brought up Martina’s comments, prompting Cohen to finally speak out. While he had previously asked Julia Lemigova, Martina’s wife, about the situation on Watch What Happens Live, he hadn’t yet addressed it personally, until now.
“Well, I asked Julia about this on Watch What Happens Live. Julia and I have discussed this offline,” Cohen said.
However, don’t expect a confrontation between Andy and Martina on air anytime soon. “Martina will not be at the Miami reunion, so I will not be asking Martina about this,” Cohen explained. Still, he acknowledged that the topic isn’t going away: “I’m sure it will come up again at the Miami reunion because, guess what? I believe Lisa Hochstein had major complications with her last pregnancy and possibly needed to use a surrogate.”
Though Martina won’t be present at the reunion, Andy didn’t shy away from addressing her comments directly. He noted that Julia told him the statements were taken out of context. But after reading the original post aloud, Cohen pushed back on that defense.
“‘Surrogacy is just wrong. Sometimes you can’t have it all.’ Well, here’s the deal,” Cohen said bluntly. “That’s just ill-informed and dumb. And yes, we will talk about it at the reunion.”
While it’s unclear if Navratilova plans to clarify or expand on her views, Cohen made it clear that he finds the take harmful, and that the conversation around surrogacy and reproductive rights is far from over.
