Tamra Judge Believes She Was Fired From Her Full-Time Role On ‘RHOC’ Due To Her Age

Tamra Judge believes her age was the reason behind Bravo’s decision to terminate her full-time position on The Real Housewives of Orange County earlier this year, ahead of production on the show’s upcoming 15th season.

While appearing on an episode of the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast earlier this week, Tamra said that she learned that the casting directors in charge of the series had decided to bring in younger cast members and get rid of the older members of the show, herself included. This came prior to her announcement on Instagram regarding her departure from the series in January.

“The casting people are the first ones – the gatekeepers – they told one of my friends specifically they want to go in a different direction now they want to hiring [sic] younger ones and get rid of the older ones,” Tamra alleged, according to a report from the Daily Mail on June 18.

As fans of The Real Housewives of Orange County may recall, it wasn’t until February when Tamra admitted that her full-time position on the show had been canceled. She also revealed she was asked to return only in a limited role.

According to Tamra, she initially didn’t think that she was fired because of her age. However, months later, she believes there is absolutely some “truth” to the idea that her casting directors didn’t want her to have a full-time role at the age of 52.

While Tamra didn’t say whether or not she felt that her former co-star, Vicki Gunvalson, who is 58 years old, was demoted from her full-time position for the same reason, that would seem to be at least possible — as long as Tamra’s comments about the casting decisions are accurate.

Vicki announced her exit from the show in January as well, just one day before Tamra confirmed she was leaving.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Tamra said in May that while she would not be appearing on the 15th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, fans may not have seen the last of her on the show. After all, Andy Cohen told her during a phone conversation that she should come back in 2021 for the series’ 16th season.

“[He] did contact me afterward and just said, ‘You know what? They want to mix things up a little bit,'” Tamra told Hollywood Life. “[He said], ‘Take some time off, come back the following year.'”