RHOC star Tamra Judge confirms her return to Bravo show after her shock firing but bff Vicki Gunvalson is ‘SNUBBED’

TAMRA Judge has announced that she will return to Real Housewives of Orange County after several seasons away.

The reality star shared the news during an appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

On Wednesday, Tamra made a surprise appearance on the show, shocking host Andy’s guests.

He questioned: “What are you doing here?”

The reality star reached for an orange sitting in a bowl on a shelf, revealing: “There’s something that I forgot to get last night.”

She struck a pose familiar to fans of the Bravo series, holding the piece of fruit in one hand.

Delivering what sounds like a tagline from the reality show, she said: “The judge is back and drama is in session.”

Andy then announced: “It’s true. Tamra Judge is returning to the Real Housewives of Orange County.”

The Bravo star danced excitedly on the set as the audience cheered.

She also posted a video of herself on her Instagram Story in front of a green screen.

Tamra tagged Bravo in the post but did not add any more context.

FANS REACT

Immediately after the announcement, fans flocked to Twitter to share their reactions.

Many were shocked Tamra would come back following her shocking firing.

Others wondered why Andy and other network executives hadn’t also invited Vicki Gunvalson – Tamra’s longtime friend and costar – back with her.

On Twitter, one fan wrote: “But why wouldn’t they bring Vicki back?”

Another joked: “I hope the people in Vicki’s immediate vicinity have a safe place to go.”

Others were simply thrilled to hear the news.

“omggg!! ‘The judge is back and drama is in session’ Im livinggggg for this tagline!!” a fan commented.

Another wrote: “I love the tag line. Listen they shouldn’t have fired her and Vicki.”

Prior to Tamra’s announcement, rumors had been swirling that the RHOC alum would be back.

JILL’S SPILL

The buzz began amid a feud between Tamra and Jill, which saw Jill leak the news that Tamra would be back.

In a since-deleted Instagram Story, Zarin said: “And Tamra’s coming back, and my friend Vicky’s not happy,” according to . 

Shortly after, Judge seemingly confirmed the news, taking to Twitter to call out Zarin for leaking the information. 

Judge wrote: “Go f*** yourself @JillZarin! You thirsty b****!”

Despite the drama between Zarin and Judge, a source told  that “Tamra is thrilled to come back to the show,” and that she “can’t wait to get back in the mix on ‘RHOC’ and see how she can shake up the dynamic.”

TAMRA’S DEPARTURE

Tamra shocked fans in 2020 after she announced she was leaving. 

At the time, a source told the media outlet that she was offered a returning role on the show, but she turned it down to “walk away on her own terms.”

Her departure came just one day after Vicki Gunvalson announced she was leaving the show. 

It was later revealed that Simon Barney’s stage 3 throat cancer diagnosisand Eddie Judge’s ongoing heart issues influenced her exit from RHOC. 

“I was going to say I wasn’t coming back at the reunion. I had just found out about Simon days before the reunion. I was a mess. I had been crying. I was crying — I don’t want to cry now — I was crying in my dressing room, like, I can’t go out there. And everyone’s like, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t do this,'” Judge recalled during an interview on Radio Andy’s Jeff Lewis Live in February 2020, via .

“It’s been a wild 12 years,” Judge wrote on Instagram at the time.

“But it’s time for me to move on. I’m sad to go but I’m very excited about my future. Love ❤️ you guys ✌.”

“I was going to tell everybody then that it was gonna be too hard for me to go back, you know, with Simon going through treatment and the kids. How are they gonna deal with it? At this time, he had just found out and hadn’t started treatment. I didn’t know what to expect. So [my husband Eddie Judge]’s like, ‘Yeah, just go do it.'”