Call it the curse of the televised vow renewal: Shannon and David Beador of the Real Housewives of Orange County have separated after 17 years of marriage.

“I go big or go home, and I am not going home,” Vicki Gunvalson—the longest running cast member of any Real Housewives city—says emphatically in the opening credits for Season 12 of Real Housewives of Orange County. But as her role in the show becomes more and more forced, it might be time for her—and Bravo—to rethink…

Not for the first time, last night’s Real Housewives of Orange County displayed a woman on the verge of (to risk sounding like Heather Dubrow) a nervous breakdown.

A ringer has entered the Real Housewives of Orange County’s ongoing battle to determine who is the ultimate worst: Lydia McLaughlin, the pint-sized, outspoken Christian who’s dead set on getting everything out in the open, has surpassed all expectations that she’d only last one season, returning to the series after a…

In the pantheon of Real Housewives tag lines, the most memorable are the ones that are so bad that they’re great—like Shannon Beador’s “When life gives you lemons, put nine in a bowl!” or Ramona Singer’s current “I’m an acquired taste. If you don’t like me, acquire some taste!”

Of the many question I’d like to ask God, one of the top ones would be: Judging by how often and the manner in which they speak to you, The Real Housewives of Orange County seem to believe that you pay them a disproportionate amount of attention. Why is that? Because if you are paying them said amount of attention,…

It’s not the most important event of the week, but it is a close second. On Monday, Bravo aired the first part of the Real Housewives of Orange County Season 11 reunion. While it was just a warm-up for the drama to come, it certainly was enough to make the ladies sweat.

How is it that Real Housewives of Orange County is the longest running of the Real Housewives franchise and somehow it still feels the freshest?

Usually I like to enjoy a nice half a bottle of wine with my Real Housewives programming but it’s getting to the point with Orange County that I can only watch their antics in stone sobriety in order to fully grasp the shamelessness at hand.

Good lord.

Shannon and David Beador have experienced their share of ups and downs since joining the cast of Real Housewives of Orange County in 2014, but few moments have been as explosive as Monday night’s episode, which featured a surprise appearance by David’s hostile mother, Donna.

Other than cunt-gate, it’s taken the ladies of Orange County some time to warm up this season. However, like seasons past, all you need is a traumatic event or a health crisis to get things back on that magnificently crazed track.

As any casual fan of the Real Housewives franchise can tell you, a vow renewal is the kiss of death to most marriages featured on the show. Vicki and Donn, Ramona and Mario, Peter and Cynthia, and more have all renewed their vows on air. They’ve also all gotten divorced.

We all knew Kelly Dodd was waiting to blow and blow she did (blowing’s what this conflict is about, after all) during Monday night’s Real Housewives of Orange County when, at a dinner party for Meghan’s last day as a non-pregnant person, Kelly called Shannon a cunt for not correcting a friend who says that Kelly sucks…

Congratulations to Kelly Dodd, who used Monday night’s episode of Real Housewives of Orange County to officially come out as a lunatic.

The Real Housewives opening title sequences are the stuff of folklore—especially the superfluous taglines chosen each season. Not surprisingly, a Bravo producer says cast members get particular about these details, including who gets to be in the middle of the final shot.

Humility is not a characteristic often associated with Real Housewives, so there’s no logical reason to expect it from the grand dame, the OG from the OC Vicki Gunvalson, who still won’t really admit that her boyfriend was probably definitely lying about his cancer treatments.

If they play their cards rights, the husbands of the various Real Housewives franchises can enjoy a rather sweet deal. They show up from time to time, help their spouse out with a storyline, and then sit back as she collects a check and builds a brand.

Alexa Curtin, daughter of former Real Housewives of Orange County star Lynne Curtin, has accused an Orange County police officer of rape.