Braunwyn Windham-Burke has been having a tough season on ‘RHOC’, and sources close to the cast say her drama has left the group ‘divided’.
Braunwyn Windham-Burke, 42, has had a rocky start this season on The Real Housewives of Orange County. Just two weeks after revealing she’s an alcoholic, she got into heated arguments with co-stars Shannon Beador, 56, and Gina Kirschenheiter, 36, during the Oct. 28 episode. And while the cast filmed these scenes a few months ago, sources tell HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that the “unnecessary drama” Braunwyn caused on camera is still affecting the cast’s relationships with each other to this day.
“Everything going on with Braunwyn has the cast of RHOC completely divided right now,” a source close to production told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “It’s just been a lot of fighting over little things because the ladies didn’t really know [she was struggling with alcoholism or relationship issues]. Some cast members are not speaking to Braunwyn — and she, in return, is not speaking to them either.”
For those who may not be watching the show, a lot of the onscreen drama this season started over the “small” house Gina bought with her boyfriend, Travis Mullen. Emily Simpson, 44, met up with Gina over lunch during this week’s new episode and shared that Braunwyn had been gossiping about the small size of Gina’s new home. Braunwyn in return said that it was Shannon who started the gossip, saying Shannon called Gina’s house “sad” and “depressing”.
After a lot of back and forth and finger pointing, Shannon denied ever saying those words. Then, at her house warming party, Shannon asked Braunwyn to set the record straight, but Braunwyn and her husband Sean Burke stood their ground, insisting that Shannon did, in fact, shade Gina’s new house.
Things quickly escalated from there, and once Gina started yelling at Braunwyn, whom she felt was the main instigator, Braunwyn threw her drink and bolted out of Shannon’s house.
On top of that, Gina recently accused Braunwyn’s husband of sending her a “creepy” text last season, and Braunwyn and Sean are now living separately while remaining married, so as you can tell, Braunwyn’s drama has become the main focus of RHOC — both onscreen and offscreen.
The cast feels Braunwyn “wasn’t being honest about a lot of different things”going on in her life while filming, and thus, she was “causing unnecessary drama”. Our source explains that the cast “didn’t know the depth of what was going on [inside Braunwyn’s] home with her drinking and [the shift in her family’s dynamic].”
So now, “the cast is divided, and Braunwyn feels ganged up on. She thinks she was treated unfairly all season. “She’s got a lot going on, but she’s strong,” our source says. “This has been a really tough year for her. The family drama in the press, her sobriety, and keeping it hidden [took a toll on her], and now, her cast members aren’t talking to her — it’s a lot [to deal with].”
Want more drama? New episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County air Wednesdays at 9pm on Bravo.