‘Real Housewives’ OG Vicki Gunvalson Claims Scandoval Drama Is Fake (But Chemtrails Are Real)

As one of Bravo’s founding Real Housewives, Orange County’s Vicki Gunvalson (aka “the OG of the OC”) knows all about onscreen scandals, drama and outrageous reunion reveals.

So, in the wake of one of reality TV’s biggest talkers in years—the backstabbing affair and emotional fallout that rocked Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules—Gunvalson is putting her knowledge to use and claiming the whole “Scandoval” shocker was just for show.

During a recent visit to Nik Richie’s FACTZ Podcast, the 61-year-old was asked about the VPR shakeup that saw Tom Sandoval cheat on his girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix, with her then best friend, Raquel Leviss.

“Everybody has an affair, and I don’t really care,” Gunvalson responded at first. “They weren’t married. They knew what they were getting into.”

She then added, “I think it’s all publicity.”

“You think it’s all staged?” Richie asked.

Gunvalson didn’t hesitate to say, “One hundred percent,” and she grinned and nodded as he summed it up as “all fake” and “just for ratings and numbers.”

Of course, Gunvalson isn’t the only person who’s expressed doubts about the VPR scandal that captivated viewers with sordid details, such as Sandoval and Leviss hooking up in a car as Madix mourned the loss of her dog and, later, hooking up in Madix’s own bed when she was out-of-town for a family funeral. Earlier this month, Madix herself spoke to Glamour and addressed the fact that even some of the show’s fans claimed it was all a lie when responding to her social media posts.

“If someone says that on my page, they get blocked immediately,” Madix insisted. “If they tag me in a comment that says that, I’ll block them immediately. I’m kind of like, ‘F—- off, this is my real life.’”

While Gunvalson confidently claimed Madix’s “real life” drama was false, the current Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip star made it clear she does have faith in something else during her chat with Richie—a classic conspiracy theory.

“Chemtrails!” Gunvalson blurted out when the topic turned to weather. “Do your research.”

Those who believe in so-called chemtrails think there’s more than condensed water vapor in the cloudy lines that often linger in the sky after an aircraft flies by. They theorize those plumes are heavy with secret, nefarious chemicals that can affect weather as well as human minds.

Atmospheric scientists have long debunked all the chemtrails talk. Maybe that’s why Richie smiled and chuckled at Gunvalson’s far-fetched idea.

But she didn’t laugh it off.

“It’s down a rabbit hole. It’s scary,” she continued. “People are sending me stuff all the time about these aircraft with all these chemicals coming out of it, and they crisscross and they blanket our skies.”

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After declaring that she’s “not a conspiracy theory believer, until you start researching,” Gunvalson added a personal anecdote to the mix from her recent trip to Arizona.

“My girlfriend Janice goes, ‘Look up in the sky.’ I say, ‘It’s beautiful,’” the reality TV star recalled.

After pointing out two planes, Janice told her to “just watch” what would happen after the planes crossed paths.

“They crisscrossed,” Gunvalson said. “They came back; they did another X. Within a half hour, it was pitch black.”

Then? Rain, despite the fact “there was no rain in the forecast!”

But those Vanderpump Rules shenanigans still seem unlikely to her.