Kelly Dodd with Hookah

After a tough start during her first season Kelly Dodd has truly turned things around on Real Housewives of Orange County. She’s giving us the meme and gif-worthy arguments that we live for, but she’s not holding any long grudges. She has struck the perfect Housewife balance and she’s honestly the only one in this cast who has.

Everyone else refuses to interact with each other which makes it feel like I’m watching seven different TV shows spread out over an hour every Monday night. This was supposed to be the lead-in show for Dallas and the Texas women are blowing the OC out of the water this year. Thankfully they’re saving Monday night for the Housewives viewers. But anyway, this season is horrible aside from Kelly’s contributions.  Kelly is the only one who is socializing with every other cast member, she brings it with her own personal story lines, and her quotes. I never in a million years thought I would say this, but Kelly is the only reason this season is worth watching. I hope they turn things around, but they’ve spent every episode so far ignoring each other and talking about things that happened two seasons ago. Move on or get off the show.

Now that Kelly has struck that balance of being controversial and likable, she is applying that to her Bravo blog post about the last episode. Even though Kelly has been tight with Vicki Gunvalson since her first day on the show, she actually does seem to support her desire to rekindle with Tamra Judge. That’s how it should be, but most Housewives just get jealous when their bestie has another bestie… or friend… or acquaintance. Kelly wrote, “Yay! Vicki and Tamra finally got together to have “the talk” to try to rekindle their friendship!”

Even though Kelly has maintained her status as Vicki’s most loyal friend in the cast, she had to admit, “Damn, what the hell just happened? Vicki screwed up, that’s what happened. Apparently, the colonic didn’t remove all the toxins, because when Vicki sat down with Tamra, she had a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth.” How did Vicki think that was the best way to go? She said she just wanted to be friends during her on-camera interviews, but she was so abrasive when it came to perpetuating the same rumors about Eddie Judge AGAIN.  Vicki really did fuck that one up. It wasn’t even good TV on her part.


Kelly also discussed that obnoxious Lydia McLaughlin shopping scene.  Thankfully, her mom Judy is a total gem, but that was the only good thing about the segment. It wasn’t a good look for Lydia. Not only did she seem like a spoiled brat, but she spent all that time getting gifts from her mom only to show up to Peggy Sulahian’s party without a present for her. Kelly wrote, “In addition to lots of sunshine and drama, the OC has an abundance of realtors, lawyers, plastic surgeons and trust fund kids. If my mom was able to lavish extravagant gifts on me, the way Judy does for Lydia, I would be all rainbows and fairy dust, too.”

Even though Kelly has been an avid Vicki supporter, she couldn’t help joking about Vicki’s very awkward) interaction with Peggy’s son KoKo: “It’s a good thing Koko was there or Vicki would have no one to talk to.”  She also remarked, “All of us, except apparently Lydia, enjoyed the belly dancer’s performance, but Koko seemed to enjoy it the most. ” Lydia doesn’t seem to enjoy anything.. other than promoting her magazine and talking about her husband’s balls.

Kelly later said, “I am pretty sure Lydia has never been to a strip club. Confusing a belly dancer in a family restaurant with a stripper shows how insulated Lydia’s life is. Let’s see: Lydia is uncomfortable with drag queens, cross-dressing, discussing her boob job in front of men, and belly dancing, but totally comfortable telling everyone about Doug’s [McLaughlin] beautiful balls. Huh??” Why is Lydia on this show? She doesn’t contribute and she doesn’t seem to approve of any group activity. Why would she put herself through that? Better yet, what about the viewers? Why would she subject us to watching this?

In a strange turn of events, Kelly has become the one person who is cool with every person in the cast. This can only last for so long. These women are all about picking sides. They even pushed for Kelly and Michael Dodd to sit at their table during Peggy’s party. Kelly shared, “Considering the friction in Tamra and Vicki’s relationship, any time they are in the same room together, it’s awkward. Now that I am friendly with all the ladies, it was inevitable that choosing which table to sit at for dinner was going to be a challenge. Fortunately, I was in the bathroom when everyone started to sit, so Michael grabbed the first available seats, which happened to be with Shannon [Beador], Tamra and Meghan [Edmonds]. Vicki saying there was a power struggle on where I should sit was just paranoia on her part.” This is what the show has come down to? Choosing a seat at a dinner party? Riveting stuff.

One person who was stirring up some actual drama at the event was Peggy’s husband Diko Sulahian. He was offended by David Beador asking about Peggy’s cancer diagnosis so instead of waiting to talk to David, he decided to pull Shannon aside to discuss it. 1. Why would he do this? 2. Why would he do this at his own party to celebrate his wedding anniversary? I feel like there were way more enjoyable interactions to be had that night.

Kelly joked, “Diko apparently never received the syllabus on what to do (and what not do) when your wife becomes a Real Housewife. Rule #1: Husbands should not confront a Housewife who is not your ‘Wife. It’s never going to go well for you. However, having said that, it seems Diko wants to be the eighth housewife, so maybe the rules don’t apply to him.” Meghan has also theorized that Diko wanted to be on this show more than Peggy does, so there is probably some truth to the thought. Kelly and Meghan don’t agree on much these days, so this is pretty telling. Plus it could explain why Peggy has brought absolutely nothing to the table so far. She’s just not that into it.

Kelly continued, “Breaking rule #1, Diko chose to take Shannon aside and discuss what he perceived as David’s interrogation of him on the boat (regarding Peggy’s cancer). Diko blindsided Shannon with the topic, but I thought Shannon handled the situation well. Shannon exuded class as she spoke to Peggy about what Diko had said then walked away keeping her composure.” She really did. Peggy jokingly broke a plate earlier in the night so I was afraid that Shannon was going to follow her lead, but Shannon kept her cool this time.

RELATED: RHOC’s Peggy Sulahian Questions Kelly Dodd’s Loyalty To Vicki Gunvalson


[Photo Credit: Bravo]

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