With season 20 underway, EW catches up with the ladies who launched a franchise.

Where is the original RHOC cast now? See the OG stars 20 years after they launched the franchise

With season 20 underway, EW catches up with the ladies who launched a franchise.

July 10, 2026 10:17 a.m. ET

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Vicki Gunvalson, Jeana Keough, Lauri Waring, Jo De La Rosa, and Kimberly Bryant for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 1. Credit:

Chris McPherson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

*The Real Housewives of Orange County* is back for season 20, and the ladies of the O.C. are celebrating two decades of drama with the return of several fan-favorite former cast members.

It wouldn’t be a proper party without OG Housewife Vicki Gunvalson, who is once again holding an orange alongside returning castmates Shannon Storms Beador, Heather Dubrow, Tamra Judge, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson, and Jennifer Pedranti. They’re joined by newcomer Carmella Garcia, a former WWE Diva Search competitor, model, and *Playboy* Playmate of the Year, who’s making her *RHOC* debut following Katie Ginella’s exit.

As the O.C. Housewives prepare for their landmark 20th season, we’re taking a look back at the five women who launched the franchise in season 1, their OG taglines, and what they’ve been up to since.

Jeana Keough

Jeana Keough for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 1; Keough on ‘Watch What Happens Live’ in 2025.

Chris McPherson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

*Housewives* fans love to hate Jeana Keough, which naturally makes her perfect for the franchise. In season 1, Jeana was a successful real estate agent married to former MLB player Matt Keough, with whom she shares three children: Shane, Kara, and Colton. In the 1980s, Jeana was a *Playboy* Playmate and appeared in several ZZ Top music videos. Known for her dry humor and blunt honesty, Jeana has a tendency to rub her castmates the wrong way by saying exactly what’s on her mind.

After five seasons as a full-time cast member, Jeana was demoted to a friend for season 6, which featured one of the all-time great *RHOC* fights—when Tamra Judge confronted Jeana for talking to the press and supporting Tamra’s ex-husband, Simon Barney. After Jeana threatened to throw Tamra’s “skinny ass” in the pool, Tamra hurled a “cyst and deceased” (i.e., “cease and desist”) letter and a glass of wine at her.

Since leaving the series, Jeana divorced Matt (who died suddenly in 2020) and has been spending more time in Florida. In April, Jeana debuted her new (unnamed) boyfriend on Instagram, writing, “Just when I thought I would never fall in love again.....thanks for making all my dreams come true!”

Jeana has dropped in on *RHOC* several times over the years (and famously narrated the opening of season 15), but season 20 marks her first proper guest appearance since season 16.

**Season 1 tagline: **“It’s just money, and you can’t take it with you.”

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Jo De La Rosa

Jo De La Rosa for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’; De La Rosa at Academy LA on Jan. 5, 2025.

Matthias Clamer/Bravo; Paul Archuleta/Getty

Jo De La Rosa appeared in the first two seasons of *RHOC*, introducing viewers to her then-fiancé and future *Housewives* antagonist, Slade Smiley. In season 1, Jo was a newcomer to the Coto de Caza community, where Kim urged her to open up and befriend her castmates. An aspiring singer, Jo grew frustrated by Slade’s attempts to turn her into a stay-at-home wife and mother to his two sons from a previous relationship. Their tumultuous relationship finally ended in 2007, when Jo moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career.

Jo popped up in seasons 3 and 4 as a friend-of, and reunited with Slade for a spinoff series, *Date My Ex: Jo & Slade*, in which he tried to help Jo find a new boyfriend.

In 2022, Jo married musical theatre composer Taran Gray* *in Los Angeles. She made an appearance in season 19 of *RHOC*, where she came face to face with Slade — who had since moved on to a long-term relationship with fellow Housewife Gretchen Rossi — for the first time in years.

Jo, who is now 45, recently opened up on social media about her struggles to get pregnant, saying in a June 2026 TikTok post that an IVF evaluation didn’t give her the results she’d hoped. “Maybe I’ve been living in delusion that I thought I could get pregnant naturally at 45,” she said, adding that she and Gray plan to use egg donation as their next option.

Speaking with ** for the show’s 20th anniversary, Jo said the process has left her in a “lonely place.”

“The hardest part about it was feeling like my choice was taken away, right?” she said. “It’s like I didn’t even get a shot to try with my own eggs. Like, can a girl just get a shot? And so you go from being frustrated and angry to feeling like it’s unfair to then, you know, getting the news that I at least can go the egg donor route and feeling thankful. Some women don’t even have that option.”

She continued, “So, yeah, I’m in the middle of it and it’s very up and down, but I am hopeful and encouraged that, however this story ends and whatever story God gave me, that this is my situation. It’s for a purpose, it’s for a reason, and my story is not over.”

**Season 1 tagline: **“He’s pretty much keeping me.”

Kimberly Bryant

Kimberly Bryant for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 1.

Chris McPherson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Kimberly Bryant made her debut on the inaugural season of *The Real Housewives of Orange County* in 2006. The wife of executive Scott Bryant and a devoted soccer mom to Bianca and Travis, Kim didn’t allow TVs in her house and was a strong proponent of an organic lifestyle—for good reason. As viewers learned in the first episode, Kim is a melanoma survivor, and she spent the season grappling with a possible recurrence of the disease.

At the end of season 1, Kim left the show as a full-time cast member and skipped the reunion, returning occasionally as a friend through season 4. As she revealed in season 2, she and her family moved to Chicago to escape the sun’s damaging rays. They’ve lived a relatively private life ever since, though Kim told the *Daily Herald* in 2010 that she still gets recognized in public. “We’re all surprised by how much we’ve lost our anonymity,” she said. Kim is expected to make a guest appearance during *RHOC* season 20.

**Season 1 tagline:** “85 percent of the women around here have had breast implants.”

Lauri Peterson

Lauri Waring Peterson on ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 3; Waring Peterson on Instagram in 2020.

Isabella Vosmikova/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Lauri Peterson/Instagram

Lauri Peterson (née Waring) was a full-time cast member for the first four seasons of *RHOC*. When we first met Lauri in season 1, she was a struggling single mother of three who worked with Vicki at Coto Insurance. Unlike her castmates, Lauri didn’t have disposable income to throw around (fans will recall her guilt over spending $1,000 on a necklace in the finale), and her family life was complicated by son Josh’s struggles with addiction — all of which made her more sympathetic.

In season 2, Lauri introduced her new boyfriend, wealthy businessman George Peterson, whom she married in 2007. Thanks to George, Lauri finally had some money (and a Black American Express card) to flaunt. After four seasons in the O.C., Lauri left *The Real Housewives*, making a brief appearance in season 5 before returning in season 8 as a friend to help Tamra plan her wedding — and stir up a bit of drama with Vicki. In addition to telling her former coworker that her ex, Brooks (more on him in a moment!), was dating a friend of Lauri’s daughter, Lauri lobbed a wild accusation that led to Vicki shouting — from atop a mountain — “I have never been with multiple partners!”

Since leaving the series, Lauri and George formally adopted her son Josh’s daughter, Kennady. “As most of the viewers know, I have a son and he’s had just a lot of challenges. And he and his wife had a baby almost three years ago. He’s really struggling and, well, they’re both really struggling,” Lauri told *The Daily Dish* in 2015. “And so [my husband] George and I elected to help out and we actually adopted Kennady, and so we’re raising her.”

After years of well-documented struggles, Josh died in March 2024 due to an accidental overdose. In an Instagram post announcing his death, Lauri wrote, “Not everyone understands those suffering from substance abuse disorder, but I am forever grateful for your understanding and the impact you made on his life.”

Lauri is expected to make a guest appearance on *RHOC* season 20 along with her fellow OGs.

**Season 1 tagline: **“Are the police involved?”

Vicki Gunvalson

Vicki Gunvalson for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 1; Gunvalson for ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ season 20.

Chris McPherson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Koury Angelo/Bravo

No one whoops it up like Vicki Gunvalson, *the* OG Housewife. As Vicki tells it, there would be no *RHOC* — and no *Housewives *franchise — if it wasn’t for her. In season 1, Vicki is introduced as a busy mom to Briana and Michael, wife of recently unemployed Donn Gunvalson, and the president of Coto Insurance. Over the course of 14 seasons, Vicki earned her keep, from her ups and downs with Donn (pour one out for Vicki’s “love tank”) to her tumultuous friendship with Tamra. And, of course, there’s her infamous relationship with Brooks Ayers.

At the end of season 6, Vicki decided to divorce Donn after 16 years of marriage. When she returned in season 7, she introduced her new boyfriend, Brooks, who immediately set off alarm bells. Briana didn’t trust her mom’s new beau, and refused to allow him in the house while she was home, and Tamra similarly felt that Brooks was taking advantage of Vicki and wasn’t who he claimed to be. And then there was the cancer storyline.

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In season 10, following the devastating loss of Vicki’s mother, Brooks announced that he’d been diagnosed with cancer, but his behavior was anything but that of someone living with such a serious diagnosis. Amid mounting skepticism from their castmates, Vicki and Brooks split in 2015. By season 11, she was whooping it up again. (Ayers later admitted to faking documents related to his diagnosis, but maintained that he actually had cancer.)

Vicki returned in season 12 with another new man, Steve Lodge, and continued her reign on *RHOC* until season 14, when she was shifted to friend-of. Offscreen, Vicki and Steve got engaged in 2019, but they called it quits in 2021, days before she was set to film *The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-Wives Club.*

Since her full-time tenure on *RHOC* (briefly) ended, Vicki has made appearances in seasons 17 and 18. She also has a new man in her life: Michael Smith. During a recent event promoting the season 20 premiere, which welcomes Vicki back to her rightful place as a full-time Housewife, she revealed that her daughter still has some concerns. “Briana said, ‘No, Mom. The show has never been good for you. You’ve always lost relationships,’” Vicki said, noting that the “very protective” Briana advised her to keep Michael away from filming.

**Season 1 tagline: **“I don’t wanna get old.”

- Real Housewives Fandom

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Source: “EW Real”