Real Housewives of Orange County Season 17, Episode 8 Recap

It was a dramatic dinner at Nobu on the last episode of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Tamra Judge fully cemented her return to the RHOC with a napkin toss to Jennifer Pedranti’s face. Jenn decided enough was enough regarding Tamra talking about her boyfriend Ryan Boyajian’s alleged indiscretions. She informed the group that Tamra joked she had wanted to hook up with Ryan. And then came a napkin in her face.

Meanwhile, Gina Kirschenheiter had it out with Heather Dubrow. She was hurt by Heather’s comment to not vent about her ex to boyfriend Travis Mullen. Gina also didn’t appreciate the dig on her future real estate career of wearing mini skirts and opening sliding glass doors a la Selling Sunset. Heather apologized just in time for everyone to eat the wagyu. They would need all their strength for the return of the OG in the OC, Vicki Gunvalson! 

All roads lead to Heather Amin

There are certain tropes Bravo loves to do, and one of them is waxing. Attention Bravo, we do not need any more scenes of noses, butts, or hoo-hahs being waxed. However, we got another one with Emily Simpson and her husband Shane. It would have been more fun to hear them talk about their upcoming pool party while they tested out the adult slip and slide. Just a thought.

Taylor Armstrong, Jenn, and Shannon Beador met up for corn dogs and soft pretzels at Balboa Island. Cotton candy was not on the menu for Taylor. Talk immediately turned to the Nobu dinner and Jenn’s Relationship with Tamra. According to Jenn, all roads in this drama led to Heather Amin. She reasoned that Heather must have been in love with Ryan because why else would she try to sabotage their relationship by spreading rumors about him. 

At the same time, Tamra and Heather went shopping for gifts for Emily. Heather found a box of “hot mess” matches and correctly assumed they would be perfect for Tamra. They talked about Nobu as well, and Heather hoped she was done with her apology tour. Tamra brought up Jenn and Heather Amin, and said that Jenn sent Heather a text accusing her of gossiping about Ryan. She surmised the best way to resolve this was for Heather to show up at Emily’s pool party and talk it out with Jenn. Get the popcorn ready!

The first rule of Shannon’s fight club is…

Gina and Travis took the kids to the park to meet up with ex Matt Kirschenheiter and his girlfriend, Kelly Dodd lookalike Britt. Their blended family was going so well, Gina and Britt were doing TikToks together. Gina admitted she talked with her therapist after the Montana trip to learn how to live with the pain. She also made it a priority to lower the charges against Matt to misdemeanors so he would be able to work again. The conversation then turned to food. Not about the giant sized gold fish cracker container they had out, but the best way to make sauce. Post that recipe!

Emily missed out on the trip to Montana, so she met up with Tamra at a local OC saloon to catch some of that vibe. The ladies cheered to being friends and moving past their name-calling of one another, such as Emily calling Tamra Lucifer. Emily wondered how Tamra and Shannon were doing. Tamra said their friendship was moving in the right direction. But the concern was Shannon’s relationship with John Janssen. 

Emily spilled the tea that Heather had mentioned some things about Shannon and John’s relationship that weren’t so great. Tamra admitted she had heard it too, and that Heather had also told Gina about it. Emily was worried. She knew the first rule of Shannon’s fight club was you don’t talk about Shannon’s relationship. Emily wanted Shannon to know they were all coming from a place of concern and not gossip. Tamra said she would bring it up with Shannon and assured Emily she wouldn’t throw her under the bus. She wasn’t the devil after all.

Listen Tammy, it’s not time to go hammy

It was pool party time! All was quiet for now as Emily tried to teach the bartender how to use a champagne gun. She should have FaceTimed Heather stat. Meanwhile, all the ladies got ready for the party. Shannon was in her front yard getting spray-tanned, and we got our first Heather Amin siting as she sat with Tamra. Jenn called Ryan for a pep talk, but all he did was joke he wanted to send out a new d*ck pic. As Jenn said, he’s such a sweetheart. 

The party was now in full swing and it was ladies only. Emily and Heather had made amends. As long as Emily talked to Heather first about her issues she was good. Little did she know that Emily had already talked about her behind her back with Tamra. Let’s see how long the Band-Aid lasts on this friendship. 

Jenn was immediately grilled by Gina and Emily about Tamra. Jenn had wanted to have a conversation with her at Nobu, but said Tamra was three sheets to the wind. Gina said she felt like Tamra wanted her to pay for something and wanted to find out what it was. Right on cue Tamra and Heather Amin showed up. On their way inside the party Heather said, “Listen Tammy, it’s not time to go hammy.” Tamra didn’t respond but someone was about to go hammy in this group!

D*ck pic gate round 2

It was awkward hellos between the former tres amigas. Jenn didn’t waste any time and pulled Heather Amin aside to get to the bottom of the situation. Jenn said she texted Heather because Tamra kept talking about Ryan and said all the information was coming from her. Heather denied it and said Jenn was playing dumb for believing Ryan meant to send the d*ck pic to her and not Heather. As Heather and Jenn duked it out, the rest of the ladies bided their time until one by one they entered the scene. Gotta get that camera time!

While the group milled around them, Jenn told Tamra and Heather she was done with their involvement in her life. Heather and Tamra used the defense they wanted Jenn to stand up for herself. Shannon intervened with a little self projection when she said that Jenn was happy and it was hard for her to hear bad things about her boyfriend. Cue dramatic eye roll from Tamra, and then cue waterworks.

Tamra apologized for throwing a napkin in Jenn’s face. Jenn was perplexed as to why Tamra had felt uncomfortable about Ryan when they used to joke about hooking up with him. As the two semi-made up, Taylor stated she was sick of Ryan and she didn’t even know him. It was time to move on to more fun things, like the adult slip and slide. Gina and Emily were the first to go down the slide, streaking it with their self tanner as they slide to the end. Heather smartly wore a scuba suit, and she and Shannon made it about a third of the way down. At least they tried!

Time to whoop it up!

We didn’t have to wait long to learn the secret to Gina’s sauce was … Ragu! Gina shamefully admitted she used jarred sauce for her dinner of chicken parmesan and stuffed artichokes. Listen, when you have six kids I’m sure you have to cut corners. Gina shared the good news with Travis that she was approved to take her real estate exam and was hopeful they would work well together. Travis wondered if she was happy in their relationship, and she tearfully replied yes. Whether those were tears of joy were yet to be seen.

The moment everyone was waiting for finally happened when the tres amigas were back together again. Vicki had the tequila shots flowing for her, Tamra, and Shannon, and it was hugs all around. Vicki gave an update that she was busy spending time with her kids and her new boyfriend Michael. She had no time for Emily, Gina, or Heather. Vicki shared the last time she saw Heather she was standoffish to her. Condescending, perhaps? 

Shannon admitted she had a rocky year with Heather but things were good now. Tamra saw this as her opening and asked Shannon if she trusted Heather to keep her secrets. Shannon flipped and knew whatever she had told Heather was out. Tamra kept her mouth shut but the damage was done. Shannon ran over to the producer’s table and told them they were going to talk about her relationship with John and whatever was going to be said would ruin them. Looks like Heather broke the first rule in Shannon’s fight club. 

Real Housewives of Orange County continues Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.

TELL US – WERE YOU HAPPY TO SEE VICKI BACK ON THE SHOW? ARE YOU TEAM JENN OR TEAM TAMRA AND HEATHER AMIN? DO YOU THINK SHANNON WILL STAY FRIENDS WITH HEATHER ONCE THE SECRET ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIP WITH JOHN IS REVEALED?