RHOC Turns 20: Vicki Gunvalson & More Reveal Their Top Moments Ever

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Vicki Gunvalson Gives Engagement, Marriage Update With Michael Smith

The Real Housewives of Orange County are taking a walk—or better yet whoop—down memory lane.

To celebrate the Bravo reality series' milestone 20th season, the cast is reflecting on their most iconic and meme-worthy moments throughout the past two decades.

For the O.G. of the O.C. Vicki Gunvalson, who has appeared on 17 seasons since helping launch the franchise in 2006, family milestones will always be her fondest memories from filming.

"Watching my kids be raised," Vicki—mom to son Michael Wolfsmith, 41, and daughter Briana Culberson, 39, from her first marriage to Michael Wolfsmith Sr.—exclusively told E! News of her favorite ???. "My daughter's a parent, a mother now and just the journey of life. People don't get to document it the way we do, so it's been great."

Specifically, Vicki relishes the memory when Brianna and husband Ryan Culberson officially made Vicki a grandma in 2012 with the birth of their first child.

"When Briana brought Troy home," the 64-year-old added, "that's a remarkable time. Ryan was in Afghanistan serving our country and it was her and I and Troy. It was awesome."

Vicki's perpetual on-again, off-again frenemy Tamra Judge echoed her longtime costar when it comes to cherishing the many on-camera interactions with her loved ones.

"There's a lot of favorite moments," Tamra, who joined RHOC season three, shared, "being engaged, my granddaughter being born, my daughter Sofia being back on the show after she couldn't be on the show for a while."

However, one steamy scene between Tamra and husband Eddie Judge from season six will always be a mile above the rest.

As the 58-year-old cracked, "That bathtub scene."

Koury Angelo/Bravo

And remember: That's her opinion!

For Shannon Beador, past shenanigans with the Tres Amigas (a.k.a. Shannon, Vicki and Tamra) take the cake as she admitted, "Basically any time with Vicki Gunvalson is a kick with the two of us."

But her season nine debut remains most memorable. "It was a kayak ride my first season in Bali," Shannon recounted, "and we capsized."

Heather Dubrow also pointed to her inaugural season and the unforgettable season seven scene when one of her party guests ate the fondant decorations off of her cake.

"To me the name-changing party and 'she broke the bow off my cake and ate it," Heather shared. "Also, in that party was Vicki screaming at Tamra, 'You're supposed to be my soul sister,' which became her podcast name. It's one of those perfect Housewife nights: It's petty, it's way too important to us and it's fabulous."

Like Shannon, Emily Simpson will never forget one cast trip in particular, her favorite being season 14's getaway to Key West.

"We actually got to go rouge for a minute, they had no control over us," the attorney reflected. "We talked so much s--t all the way from Miami to Key West. It was the most beautiful scenic drive in a Maserati convertible."

Meanwhile, Emily's BFF Gina Kirschenheiter said the show will always serve as a time capsule of sorts for their unbreakable bond.

"Just seeing my friendship with Emily has been really cool," she said, "and seeing the reaction to that true friendship has been really cool."

Matthias Clamer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Last but certainly not least, Jennifer Pedranti, who joined season 17, admitted she had trouble picking just one favorite moment over the years.

"I think the moment is the journey," she reflected. "In my mind, it was going to be one way and then that didn't go the way I thought. I felt like I got run over and then you pick yourself back up. The journey where we sit at season 20 is I can't even tell you how good."

See the cast make more unforgettable memories together when The Real Housewives of Orange County returns Thursday, July 9 at 8 p.m. on Bravo.

In the meantime, whoop it up by reading E!'s official ranking of every Housewife ever below.

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175-178. The Real Housewives of D.C.

Bravo's ill-fated attempt at highlighting our nation's capital brought together four women so forgettable you'd be forgiven for erasing them from your memory—though their names are Mary Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Cat Ommanney and Stacie Scott Turner—and one so desperate for fame that she gate-crashed a party at the White House. More on her later.

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174. Kimberly Bryant, The Real Housewives of Orange County

Who?

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173. Tammy Knickerbocker, The Real Housewives of Orange County

Vaguely familiar, but...

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172. DeShawn Snow, The Real Housewives of Atlanta

Once upon a time, DeShawn starred on the same TV show as NeNe Leakes. Surprising, we know.

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171. Elizabeth Lyn Vargas, The Real Housewives of Orange County

This one-season Housewife brought nothing to the Orange County table.

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170. Jennie Nguyen, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

Utah's newest season two Housewife went out with a bang (and not in a good way). In January 2022, Jennie was fired after "offensive" and racially insensitive old Facebook posts resurfaced online. Jennie later apologized but the damage was done.

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169. Quinn Fry, The Real Housewives of Orange County

Her defining trait was "cougar."

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168. Jen Armstrong, The Real Housewives of Orange County

The Orange County doctor was never a source of drama during season 16 and her brief marriage troubles with eternally shirtless husband Ryne (or Ryan?) were less than riveting. However, we will never forget Dr. Jen getting absolutely wasted on wine during the Dubrows' insanely awkward—yet wildly entertaining—dinner party.

Bravo

167: Annemarie Wiley, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

The nurse anesthetist's flop first season can be summed up in one cringe-worthy word we hope we never hear again: Esophagus-gate

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166. Katie Rost, The Real Housewives of Potomac

Katie loved to talk about her charity work, but...didn't do much else on screen. She was one and done, only to come back and not contribute much as a friend. Leaving the cast trip early? A Housewives no-no.

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165. Charrisse Jackson Jordan, The Real Housewives of Potomac

Her marriage problems were on full display the two seasons she was a full-time Housewife...that and her champagne room are the two memorable things about Charrisse.

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164. Shamari DeVoe, The Real Housewives of Atlanta

A one-and-done Housewife, Shamari was at least fun?

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163. Peggy Sulahian, The Real Housewives of Orange County

While it was nice to see some diversity in the lily-white O.C., Peggy ultimately proved to be a frustrating presence in season 12. The fights she chose to pick were bizarre, and often involving someone using a word she simply didn't understand, and her decision to simply hide out in her room for an entire day during the trip to Iceland proved that she wasn't really cut out for this Real Housewives life.

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162. Nneka Ihim, The Real Housewives of Potomac

Instead of bonding with fellow Nigerian costar Wendy Osefo during season eight, Nneka's first season storyline centered entirely around her allegedly accusing Wendy's mom of being a witch (yes, seriously). We wish we could have seen the two bond over their shared culture rather than fighting with no resolve.

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161. Noella Bergener, The Real Housewives of Orange County

Noella spun through season 16 like a tornado of frantic energy. While her personal struggles were somewhat compelling (her husband James up and left the country and asked for a divorce right before filming started), it was her constant drama with queen bee Heather Dubrow that helped her not land completely at the bottom of the list. Maybe with more time and another season, we'll warm up to Mrs. Bergener.

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160. Siggy Flicker, The Real Housewives of New Jersey

From peacekeeper in her first season to unrelenting complaints about a thrown cake and unfounded claims of anti-Semitism in her second (and last) season, we're not sure we've ever seen a quicker Real Housewives fall from grace than this one.

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159. Amber Marchese, RHONJ

Everything Amber and her husband Jim did seemed to reek of desperation. Plus, he was involved in more of the drama than she was. Not a good look.

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158. Karent Sierra, The Real Housewives of Miami

All we remember about Karent is that she was a dentist and none of her co-stars seemed to like her at all. Next!

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157. Cristy Rice,The Real Housewives of Miami

This was a real person with a show on Bravo. We promise.

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156. Jules Wainstein, The Real Housewives of New York City

As one of RHONY's more recent one-and-dones, Jules' tenure was too brief to rank any higher. However, she sure did deliver her fair share of drama. 

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155: Amanda Francis, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Hate is a strong word, but it's hard to remember anyone who was as swiftly disliked by Bravo fans as RHOBH's season 15 newbie Amanda Francis.

The author, financial advisor and self-professed "Money Queen" rubbed not only her castmates the wrong way, audiences were also put off by Amanda's obsession with material things and questionable career advise.

But it was her refusal to engage in any sort of confrontation with her castmates that truly signaled she wasn't made out to be a Housewife. It's a hard job, and not everybody is meant to do it.

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153-154. Teresa Aprea and Nicole Napolitano, RHONJ

So unnecessary they couldn't even get individual taglines.

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152. Nina Ali, The Real Housewives of Dubai

Much like co-star Sara Al Madani, Nina exemplified a multidimensional, successful Arab woman who is blending modern life with centuries-old cultural traditions. She avoided most of the season one drama and was sometimes overshadowed by her co-stars' bigger, louder personalities.

Bravo

151. Taleen Marie, The Real Housewives of Dubai

Taleen was a nice addition to RHODubai's sophomore season, but we only have one season to judge her on.

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150: Angel Massie, The Real Housewives of Potomac

To say Angel failed spectacularly at being a Housewife would be an understatement. With one miss after another, the WAG and wife of retired NFL star Bobby Massie fumbled her way through season 10 as her more seasoned and shadier costars relished in her unsuccessful attempts to fit into the friend group.

Despite her shortcomings, it is pretty epic that her Colorado glamping excursion ended with the cast lost in the wilderness and eating fast food from a roadside gas station.

Definitely a first for the Housewives.

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149. Eva Marcille, RHOA

The America's Next Top Model veteran picked up a peach for seasons 11 and 12, but never really made an impression in the world of RHOA, aside from being pregnant for what felt like her entire tenure. Points for that epic read of Marlo Hampton while in Tokyo, though.

Bravo

148. Katie Ginella, The Real Housewives of Orange County

Per usual, we typically need to see more than one season to place a first-time Housewife higher on our list. But Katie came in swinging during RHOC's 18th season, immediately going up against veteran Housewife Heather Dubrow. It takes a brave woman to call B.S. on Ms. Fancypants.

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147. Stephanie Shojaee, The Real Housewives of Miami

We'll be honest: Stephanie is not our cup of tea. While her vast wealth had the makings of a great Housewife, the fact that she continuously used her private jet as leverage to hold power over her new costars during season seven left an icky raste in our mouth.

Maybe Steph can redeem herself if she returns for season eight.

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146. Sara Al Madani, The Real Housewives of Dubai

Sara's positive, enlightened outlook on life was certainly pleasant, but didn't provide for much drama (besides that one time she offered co-star Caroline Brooks some not-so-well received parenting advice). However, the tech entrepreneur shattered stereotypes of what it means to be a modern Muslim woman in the Middle East and for that we applaud her. 

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144-145. Rachel Fuda & Danielle Cabral, The Real Housewives of New Jersey

RHONJ's season 13 newbies certainly fit the mold of your typical Garden State Housewife and quickly found themselves in a season-long fight over literally nothing that Andy Cohen deemed pointless at the reunion. The former friends unfortunately didn't bring much more substance during season 14.

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