'Real Housewives of Orange County' adds a (gasp!) brunette to the cast

"The Real Housewives of Orange County"

Credit: Bravo

When “The Real Housewives of Orange County” returns for season seven (Tues. Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo), fans will be treated to a new, dark twist. Actually, dark-haired. Heather Dubrow, the show's only brunette and a former actress-turned-stay-at-home mom to four (and wife of a plastic surgeon), will be joining the cast. Quick, somebody, grab the highlights!

Of course, Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Barney, Gretchen Rossi and Alexis Bellino will be returning to the show with plenty of personal drama to resolve. Still in the process of divorcing Donn, Vicki puts her house up for sale and introduces the wives to Brooks, her new Southern boyfriend. Vicki is blissfully in love, but her kids and some of the women start to worry that Vicki is moving too fast with this relationship. Vicki continues to deal with her daughter Briana’s health issues.

Longtime foes Tamra and Gretchen finally try to bury the hatchet and make nice.  But this unlikely twosome causes a strain in both Tamra’s relationship with best friend, Vicki, and Gretchen’s romance with boyfriend, Slade.
 
On the precipice of finalizing her divorce from her ex-husband, Tamra begins to take her relationship with boyfriend Eddie to the next level.
 
Gretchen begins a new chapter in her life when she takes to the stage as a singer and dancer with the Pussycat Dolls in Las Vegas.  Her relationship with Slade becomes strained as he continues to dwell on past battles with Tamra and Vicki.
 
Alexis continues to test the boundaries of independence with her husband Jim when she gets a job as a correspondent with a local morning news show.  She also continues to run her dress line business, but is quickly learning that it’s not easy to manage it all and run a household.  As Tamra and Gretchen become closer, Alexis fears she is losing her only ally in this group of women.
 
If that all sounds like a whole hella lot of crazy, note that it's also very popular crazy. Season six of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” was the highest rated season of the series among all key demos, averaging 2,560,000 total viewers, and 1,917,000 adults 18-49.  
 
 

Liane Bonin Starr
Sr. Editor

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Liane Bonin Starr is an author, screenwriter and former writer for EW.com. Her byline has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety and a lot of other places. Her last book was called "a scandalously catty, guilty pleasure" by Jane magazine. Expect the same from Starr Raving.