Kelly Dodd will not be returning to Real Housewives of Orange County. The reality star, who has appeared on RHOC since season 11 in 2016, will no longer be a part of the franchise, ET confirmed on Tuesday.
Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Elizabeth Lyn Vargas will also not be returning, while former cast member Heather Dubrow will return to join Shannon Storms Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson for season 16. One or two more women will also join the cast.
Dodd spoke out on her exit on Twitter Tuesday night.
“The last five years have been an amazing experience. The next five years will be even better,” she wrote. “I am so grateful for all the love and support and so excited about the future #RHOC.”
Dodd also shared Beador giving her tequila as a “parting gift” on her Instagram Story.
The last five years have been an amazing experience. The next five years will be even better. I am so grateful for all the love and support and so excited about the future ❤️🍊 #RHOC
The news comes after Dodd’s controversial comments and Andy Cohen’s hints on Twitter that a RHOC recast was coming. However, Dodd denied on Jan. 29 that she had been axed.
“No I am not fired !!! Contacts haven’t come out yet !” she wrote, blaming former RHOC star Vicki Gunvalson for starting the rumors. “Vicki stop being a hater.”
No I am not fired !!! Contacts haven’t come out yet ! Vicki stop being a hater ..
ET learned on Jan. 31 that Dodd had been fired by Positive Beverage, which she had been affiliated with as an investor since 2019.
“Our core values of wellness, community, diversity and inclusion should be reflected by our brand and anyone associated with it,” Positive Beverage Head of Brand, Zach Muchnick, said in a statement to ET. “It has become clear over the past few months that Kelly’s controversial views and opinions have distracted from our primary objectives, so effective today, we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal.”
Over the past year, Dodd has made headlines for controversial remarks about COVID-19 — including declaring the pandemic was “God’s way of thinning the herd” — and wearing a hat that was seen as insensitive toward the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I’m a human being. I make mistakes,” she said of the controversies during a December appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “Everybody has said and done things in their lives that they regret, and I regret these things. I freaked out. It wasn’t right.”
See more on Dodd in the video below.
Source: Read Full Article