Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson has made shock claims against Bravo after she was filmed learning of her mother's death for the show in 2015.
Gunvalson, 62, collapsed to the floor after learning that her mother Joanne Steinmetz had died in a July 2015 episode of the show - and has now claimed that Bravo 'knew for an hour' about the death but delayed telling her so it could be captured on film.
In a clip from The Dark Side of Reality TV obtained by People, Gunvalson says she 'will never forgive Bravo' for the way in which she learned of her mom's passing.
She said her family members were trying to get in touch with her as the cast members were 'playing Bunko at Shannon [Beador]'s' - with her loved ones calling production when she didn't answer.
'Brianna [her daughter] had been calling, calling, calling, and they kept telling her, 'Well, she's filming right now, blah, blah, blah. She's like, 'I need to talk to my mom right now.'"
Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson has made shock claims against Bravo after she was filmed learning of her mother's death for the show in 2015
Gunvalson, 62, collapsed to the floor after learning that her mother Joanne Steinmetz had died in a July 2015 episode of the show - and has now claimed that Bravo 'knew for an hour' about the death but delayed telling her so it could be captured on film
Gunvalson says production eventually allowed the call but set up Beador's wrapping paper room with 'lights and cameramen.'
She said: 'I was really upset that production knew for an hour, and they didn't tell me. They were out of line, and I think they should have taken me aside and said, "Your mom has passed. Talk to your daughter off camera". 'If I was a producer, that's what I would've done.
'Let me scream and cry on my own and be mad. It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that.
Gunvalson previously said she did not blame Bravo for airing the moment on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2015.
She said: 'Mom wasn't in the scene. It was just me getting the news of it' and said she's 'not going to be upset about it because it's part of my reality.
'I lost my mother and I signed up for all areas of my life to be exposed, the good and the bad, There's been a lot of great moments that have been aired and there's a lot of moments that I wish wasn't on a reality show. This is not a moment that I feel, as of right now, I regret.
'I don't blame Bravo, I don't blame Evolution, I don't blame anybody. It's my life.
Bravo declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com.
The shock scenes in 2015 came after Gunvalson had spoken to her apparently healthy mother earlier in the day.
She said: 'Let me scream and cry on my own and be mad. It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that'
Then, at a games party thrown by her friend Beador, she received the shocking news via a phone call from her daughter Briana.
‘What do you mean? What happened? No,’ Vicki gasped into the receiver.
‘Briana, I can't do this,’ she moaned, before falling onto the kitchen floor in the fetal position.
‘Oh, my God. I don't want to believe this,’ she wailed in the gut-wrenching scene which was shot in February of that year.
At the time Vicki, an insurance executive, posted some messages to social media: ‘You were so healthy and so vibrant and so beautiful. I still need you. I love you mom,’ she wrote.
‘Briana I don’t even want believe this. How could she have died?’ wept the distraught RHOC veteran to her daughter.
Gunvalson is known for being an original cast member of the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Orange County. She appeared on the show for 16 seasons.
