Vicki Gunvalson returns to season 20 of ‘RHOC’ after offer from Andy Cohen

Live on stage at BravoCon in Las Vegas Friday evening, “Real Housewives” executive producer Andy Cohen offered Vicki Gunvalson her old job back for the upcoming 20th season of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” During a taping of “The Bravos” — BravoCon’s biennial awards show, which airs Nov. 16 — Cohen told Gunvalson he wants her on the show as a full-time cast member for the historic season 20. “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” which premiered on Bravo on March 21, 2006, was the first series in the franchise that would change Bravo, and hit popular culture big time.

Gunvalson, seemingly surprised when Cohen presented her with the show’s symbolic orange, immediately said yes to the offer.

Gunvalson – who in her Season 10’s tagline iconically stated: “I am the OG of the OC, and everyone else is just a copy” – helped create the template for the cast members of “Real Housewives.” The owner of a successful insurance company in Orange County, she is a professional woman with two children and an incredibly messy personal life.

Season 19 of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” concludes on November 20 with the third reunion episode. As the first of the “Real Housewives” shows to reach a twentieth season, a rarely achieved milestone for any television show, Bravo is expected to plan celebrations around the milestone. After an inward-looking 19th season — which saw the cast feud excessively over off-screen events, such as illegal conversations with Bravo “bloggers” — “RHOC” is expected to shake up its lineup.

Come in, Vicki Gunvalson. At the beginning of “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” Gunvalson was married to Donn Gunvalson (her second husband), but after she told him her “love tank was empty” (due to his lack of romantic gestures), they separated and divorced in 2014.

Gunvalson’s divorce set the stage for one of the best seasons in “Real Housewives” history: Season 10 of “RHOC,” which showed that the series could evolve from a docu-soap about women’s lives to a riveting crime thriller. Brooks Ayers, Gunvalson’s boyfriend, pretended to have cancer, and it took a village of women to expose Brooks, led by Detective Meghan King, with help from Officers Shannon Beador, Tamra Judge, and Vicki’s own daughter, Briana Culberson (whom Brooks hated the most).

Rarely has there been a more satisfying mystery on television, as the truth about his falsified diagnosis of stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — including falsifying medical records and bills — unfolded as the season came to a head. However, Gunvalson never broke down and never spilled exactly what she knew, and when she knew it. Like another real-life “Dirty John” story, Brooks faking cancer forever expanded the joys of what “Real Housewives” can do.

Gunvalson was a full-time cast member through season 13, but was demoted to “friend” status the following season, after Cohen said that was what they wanted. ‘freshen up’ the show. She has appeared occasionally since then, as she and Beador remain close (although the former “tres amigas” – Beador, Judge and Gunvalson are no longer around).

BravoCon, the fourth edition of the NBCUniversal network’s fan convention, will take place from November 14 to 16 in Las Vegas.