Braunwyn Windham-Burke from The Real Housewives of Orange County was shocked her castmates were not supportive of her and the issues she dealt with this season. However, not everyone on the cast left Braunwyn out in the cold.
Braunwyn made her debut on RHOC last season, and immediately hit it off with Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador. Braunwyn fit right in with two of the "tres amigas," with her have fun and likes to party attitude. With a large family of seven children, things were always chaotic in Braunwyn's household. Braunwyn liked to live life her way, and introduced viewers to her love shack with husband Sean Burke. Braunwyn also dished she liked to spice up the bedroom by occasionally having a third person join them. However, things took a turn during Braunwyn's sophomore season. The happy go lucky personality Braunwyn portrayed was not as it seemed. Braunwyn came out as an alcoholic, and admitted most of her first season she had been drinking. Braunwyn also struggled with her relationship with Sean. The stress from Covid lockdowns definitely did not help. Then Braunwyn revealed that she is a lesbian during the season finale. Sean was supportive of Braunwyn during all of these changes, but was anyone else on the show?
According to People, Braunwyn was on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and shared her thoughts on which cast members were supportive of her during her issues. Braunwyn said, "From my own show, my biggest supporter has been Gina." At first, Gina Kirschenheiter and Braunwyn were at odds due to Braunwyn talking about the small size of Gina's town home. However, the two made up, and during the season Gina was one of Braunwyn's biggest supporters. Gina was one of the only cast members that laid off on the alcohol around Braunwyn, and would consistently sit down with Braunwyn to ask how she was doing. It's nice to see the two made things work.
What is surprising, is the rest of the cast Braunwyn was friends with, such as Kelly Dodd, Emily Simpson, and Shannon, were not mentioned as supportive. Braunwyn noted that claims from castmates that her alcoholism was "all for a storyline" was very "cruel." Braunwyn added, "When someone says to you, 'I'm an alcoholic and I'm trying to be sober,' there's only one response, and that's, 'How can I help?' For people with such a large platform to be so cruel and unkind about this was really, really shocking to me." While the ladies on RHOC might not have been supportive, there was another housewife who was. Braunwyn shared that, "from all the shows," Heather Gay from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was there for her.
With all of the life changes Braunwyn went through this past year, it's surprising if no one from the cast besides Gina was there to support her. Perhaps some time will put things into perspective, and the rest of the The Real Housewives of Orange County cast will come around by next season. And if not, Braunwyn will continue to live her truth and do things her way, conventional or not.
Source: People