Heather Dubrow has revealed that she and her husband fought after he signed a contract for her to join the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County without her knowledge.
The Bravo series follows the lives of affluent housewives residing in one of the wealthiest communities of Southern California. Beginning in 2006, RHOC was the show that kickstarted The Real Housewives franchise. Since its inception, there have been 11 different spinoff series in the U.S. alone.
The show is currently in its eighteenth season, with Heather Dubrow having starred on the show from seasons 7 to 11 before deciding to exit. She eventually changed her mind and returned in season 16—and has been back ever since.
Now during an appearance on The Glamour and Grit Podcast, Heather Dubrow spoke to hosts Eric and Sainty Nelson about her life before reality TV and how she eventually became a member of the cast after encouragement from her husband, plastic surgeon and fellow reality star Terry Dubrow.
Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Heather Dubrow for comment on Monday.
"My husband was really into the reality stuff and understood the power of the platform. And my girlfriends and I were pitching a show about opening a restaurant and within those meetings, became acquainted with the people that did Real Housewives," she explained.
"And then they asked me to be on the show and I was like, 'Absolutely not, you know, that sounds like a disaster, that will be the last nail in the coffin that was my career.' I didn't understand, really, that the landscape of television had completely changed.
"And also, I still had young kids, was I really going to be on a set for 17 hours a day? For me personally, not judging anyone else, but no, not at that time. So it just ended up being a thing. My husband signed the contracts for me to be on the show and we fought about it."
Heather Dubrow said she finally conceded and told her husband she'd be on the show, which resulted in him encouraging her to watch a scene so that she could familiarize herself. The reality star said she watched a scene where Tamra Judge threw wine on another woman and found herself laughing at the drama that unfolded.
She continued: "Terry comes back in the room and he's like, 'Oh my god why are you laughing? I thought you'd be running, screaming from the room,' and I go, 'No I get it, it's like a Christopher Guest movie it's satire, I can do that."
Terry Dubrow is known for co-hosting Botched and its spin-off series Botched by Nature with Paul Nassif. Nassif's now ex-wife Adrienne Maloof was an original castmate on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH), having starred on the show from Season 1 to Season 3 and returning for guest appearances in seasons 5, 6, 8 and 10.
"I do know I had watched Beverly Hills because Adrienne was on it. Because we knew Paul and Adrienne before they got married," Heather Dubrow shared.
She also explained why she was a castmate on RHOC as opposed to RHOBH, which is a question that has sometimes plagued the fandom and was asked by both Eric and Sainty Nelson.
Heather Dubrow said she believes that although her life might have been more intertwined with RHOBH, she became a cast member of RHOC because she a different element compared to the other women on the show.
"I think it's the dichotomy of having me in this group. People like that sort of thing, not everyone has to be exactly the same and I think it was the same. I was the only brunette, in this sea of blonde girls. I was from New York, I had this New York edge, I was fancy.
"You know, all of these things that maybe some of these girls at that time I got hired, weren't. So it was fun to see all of that."
While Heather Dubrow originally didn't plan on joining the cast, she's glad she did, as she told the podcast hosts how thankful she was for what it's brought her.
"I'm just really grateful for the platform and what it's done for my family," she said.
