Heather Dubrow Is Done Apologizing

What does it take to win a season of The Real Housewives of Orange County? According to the show’s fans, it requires a robust vocabulary, enviable wealth, and a zero-tolerance policy for BS — which Heather Dubrow has in spades.

When she returned to the franchise for Season 16, five years after her five-season run ended in 2016, Dubrow was ready to showcase her jaw-dropping mansion (which she just sold for $55 million) and her kids’ journeys within LGBTQ+ communities. Naturally, the following season, she also fell back into the show’s catty drama, but when anyone tried to come for her, she fought back.

To fans, those clapbacks earned her the season’s proverbial crown. “A lot of people were messaging me saying ‘You’ve already won,’” Dubrow tells Bustle about heading into the Season 17 reunion. “But I didn’t feel that way walking in at all. I just felt really sad by the whole thing.”

Her RHOC comeback came with plenty of detractors, including some of the Housewives. Tamra Judge and the other cast members constantly gave her flack for her “Fancy Pants” demeanor and misconstrued her harmless jokes.

“It was the Heather Dubrow apology tour,” she says of Season 17.

Over the season’s 16 episodes, she apologized for everything from overusing her monogram to calling Taylor Armstrong’s first acting role “cute.” (This led to a fight about Dubrow’s own IMDb page.) She quickly grew tired of her cast mates finding any reason to attack her, and so in the finale, she let them have it. “You are laboring under the misconception that I give a sh*t,” she memorably told Judge.

If she returns next season, Dubrow hopes to muster up that same energy. “But I’m not a zero f*cks-giving girl,” she says. “I actually do care. Would I like to be a little more like that? Maybe, but I’m not. But I would say that I have the power of my convictions.”

Below, Dubrow answers our burning questions about regrets, petty fights, and who has the nicest house.

What is your most iconic moment on the show?

“She broke the bow off my cake and ate it.”

Have you ever heard from Sarah, who broke that bow?

I saw her at a restaurant maybe two years ago and just said “Hi.” You know what, unless someone hurts my kids, I really am fine with everyone.

Between that and wasting a bunch of sushi from Nobu, are your events cursed with food?

One hundred percent. I should never have a cake again. Remember when Tamra did the fitness competition, and I had a doughnut cake made, and the gal delivering it tripped, and it went everywhere? I can’t — every cake is a disaster. I just have to stop.

Just take the champs.

I know.

Along with your food disasters, fans loved your IMDb fight with Taylor.

Do you think I overreacted? The moment I came on the show, it was about my career. Alexis [Bellino] would say, “You’re not an actress. Angelina Jolie’s an actress, and then Malibu Country...” It’s always been that. People don’t realize how difficult it is to get a television show in the first place, so it’s something I hold dear to me.

What is your biggest Housewives regret?

I mean, do we have two hours? I regret the bull with Tamra. It came off as malicious; it wasn’t. But she got hurt, and that was terrible.

I regret how I dealt with Shannon [Beador] in her first season on the show. I thought I was protecting my friendship with Tamra, but I was hurting myself. I was trying to, in a way, protect Shannon, too, from what I knew about her family. It didn’t work. That whole season was just a season of regrets.

Who do you think is the queen of Bravo?

I don’t consider myself the queen of Bravo. I’m like a very low page or something.

I thought it was cool that they’re giving Vicki [Gunvalson] the WifeTime Achievement Award. This network has really been built on Housewives, and those OGs from each franchise really are the queens. When you look at Vicki, Teresa [Giudice], NeNe [Leakes], Ramona [Singer], Kyle [Richards], all these gals were in it from the beginning, not knowing where it was going to go. It’s amazing.

Other than yourself, which Housewife has the best house?

Lisa Vanderpump. I’ve been to her house, and she has a really beautiful style, and her restaurants are always really pretty. Kyle’s houses always look beautiful.

Who has the worst house?

I’d probably say the ugliest one was my rental house in Emerald Bay while we were building the house we just sold. That was a little schleppy.

What is your favorite Bravo one-liner?

I liked what I said to Lydia [McLaughlin] at one of the reunions. She kept wanting me to apologize, and I kept apologizing and said, “I said I’m sorry. Do you want me to pop a vein?” And I think an iconic one is Tamra going, “That’s my opinion!”

I use that as a GIF every day. Who do you think are the Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte of your cast?

Do we even have a Carrie on our show? I am definitely more of a Charlotte. I would give Tamra Samantha energy. And who would be Miranda? Emily [Simpson], maybe, or Jenn [Pedranti]. And that leaves Carrie for Gina [Kirschenheiter].

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.