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For the first time on The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19, Slade Smiley took his turn in the confessional chair. The reason? He had something to get off his chest about Tamra Judge, of course.
Slade entered the chat during Episode 11, after Gretchen Rossi claimed to have audio of Tamra “trying to sing in a studio.” Naturally, Tamra’s alleged attempt to launch a music career became fodder at Heather Dubrow’s luxurious sleepover, as she and Emily Simpson goaded Gretchen to play the track while they indulged in a pizza and gossip session.
“I need to hear the song. I’m not gonna let her off the hook,” Emily declared to a producer. “This is what happens at sleepovers: You drink Fireball and then you talk s–t about your nemesis.”
Before going on a hunt throughout Heather’s Beverly Hills penthouse for her phone so she could FaceTime Slade, Gretchen predicted, “Oh my god, you guys are getting me in so much trouble. … You guys want World War 9 to happen.”
RELATED:Â Tamra Judge Admits the Real Reason She Brings Jo De La Rosa Around (EXCLUSIVE)
Indeed, once Slade was on the phone, he dropped a bombshell allegation about Tamra’s “extracurricular activities” during the studio session that stunned all three women — including Gretchen, whose jaw immediately dropped.
“When it comes to Tamra, I’m not really interested necessarily sharing dirt on Tamra,” Slade explained in his rare confessional. “But I am interested in telling the truth.”
How Heather, Emily, and Gretchen reacted to Slade Smiley’s accusation about Tamra Judge
Once the trio picked up their jaws off the floor, Heather and Emily eventually shut down the messy conversation.
“We just wanted to hear her singing,” Heather replied. “I don’t care about this other stuff. It’s gross.”
Later, she told a producer, “Slade took it to another level. After this many years, has he not learned to not get involved?”
Emily, meanwhile, eventually chimed in, “OK, well, if you’re not gonna send the song, Slade, we’re gonna go back to our slumber party.”
RELATED:Â Emily Simpson Reveals a Jaw-Dropping Off-Camera Moment From Heather’s Sleepover (EXCLUSIVE)
In a confessional, she added, “Slade, I mean, he literally, like, salivates at the mouth when he gets to talk about Tamra. I mean, Shane [Simpson] would’ve told me, ‘Shut the f–k up about Tamra and move on.’ Slade just feeds it and feeds it.”
Gretchen, for her part, attempted to do damage control, begging the other two, “You guys can’t go back to Tamra and tell her this because this is gonna be a problem. …Â Â I’m gonna be in big trouble.”
“I don’t want the girls to say anything about the extracurricular activity that was going on in the studio because that’s not originally why I called Slade,” she elaborated to a producer. “I called Slade because I wanted to hear the footage of Tamra in the studio.”
After spending the night in their adjacent twinkle light beds, Gretchen continued to “backpedal,” as Heather put it, as the trio enjoyed brunch (prepared by a private chef, no less) and some in-apartment massages.
“It was us having fun at our slumber party as girls and being silly,” she reasoned to the ladies. “I shouldn’t have said it, and I would appreciate you guys not saying something to cause issues. But I’m sure you’re not gonna do that, which is not nice.”
Inside Tamra Judge’s feud with Slade Smiley and Gretchen Rossi
As longtime RHOC viewers will recall, Tamra’s drama with Slade and Gretchen dates back well over a decade. As Gretchen has brought up at various points throughout her Season 19 return, she and her “life partner” still harbor ill will for public comments Tamra has made about them through the years, particularly an accusation that Slade was a “deadbeat dad.”
After Slade referred to Tamra as “Captain Evil” earlier this season, Tamra reacted to the diss in an exclusive interview with The Daily Dish, claiming it was “not uncommon” behavior from him.
“He thinks he’s a star, he thinks he created this show,” Tamra clapped back. “Like, it’s kind of embarrassing.”
She also contended that both Slade and Gretchen are “so stuck in the past” that they’ve never been able to move past their longstanding beef.
All their past issues resurfaced during the Episode 9’s beach day one-on-one, in which Gretchen claimed to Tamra that her comments about Slade “100 percent” prevented him from landing jobs over the years.
While Tamra apologized for negatively impacting their lives, Gretchen also said she was sorry for “reaching out” to Tamra’s estranged daughter, Sidney Barney, on social media.
Though the two agreed, at the time, to “move forward” and “have fun” with each other, Slade’s latest accusation is sure to set them back.
Get a sneak peek at Tamra calling out Gretchen in an explosive moment still to come on RHOC Season 19.
