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Real Housewives of Orange County Veteran Vicki Gunvalson: “They’re Going to Have to Kill Me Off” Before I Quit

Real Housewives of Orange County Veteran Vicki Gunvalson
Real Housewives of Orange County veteran Vicki Gunvalson spoke to Us Weekly about her past 9 seasons on the show (including her relationship with ex-husband Donn Gunvalson), and ahead to the tenth season (which will rehash drama with Tamra Judge).

She plans to “woo hoo” for life! Real Housewives of Orange County veteran Vicki Gunvalson told Us Weekly recently that the producers behind her West Coast reality franchise will have to “kill” her off before she quits.

Gunvalson, who has impressively been with the RHOC (the very first installment of the entire Housewives franchise) since the first season in 2006, invited Us into her home in Coto de Caza, Calif., where she looked back on her last nine seasons and ahead to her tenth.

Related: PHOTOS: Remember these former Housewives?

“At this time in my life, I’m not going to throw in the towel on the Housewives franchise,” Gunvalson reflected. “I will be in a walker with my Botox, and my false eyelashes saying, ‘You think I look bitchin’?'” The RHOC‘s queen bee further noted that she has “no idea” when her story line will fade away. “I mean, at the end of the day, they’re going to have to kill me off,” she quipped. “Because I’ll find them. All of them.”

A source close to the cast confirmed to Us Wednesday, Jan. 28, that the franchise will return next season with its current cast intact, plus two fresh additions: Meghan King Edmonds and Katie Chadwick Hamilton, both wives of professional baseball players. (Bravo has not yet confirmed who will be returning in season 10.)

Without revealing any names, Gunvalson told Us then that new cast additions were necessary for the show’s continual success. “I definitely think we have some room for some new cast members,” she explained. “I think every season when we have brought somebody new in, it definitely has shifted it up a little bit. Because people, although they want to follow your story, they also want to see new stories.”

Related: PHOTOS: Before they were Housewives

Her enemy Tamra Judge (nee Barney), meanwhile, told Us in a separate interview last November: “We have three newbies and they don’t know what the f— they’re doing. They’re gonna come on and go, ‘She’s a liar!'” (It remains unclear what happened to the third.) Laughing, she added: “‘Bitch, I told you exactly what it was going to be.'”

Gunvalson reflected back on her nine years as a Housewife, and told Us whether she regrets those “many” embarrassing moments captured on-screen including “peeing on Tamra’s bed” in Mexico, and generally watching herself “act like an idiot” on TV. “I don’t think I’d do anything differently looking back,” she told Us. “I mean yes, there are some regrets, but it’s allowed me to change and get to be better. One thing that I always say, ‘I want to get better and better and better every year, and not bitter and bitter and bitter.'”

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The divorced mother of two also spoke about her tumultuous friendship with Judge, with whom she is currently not on speaking terms. “You know, I’ve learned through the years who you can trust when the cameras are off, and who you can trust when the cameras are on,” she reflected. “At the end of the day, I can’t trust what was going to come out of Tamra’s mouth, was for my best interest.”

Vicki and Tamra

Gunvalson confessed to Us that Judge’s betrayal dug deepest. “It’s been hurtful. It’s been really, really hurtful, because nobody else has done that to me that I’ve filmed with.”

Related: PHOTOS: Hellish Housewives romances

She also reflected about how her relationships with Housewives will change from one season to the next. “Shannon [Beador] and I are really close,” Gunvalson told Us. “We became very good friends. She’s been an amazing support for Brooks and his cancer. Lizzie [Rovsek] and I talk every now and then. Heather [Dubrow] has been a great friend. I haven’t spoken to Tamra since the reunion, so it’s been a long time, and we literally work less than a half a block from each other. I see her car in her parking lot, and I’m sure she sees mine. We just don’t cross paths.”

And while there have been some rough patches over the course of 10 years, Gunvalson also cherishes certain memories recorded by producers. “Some of my favorite moments were when [ex-husband] Donn and I renewed our vows in Turks and Caicos,” she told Us. “I really felt that that was going to be the turning point of our marriage. We were struggling, we were disconnected, and what it came down to is it didn’t make a difference. We went back to our other life… That was one of those memorable moments that was captured on TV and I really value and cherish those times.”

Vicki and Donm

Related: PHOTOS: Real Housewives husbands hall of fame

Ahead of season 10 (which will air sometime later this year), Gunvalson noted that all Housewives are characteristically “strong-minded” and “not weak in any level.” However, there is only one Vicki G.

Housewives cast

“There’s no other comparisons between me, or any other women on the Housewives shows,” she claimed of the entire Real Housewives franchise, including Atlanta’s standout NeNe Leakes and Jersey’s fiery Teresa Giudice. “I am definitely unique to everything and everybody. I don’t see anybody working the way I work. I have 12-hour workdays, I’m managing a big home, I have a garden outside, I plant tomatoes and do everything, I don’t have somebody do it for me, I clean my own home, so no, I don’t think anybody does what I do.”

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