Former ‘RHOC’ Cast Member Says ‘Housewives’ Become Addicted To the Money

Peggy Tanous from The Real Housewives of Orange County dished about when cast members start making money on the show and how the money becomes an addiction.

“I think the longer you’re on it also becomes about the paycheck,” she shared on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. “I mean, for me, I felt like if I quit now, the money’s not that great. So I might as well just
do it now, like cut the cord now. But if I was to stay, the longer you’re on, the more opportunities come to you, the more money comes.”

“I remember reading something that Vicki [Gunvalson] had said that
she felt like she was really done,” she continued. “I think it was season 13. She felt like she was really done, but then she still came back and it was like, I think it becomes like addicting because then the money is so good you’re like, well, ‘Gosh, it would be stupid to give up this money that I can put away for my future.’ So I think then it kind of just becomes where you have to stay.”

She thinks Tamra Judge didn’t sign on as a friend because of the money

“I think even recently, Tamra,” Tanous said. “I read somewhere Tamra was talking about not coming back this year. And I think she had even said, ‘I was actually praying that they would call and say, you’re not coming
back’ because she said, ‘I knew that if they said that they wanted me back, I couldn’t turn it down.’ I don’t know the exact words.”

“And so I get that,” she reflected. “It’s like, she probably is like on so long and the money just keeps getting better. And you don’t want to turn it down, but then if they call and say, ‘Well, you’re not going to come back, but you can come back for three episodes.’ Then that’s why she was like, ‘Forget it. I’m not going to do it.’ But if they were like, ‘Oh, come on for the season,’ it’s like too hard to turn that down.”

Peggy Tanous didn’t like how Vicki Gunvalson left the show

She’s also not surprised Gunvalson left the show either. “I actually thought that it might happen sooner,” she said. “Because I think that when a franchise goes so long, you naturally just start changing things up.”

“I guess I was more surprised how it all went down,” she remarked. “Like the fact that last year Vicki came on as a friend and, you know, I think I was more surprised like, ‘Gosh, why would she even do that?'”

“But then again, you go back to the money,” she reiterated. “It’s like, well, if they’re going to pay you to be a friend, and it’s a good amount, like why not? But then I think what they did this year for them to just be like, ‘Oh, you’re done.’ That was kind of a sh**ty way to do it.”

“But I think ultimately I think it might be, I think it might be good for the franchise,” she said. “I mean, who knows?”