Vicki Gunvalson will never forget how she found out about her mother’s death.
More than nine years after The Real Housewives of Orange County alum learned on camera that her mom, Joanne Steinmetz, had died, Gunvalson, 62, is sharing her memories of that “traumatic” day of filming.
“We were playing Bunko at Shannon [Beador]’s, and my brother, my sister, my daughter, my son — everybody was trying to call me and the phone was not working so they called production,” Gunvalson shared in People’s sneak preview of the Real Housewives episode of Vice’s The Dark Side of Reality TV series. “[My daughter] Briana had been calling, calling, calling, and they kept telling her, ‘Well, she’s filming right now, blah, blah, blah.’ She’s like, ‘I need to talk to my mom right now.’”
According to Gunvalson, production set up Beador’s wrapping paper room with “lights and cameramen” to capture her phone call with Briana.
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In the fifth episode of season 10, viewers ultimately watched Gunvalson burst into tears when her daughter informed her of her mother’s death.
“I was really upset that production knew for an hour, and they didn’t tell me,” Gunvalson alleged in The Dark Side of Reality TV. “They were out of line, and I think they should have taken me aside and said, ‘Your mom has passed. Talk to your daughter off camera.’ If I was a producer, that’s what I would’ve done.”
“Let me scream and cry on my own and be mad,” she continued. “It was very, very traumatic. I will never forgive Bravo for that.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Bravo for comment.
Gunvalson continued with the show until season 13. She has since made several guest appearances, including during season 18, which is currently airing on Bravo.
Back in 2015, Gunvalson appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and discussed the episode where she learned of her mom’s death. At the time, the “My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast” host said she hadn’t watched it.
In addition, she acknowledged that being a reality star would include sharing the highs and lows of her life.
“I lost my mother and I signed up for all areas of my life to be exposed, the good and the bad,” Gunvalson explained to host Andy Cohen at the time. “There’s been a lot of great moments that have been aired and there’s a lot of moments that I wish wasn’t on a reality show. This is not a moment that I feel, as of right now, that I regret.”
“I don’t blame Bravo, I don’t blame [production company] Evolution, I don’t blame anybody,” she added in the 2015 interview. “It’s my life.”
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While celebrating Mother’s Day in May, Gunvalson paid tribute to her own mom via social media.
“Wishing all those Mothers still with you, and thinking of mine & those in heaven a Happy Mother’s Day,” she wrote via Instagram. “I love being a mother more than anything and am SO proud of [my kids] Michael & Briana. My greatest gift in life is being a mother and a grandmother 🤍.”
The Dark Side of Reality TV airs on Vice Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
