After not being on The Real Housewives of Orange County for a few years, Tamra Judge is back and better than ever!
"I was a little nervous to go back because some of the girls had a lot of things to say about me. I think somebody said they would dance on my grave and someone said there was no place for me on the show anymore. I went back in thinking, 'Who is my friend and who is not my friend?' Shannon Beador and I were not in a good place, so there's a lot going on with me on the show this season. I'm bracing myself for what's to come," the reality star, 55, exclusively tells OK! while talking about Vena’s exclusive partnership with Sally Beauty stores.
When the blonde babe was only asked to appear in three episodes, she stuck up for herself and said she wasn't interesting in appearing on the beloved series anymore. "I was not expecting to get fired or demoted," she states. "As a business owner, I understand it. Maybe they thought they could get someone younger or cheaper. I was still totally shocked."
"Toward the end, I felt like there was a distance between me and some of the producers. I was a little bit depressed in the first year because I've been doing this for 12 years and my kids — Spencer, Sophia and Sidney, whom she shares with ex Simon Barney, and son Ryan Vieth is from a previous relationship — are all grown up. My kids then said, 'Please go back on the show. You know you need to go back.' I didn't realize how much I missed it," she shares.
Fortunately, the professional fitness coach, who is married to Eddie Judge, scored her spot back, and she went in "guns blazing," she quips. "I did not hold back. I think I had a little bit of Atlanta Housewife in me this season. I'm a little bit more outspoken because I had two years of aggression to take out!"
One of Tamra's unexpected allies this season is Emily Simpson. "It was an evolution of talking and working things out," she notes. "I love her, and I think she's great on the show. The cast is really good and there's people that have become friends that weren't friends before."
Meanwhile, the mom-of-four dishes that she and Beador are finally on good terms — "but it didn't start out like that," she says. "The hardest thing for me is I really loved and we were such good friends. When I felt left out, she was distant from me and I assumed she didn't care about me like I thought she did, but we worked through those things."
In the meantime, the Bravo fan-favorite is also excited about her latest venture: Vena's partnership with Sally Beauty stores throughout the country, as CBD is the first and only skincare collection offered in the stores (not online).
"In 2018 we started Vena CBD. We started out with gummies and dog treats and then we wanted to go into skincare. We partnered with Sally Beauty and they took this on. It's been amazing," she says of the groundbreaking collab.
Some of the products from the holistic, plant-based wellness products include the soaking salts, which have 300 milligrams of CBD. "It smells so good and people love," she says. "There's Miracle Manuka Multi-Use Cream, the Daily Hy — Hydrating Serum, Total Hy — Gel Mask and more. The Gel Mask I use that as a night cream as it leaves a very thin layer on my face. I sleep in it. Manuka is the best product to use if you get any laser treatment or anything like that. The serum is everybody's favorite. I use that in the morning and at night and that helps with hydration."
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Tamra has her fans and Bravo to thank after her skincare line made waves. "Our brand has grown so big," she admits. "I am blessed, especially because I wasn't expecting to open a brick and mortar business after I closed CUT Fitness. It was difficult to build, but CBD is a hot item and it took off. Our first month was a huge, and now four years into it, we've grown into a multimillion dollar business so that is crazy!"
