When one door closes, another opens: And with Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” the door is closing on Kelly Dodd and opening for returning cast member Heather Dubrow.
A Bravo spokesperson confirmed to Variety the departures of Dodd — a controversial firebrand who’s been in the cast since 2016 — Windham-Burke and Vargas.
Shannon Storms Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, and Emily Simpson, however, are all returning to “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” or “RHOC,” as it’s nicknamed.
As a member of the cast, Dubrow was known for her sharp wit, her confrontational style, her huge house and her bickery, bantery marriage to Terry Dubrow, a plastic surgeon.
During one disastrous on-camera dinner in her final year on the show, Dubrow walked off, and refused to keep filming after Dodd loudly attacked various cast members .
The show was meant to be a fun reality version of ABC’s mid-2000s smash hit, “Desperate Housewives.” But instead, along with all of the other “Housewives” shows — there are currently eight different installments of the franchise — it became a fascinating chronicler of American life.
Throughout the season, Dodd, never one to shy away from a fight, alternated between apologizing and doubling down.
The outburst led to Leventhal’s twenty-something daughter, Veronica, blasting her new stepmother.
After Season 15 concluded, Dodd seemed to be almost daring Bravo to fire her.
“There were times in the past where we would say, “You know what? Let’s let the women live their lives for awhile, and see where they’re at,’” Cohen said.