Is Tamra Judge Leaving ‘RHOC’? ‘I’m Not a Quitter,’ She Says

Tamra Judge isn’t going anywhere. The Real Housewives of Orange County star weighed in on her future on the Bravo series in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, telling host Brice Sanders that even though she took a break during filming for season 19, she did not quit. 

Tamra Judge on her future with ‘RHOC’ 

Earlier this year, Tamra shocked fans by announcing that she had walked away from Real Housewives during a cast trip to New Orleans.  

“It was a long run! When life gives you real problems this reality sh*t doesn’t make sense. Peace out I’m out,” she wrote on her Instagram Story in March. 

But after some time away, Tamra was able to regroup and resume filming the series, she told Sanders. 

“I’m not a quitter,” she said at the beginning of the interview, where she also discussed why she decided she needed to hit pause on participating in the show. 

“It was a very difficult time for me. It was probably two weeks, three weeks after Teddi [Mellencamp] went into the hospital and had brain surgery,” she explained.

Being in New Orleans was especially emotional because it was the last place she and Teddi had been together. 

“I’m already fragile,” she said. “And filming a show like this just doesn’t seem right when somebody you’re close with is fighting for their life … something happens, and I just went, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”

Teddi Mellencamp urged Tamra to return to ‘Real Housewives’ 

After she returned home to Orange County, Tamra was inundated with questions. 

“Everybody’s calling me. Production. Andy Cohen,” she said. “I sat with the show’s psychiatrist, and I did a bunch of questionnaires. And they said, ‘You know, you’re deeply depressed. I think you should go on medication.’”

In the end, Teddi encouraged Tamra to return to the show. 

“She said, ‘You’re not a quitter. If I have to go through this and power through, you have to,’” Tamra recalled. 

“It was ultimately Teddi who really pushed me,” she said of her Two Ts in a Pod podcast co-host. “And I’m like, ‘I’m doing this for Teddi.’”

For the past several years, Teddi has been battling melanoma. She revealed earlier this year that the cancer had reached stage 4 and had spread to her brain and her lungs. In a recent appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, she revealed her latest prognosis. 

“I would say probably 50-50,” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum said. Yet despite the grim news, she remained hopeful. 

“But like, I truly believe this when I say this — and it’s gonna make me emotional — I truly believe that I’m gonna live. I need to believe it. ‘Cause if not, it’s just too sad.” 

The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock. 

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