Tamra Judge Reveals The True Culprit Behind Her RHOC News Leak

If you're a fan of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," chances are you heard of Tamra Judge. Having first made her debut during the show's third season, the reality star gained attention for her no-nonsense attitude and explosive fights with an array of her fellow housewives — including Gretchen Rossi and Jeana Keough.

However, after 12 seasons, Judge surprised fans when she announced her departure after the show's 14th season. In a 2020 interview with People, the polarizing reality star revealed the health struggles of her husband Eddie Judge and ex-husband Simon Barney influenced her decision to leave. "The reality of it is, after Eddie's heart condition and now Simon with cancer, it's just very hard for me to want to go on a show where people are screaming and yelling and arguing about things that don't even matter," she explained.

Since her departure from the show, Judge ventured into other projects, including opening a gym, hosting "Two T's In A Pod" with fellow "Real Housewives" alum Teddi Mellencamp, and joining the franchise spinoff series "Ultimate Girls Trip." However on July 16, former "Real Housewives of New York" star Jill Zarin leaked that Judge would be returning to Orange County. "And Tamara's coming back, and my friend Vicky's not happy," she wrote in a deleted Instagram Story (via ET). In response, Judge called Zarin a "thirsty b**ch." While the New York reality star was the first to go public with the news, Judge has recently revealed the true culprit behind the leak.

On July 22, Tamra Judge finally confirmed her return to "The Real Housewives of Orange County" on "Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen." When asked about rejoining the franchise, Judge revealed that she's more "1000% energized" coming back to the series. A few days before her official announcement on the aforementioned show, reality star Jill Zarin leaked that Judge was returning to the franchise — which resulted in a heated exchange between the two on social media.

However, on a recent installment of Judge's podcast "Two T's in a Pod" with Teddi Mellencamp, she revealed that former housewife Vicki Gunvalson was the true culprit behind the leak. During the episode, Judge revealed that she told Gunvalson the news before her "WWHL" announcement to honor her feelings. The returning housewife then discussed the phone call she had with Gunvalson in which she asked her not to tell anyone about her return.

"Fast forward two days, she goes to the Hamptons to this huge charity event that Jill Zarin was throwing, and the next thing I know, Jill Zarin is outing that I'm back on Housewives," she revealed. When asked if she thought Zarin and Gunvalson worked together to leak the news, Judge said, "I don't know. I hope to think that Jill did it on her own, but clearly, they had a conversation... [Vicki] denies it. She said she has nothing to do with it, but the way it went down was not a good way."