“It’s been a wild ride, and after all these years, I’m looking forward to life away from the cameras,” Judge told PEOPLE. “I was offered a chance to come back to the show in a limited role, but would prefer to walk away on my own terms.”
“Eddie and the my kids are very excited,” Judge adds of husband and her four children — sons Ryan Vieth (34), and Spencer Barney (19), and daughter Sydney Barney (21), and Sophia Barney (14).
“I want to thank all the fans who have offered me their support over the years,” she added. “It’s meant a lot.”
Judge also announced her exit from the series on Instagram as well. “I’m sad to go but I’m very excited about my future,” she wrote, captioning a photo of herself and Eddie.
A source revealed that Judge decided not to wrap things up with her storyline on the upcoming season of the Bravo hit reality series.
“Producers offered Tamra the opportunity to return to RHOC's upcoming season for 3 episodes, in order to wrap up her storylines and say goodbye to the cast on camera," an insider told E! News. “But she turned the offer down and will not be returning at all.”
Judge has been on the long-running Bravo franchise since it’s third season in 2007. During her time, fans saw her divorce from ex-husband Simon Barney, then marrying her now-husband Eddie Judge, in her own wedding special, Tamra's OC Wedding.
Judge announced her exit a day after original cast member Vicki Gunvalson announced her departure from the series after fourteen seasons in a lengthy and heartfelt statement via her Instagram page.
“I will always be the OG of the OC, but it’s time to say goodbye to The Real Housewives of Orange County. It’s been an incredible ride for 14 years and I want thank all of you for your support, for your love and for “whooping it up” with me along the way,” she wrote.
“I’ve been working on new projects that will be exciting, empowering and inspirational. My podcast with Westwood One will be launching soon and I will have much more to say about this on “Whoop it up with Vicki”,” she continued. “I hope you will join me with my new journey so please stay tuned.”
She concluded by thanking her fans and Bravo for their “incredible” support. “I love all my fans, and I want to thank Bravo and Evolution for this incredible experience which my family and I have will never forget,” she wrote and added the hashtags, “#bravo #rhoc #whoopitipwithvicki @westwoodone @bravo @whoopitupwithvicki.”
Gunvalson told Us Weekly that she and the network are “unequally aligned,” which led to her departure. According to the source, she was not asked to return to the show. “She made it very clear that she wouldn’t come back as a friend so they wouldn’t try to offer her that again,” the insider says.
The official cast for Season 15 has not yet been revealed, but Andy Cohen hinted last month on SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live about the possibility of a cast shakeup for the show's upcoming fifteenth season.
“The casting for next season is some of the best casting we’ve had,” Cohen said, adding that he “[has] not been this excited about casting” in a long time, according to PEOPLE.
When asked by Lewis who would be getting axed, Cohen wouldn’t say, but he did stress that he thought Braunwyn Windham-Burke was “a great” addition.
“She’s got a lot going on,” Cohen said, nothing Windham-Burke’s seven children, her eccentric mother, and her and her husband’s sex-pad. “You’ve got Dr. Deb, you’ve got the kids, you’ve got the other apartment …”
“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get rid of one of the Tres Amigas and break it up,” Jeff told Andy. “You got to keep Kelly Dodd though. I mean she’s just a wild card and I love her. And I would give Braunwyn another season. I like her.”
Cohen assured that fans will be happy with the outcome. “No matter how it shakes out, it’s going to be great because we have great casting. It’s hard to make moves when you don’t have a bench, both on the show and casting wise,” Cohen said.
Photo Credit: Bravo
