Welcome to The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19 Episode 17 finale recap. Last time, Emily brokered peace between Gretchen and Tamra. Meanwhile, during a visit to the tulip fields, the RHOC cast questioned whether Jenn and Shannon’s friendship was authentic. And Tamra brought to light an upsetting social media post that Gretchen “liked”. Here’s what happened in RHOC Season 19 Episode 17: “A Source of Discontent.”
What happened in Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19 Episode 17?
Heather spread her father’s ashes and toured his former home. Meanwhile, Gina confronted Gretchen about “liking” homophobic and transphobic social media posts. Heather was furious because Gretchen denied liking the posts. Then, a shocking secret came to light.
Mazed and confused
So, Heather, Shannon, and Gina headed to an indoor maze. And Heather, of course, had some mushrooms for them. “I’ve never done mushrooms before,” Shannon said in her confessional. “This is Amsterdam Shannon.”
When they arrived at the maze, Heather and Gina discussed Gretchen taking accountability for her behavior. Meanwhile, Shannon was listening to “The Real Housewives music.” However, she was the only person who heard it.
The maze featured mannequins and photos of the ladies. The photo of Heather as an older lady freaked her out. “There’s too many wrinkles!” she exclaimed. Finally, they ended up dancing in a room with lights, music, and confetti.
Meanwhile, the rest of the ladies headed to The Lookout. Brave participants swing on a swing attached to a tall building. After surviving their experience, the ladies sat down for a drink. Gretchen opened up about wishing that Tamra would apologize for the way that she treated her while she was dealing with loved ones having cancer.
Tamra responded, “I feel sorry that you went through that, and my heart breaks for you to be with somebody that did pass away.” As you may recall, Gretchen’s former fiancé, Jeff Beitzel, passed away from cancer. “I am sorry for hurting you during that time,” Tamra added.
Heather says goodbye to her father in RHOC
Meanwhile, Emily accompanied Heather to scatter her father, Conrad’s, ashes near his former home. “Although I can’t say I have all these beautiful, warm, fuzzy memories, I will tell you that we share a birthmark, and when I was little, I had this autograph book,” Heather said in her confessional. “And my dad wrote me a little note, and he said, ‘Always remember the dot in your ear, and we’ll be together. Love, Dad.’”
Conveniently, the owner came outside and allowed Heather and Emily to come in. Then, Heather sat on the edge of the canal and spent a private moment. “I hope you’re at peace, and you’re drinking a glass of Cabernet somewhere … maybe smoking again,” Heather said as she teared up and released his ashes. “I love you, Dad. Goodbye, Dad.”
Gina confronted Gretchen
For their final dinner in Amsterdam, the ladies planned to end on a positive note. Good luck! So, Gina told Gretchen that Tamra “shared a lot of posts that you have ‘liked’ that are like very disparaging towards the LGBTQ+ community.”
Gretchen denied it, adding, “If I ‘liked’ something, then I probably didn’t know it was about that. I don’t have any issue with the LGBTQ community.” When Gina pressed on, Gretchen pivoted to not “paying enough attention” when scrolling.
Eventually, Tamra revealed that she received the post through iHeartMedia. She showed a screenshot of the posts to Heather. A shaken Heather told Gretchen, “LGBTQ+ youth is so in danger right now. Every 45 seconds, a queer child tries to kill themselves.” She added, “Do you understand what hate rhetoric like this does to our children?”
Gretchen responded, “Yes.” In her confessional, Heather said, “Gretchen’s always had a lot of friends in the community. If this is true, I just have no words.”
While Gretchen continued to deny “liking” the posts, Heather erupted. “Why are you not horrified right now?” she exclaimed. It is wild that Gretchen doesn’t act angry, like someone who is wrongfully accused. She is quite … calm.
In her confessional, Gretchen explained, “All I know is I’m seeing a screenshot of something I supposedly ‘liked’ that I’ve never seen in my life. I’m completely blindsided with this information that is not my truth.”
Heather is shaken to her core on Real Housewives of Orange County
When Jenn asked Tamra how long she had known about this, she responded, “About a year.” For Shannon, the fact that Tamra didn’t share the information about Gretchen sooner, and didn’t tell Heather directly, seemed sus.
Meanwhile, Heather went to a quiet area in the bar to FaceTime her husband, Dr. Terry Dubrow. She was crying, telling him about the posts that Gretchen allegedly “liked.” Several of the couple’s children are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I would never intentionally like hate rhetoric,” Gretchen said in her confessional. “So, something is fishy here.” Finally, Gretchen went to talk with Heather.
“Do you think that I have hate toward your children?” Gretchen asked. Her demeanor seems all wrong for this situation. “Prove that it’s not true,” Heather stated, “but I don’t know how you’re going to figure that out.”
Then Gretchen called Slade and told him that the ladies were calling her “homophobic.” Slade urged Gretchen to go back to the table and say, “This is coming from the lying b*tch who made comments about me looking gay in my sandals,” referencing Tamra. “When you search ‘Tamra’ and ‘gay slurs,’ she comes up on the internet,” he added.
Eventually, Gretchen returned to the table and shared that Slade said that she didn’t need to defend herself. “That’s where he’s wrong, though,” Heather said. “If you want to keep the friendship, you do.”
When Gretchen tried to get in the Sprinter, Emily told Gretchen that she needed a separate vehicle. “I need you guys to know right now, this is not what I believe, it’s not who I am, and I’m sad that you guys are all doing this to me,” Gretchen said.
Heather exclaimed, “Doing this to you?” Then Gretchen burst into tears, insisting that she had “never seen” the posts before. “Then explain it,” Shannon said, as Gretchen claimed that she didn’t know how. “Figure it out,” Shannon fired back.
The ladies have no proof about Gretchen’s social media activity
On the way to the airport, Gina revealed that she did some sleuthing. She can’t find the posts that Gretchen allegedly liked. And now Emily feels like the group attacked Gretchen with zero proof. And even Heather feels awful about what happened. Then Gina told Tamra that she felt this debacle was part of Tamra and Gretchen’s feud. “So, it’s my fault?” Tamra remarked.
In her confessional, Jenn stated, “Gina got played. Tamra planted it with Gina, and boom. It worked.” It certainly did.
Then Tamra addressed her co-stars. “Well, maybe she did it to herself. Maybe karma’s a b*tch,” she said. “How much sh*t can I take from this girl?” Tamra remarked in her confessional. “All these things she’d say about me, and I just sit back? Checkmate, b*tch.”
As for what the ladies are up to now? Tamra and her hubby, Eddie Judge, are spending more time in Big Bear while Tamra’s daughter, Sophia [Barney] is relocating to NYC to pursue music. Meanwhile, Heather and Terry sold their mansion at a $5.8 million loss. Ouch. And Shannon has a new Golden Retriever named Troy. Plus, Gina and Travis Mullen are going strong, as is their real estate company.
And while Jenn and Ryan Boyajian still haven’t picked a wedding date, her son Dawson graduated from Marine boot camp. Meanwhile, Emily is continuing to “navigate Luke’s evolving diagnosis.”
A bombshell reveal on Real Housewives of Orange County
One week later, Gretchen was struggling. Slade vowed to find out where the “liked” posts originated. Meanwhile, Tamra was chatting with her husband, Eddie. “My biggest concern right now is their retaliation against me and you,” she said. “I think that Slade is trying to drum up something and make it look like it’s my fault.”
Then a message appeared onscreen. “After production wrapped, some of the women received DMs from a person with information about the show … which was not yet known to the public.”
Then we cut to a scene of Jenn, Gina, and Shannon, with a DM displayed on the screen. In part, the DM read, “Tamra has been leaking details about the entire season throughout filming to bloggers and fan pages. I can prove everything I’m saying.”
Then the trio sat down and chatted with the source, whose voice was disguised. The source knew about Tamra quitting following the New Orleans trip. “She told this group of people that Katie last filmed with the group on March 20. And then her last scene was like a sit-down with Tamra.” Yikes.
Two days before Tamra showed Gina the posts that Gretchen liked, the insider claimed, “She told my friend that you and she were plotting against Gretchen to bring up transphobic and homophobic stuff, and you guys both hoped that it would turn everyone against her.” Gina was stunned. The ladies were furious at Tamra for using them and for leaking the entire show.
The Real Housewives of Orange County continues Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo. It streams on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF RHOC SEASON 19 EPISODE 17? DO YOU THINK THAT GRETCHEN “LIKED” THE HOMOPHOBIC AND TRANSPHOBIC POSTS?
