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In April of 2019, the OG of the OC became engaged to her boyfriend.

Now, Vicki Gunvalson and Steve Lodge are over, ending their engagement after two-and-a-half years.

Things were looking bad based upon eyewitness accounts, but the breakup came worse than anyone had imagined.

Now, Vicki has made a public statement as she picks up the pieces.

As was already reported, one inside source told E! News earlier this week that the two split.

In fact, they had apparently broken up in June, but tried reconciling.

The reconciliation faced several hurdles, including the fact that it was a long-distance relationship.

“Steve ended things with Vicki,” the insider explained.

“Steve and Vicki had been living separately for much of the pandemic,” the source detailed.

“Steve had been living like he was a single man in Puerto Vallarta," the insider detailed, "while Vicki was in the U.S.”

That lines up closely with eyewitness accounts that described Steve Lodge's behavior.

There was speculation that he might have been cheating on Vicki -- the alternatives being a secret breakup or an open relationship.

But what was truly shocking (sadly, cheating allegations are no shocker) was how the breakup went down.

According to what a separate inside source told Us Weekly this week, he dumped her long-distance while she was working.

“Steve broke up with Vicki while she was filming the [Real Housewives] spinoff show in the Berkshires,” the insider revealed.

That's not just harsh -- it ruined her return to Bravo.

“After he told her this, she was traumatized," the source revealed.

The insider characterized: "It ruined her."

The source added: "She didn’t want to be at the [Dorinda Medley’s] house anymore.”

That particular spinoff, Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, was filmed at Dorinda's Blue Stone Manor.

It will air on Peacock, NBCU's streaming app.

But Steve dumping her, abruptly and over long distance, was not what Vicki expected or needed at that time.

According to the report, Vicki is "still a mess" after being broken up with.

Vicki is "not OK," according to the source.

Steve has moved on and moved out of Vicki's home.

“She’s in terrible shape. She still loves him,” the insider lamented

“They had not been getting along for a long time," the source added as delicately as possible.

The insider divulged: "He seemed disinterested in her for a very long time.”

On Wednesday, Vicki took to Instagram to confirm the breakup and make a statement.

"It’s taken me a day to be able to make a statement after the press started writing about Steve and I," she wrote.

"Yes," Vicki confirmed, "the rumors are true."

"The time has come for Steve and I to move forward or move on," Vicki expressed.

"And," she said, "we are …. moving on."

Vicki claimed: "There is no fault with either person, we are just going in different directions."

"I wish him the best life has to offer and to be happy," Vicki announced.

"And," she shared, "he has wished the same for me."

"I gave it my all, but sometimes the 'ALL' isn’t enough," Vicki concluded. "We both have no further comment."

Is there any chance that this is good news?

After all, Vicki was recently filmed going on unhinged anti-vax rants, frequently clashing with Dorinda while filming.

According to her own son, Vicki has apparently been fed a stream of information from dubious "news" sources.

We all know that Steve Lodge is political -- he was one of a large number of hapless losers who tried and failed to become Governor of California.

That recall election fell flat on its face, but one of the main drives behind it was inexplicable resistance to COVID-19 pandemic precautions.

Some have speculated that Steve was radicalizing Vicki with untethered nonsense.

Speaking of Steve's laughable gubernatorial ambitions, some wonder if Steve decided to attempt a reconconciliation with Vicki purely for his image.

Sometimes, politicians (and aspiring politicians) make relationship decisions for the sake of appearances, postponing breakups until after elections.

Whatever we may think of Vicki, either on or off camera, no one deserves to be used as a political prop and then discarded.

Well, history is repeating itself for Captain Sandy Yawn.  Yet again, she is forced to defend herself for firing someone from Below Deck Mediterranean.  On Season 5, original chief stew Hannah Ferrier was terminated for being in possession of valium and a CBD pen that was not registered on the boat.  Sandy got a lot of fan backlash for her decision, and apparently Hannah is still livid about it.

This season, Lexi Wilson made an absolute spectacle of herself on the first crew night out.  She fought with just about everyone, but notable moments including putting her hands on deck hand Mzi Dempers and calling Lloyd Spencer a “pussy.”  Interestingly, when Sandy gathered the team for a meeting, no one gave her these details.  Of course, she seemed to shut down the conversation quickly and decreed that the crew just had to make it work with the self-proclaimed She-Devil.

After another blowout triggered by nemesis Mathew Shea, Sandy finally made the decision to fire Lexi.  The crew’s relief was clear.  But now, in retrospect, the question remains whether Lexi should have been removed sooner.

Sandy explained her side of the story to Us Weekly, and that Lexi would not have been fired without the ok from production.  “It’s a TV show, right? It’s a pandemic. So it’s very different. … Yes. If I felt like safely, I could let them go [I would]. But we are making a show, so I’m also mindful of that,” Captain Sandy said, “Like, I don’t make split decisions. I defer to people that are spending all this money to create this.”

Until the episodes aired, Sandy claimed she had not idea of the full extent of Lexi’s poor behavior.  The second stew maintained a facade of professionalism during charter, and only snuck naps in on the sly.

RELATED: Mathew Shea Says He Blacked Out During Fight With Lexi Wilson On Below Deck Mediterranean

Sandy said, “Of course, I wanted to let her go. I never would have hired her. I don’t hire the crew. Everybody knows that,” she noted. “[While] I feel for her, I would never tolerate that. I don’t see it until you see it. I don’t go to dinner and unless the crew really lays it out for me, the words ‘it’s bad’, is that [really] a description?”

Once Sandy finally decided to fire Lexi, she did it in such an apologetic manner, that her conviction had to be questioned.  During the scene, Captain Sandy told the second stew, “From what I’ve seen, you’re a terrific human being. Now I don’t go out and drink with you. And I don’t go out and have these experiences. Threatening people, saying the things that you say.  Considering how it has permeated through the entire boat and some people just can’t get around it, the many outweigh the one

The reason for the tone of this firing?  Sandy maintains that she did it blind and did not have all the evidence until the episodes aired.  She continued, “No one was giving me facts. You know, like, I didn’t have any facts. I just heard it’s bad. It’s real bad. That’s not [enough for me]. Write it out. Write a report, send it to me.  They learn the minute they step on this boat, we go through all the legalities. But I never got that information, if they would’ve told me the facts, of course, I would’ve let her go sooner, but I never got them.”

Will this explanation be enough for those viewers that think Lexi should have been allowed to stay?  Perhaps Sandy will find herself on another apology jaunt again.  If so, the embattled captain can use her motivational speaking tour as a platform.

RELATED: Lexi Wilson Slams Below Deck Mediterranean Producers After Firing In Since-Deleted Post

Sandy’s Lead-Her-Ship-Tour is an autobiographical event that will include musical numbers.  Another Bravolebrity cabaret perhaps?  “I want to use this platform to inspire others,” Sandy explained, “Thanks to Bravo, we have reached so many Americans. I didn’t seek the maritime industry. I fell into it. So many people now are aware of it. I wish Bravo was out and this show was out when I was a kid, because I think I would have discovered this a lot sooner and had a lot less pain in my life because I took a different path. And that’s really what it’s about and it’s also talking about music.”

TELL US- SHOULD SANDY HAVE FIRED LEXI SOONER?  DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SHE DIDN’T HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION UNTIL THE SHOW AIRED?  WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE AS CAPTAIN?

[Photo Credit: Bravo]

The post Captain Sandy Yawn Would Have Fired Lexi Wilson From Below Deck Mediterranean If They Weren’t Filming A TV Show appeared first on Reality Tea.

Javi Marroquin isn't exactly known for his chivalry.

In fact, every woman who's crossed paths with him in the past ten years has been betrayed or otherwise treated atrociously.

But perhaps no one has been more appallingly mistreated by Javi than the mother of his youngest child, Lauren Comeau.

Lauren has been put through the wringer by Javi, often with the help of his partner in crime Kailyn Lowry.

Kailyn took an instant dislike to Lauren, and some of the lowest points of Lowry's career in the spotlight were the result of her desire to inflict damage on her ex's new flame.

The latest drama began when Lowry called Javi out for trying to have sex with her in a parking lot.

Kail knew what she was doing, of course -- it's not the kind of claim one makes on social media unless they welcome the consequences -- and sure enough,  Lauren dumped Javi shortly after the episode aired.

For a while, Javi tried to get Lauren to take him back, but when that strategy failed, he and Kail seemed to delight in tormenting the poor woman.

We may never know for sure if Lowry and Marroquin actually got back together, or if they simply started hooking up, but whatever the case, they flaunted their arrangement in a way that seemed to designed to cause Comeau the maximum amount of pain.

What we didn't know -- and what Kailyn probably didn't know -- is that Javi never gave up on trying to get back together with Lauren.

In fact, he became increasingly aggressive in his efforts to force his way back into Lauren's life.

The truth of the situation came out this week, when court documents obtained by The Sun revealed that Lauren shared shocking details of Javi's behavior when she recently filed for a restraining order against her ex.

“When he arrived the door was locked. I went to the door and told him to wait at the door while I got [our son] new clothes. He asked, ‘Seriously?’ And I repeated myself to wait at the door," Lauren stated.

“I came downstairs and he was in my living room and would not leave. I asked him to leave and get out of my house and he wouldn’t," she continued.

“This is not the first time he has refused to leave my home when showing up or coming in unwelcomed and uninvited. I feel threatened in my own home.”

Lauren noted that Javi owns a “small handgun," and stated that she's afraid of how far his aggression might take him.

She requested that the court prohibit Javi from “committing any act of abuse against Petitioner,” but the request has not yet been granted.

Obviously, these allegations should be enough to prevent Javi from appearing in any future episodes of Teen Mom 2, but MTV has a long history of turning a blind eye to abusive behavior.

(The fact that repeat abuser Ronnie Magro has not been fired from Jersey Shore is evidence of how far execs will go to protect their stars.)

So Javi probably won't suffer any professional consequences for his actions.

But hopefully, the judge in Lauren's case will recognize the necessity for a restraining order.

Even if MTV allows this sort of behavior to continue, our legal system should not.

Real Housewives of Atlanta fans were saddened by the news that NeNe Leakes’ husband, Gregg Leakes, passed away on September 1, 2021, after a courageous battle with colon cancer. A few days prior, NeNe told a group of patrons at her lounge, Linnethia, that Gregg was “transitioning to the other side.”

The RHOA star was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018. After undergoing treatment, Gregg posted a photo of himself on Instagram, holding up a sign that said, “No cancer found! Praise God.” He captioned the post from May of 2019, “Won’t He do it…” Gregg added, “I thank my wife @neneleakes for being there for me.”

Sadly, in June of 2021, NeNe announced that Gregg’s cancer had returned. Following Gregg’s passing, there was an outpouring of love on social media for the RHOA alum. Gregg truly was beloved across the Bravo-verse.

In an interview with People, NeNe shared more details about Gregg’s final days. “We talked a lot, and we made peace with what was happening. You know I told him how much I loved him,” NeNe said. “We said so much stuff to each other. We’ve had so many highs and so many lows and everything in between.”

NeNe continued, “I told him I wouldn’t have chosen another husband other than him. I said, ‘I married you twice, crazy man.'” That was so sweet and so heartbreaking.

She shared, “The last five days before his passing was really beautiful. All of his children were there. His best friends were there,” NeNe stated. “Our closest friends were there. We all sat with him around the clock.”

Gregg’s final words to his wife became a source of strength and comfort for NeNe. “I’m not going to leave you. God is going to bless you,” Gregg told her. “He said he wanted me to move on with my life,” NeNe commented.

Since Gregg handled a lot of the business matters, NeNe had to ask him some questions before his passing. “There were some things I didn’t know — some of the simple things. I didn’t even know who the lawn guy was,” she commented. “And he said to me, ‘If you go into my office and look on the wall, I left an envelope taped to the wall,'” NeNe explained.

RELATED: Kenya Moore Praises NeNe Leakes’ Late Husband Gregg Leakes As “One Of The Nicest Men” She’s Ever Met; Says It Was A “No Brainer” To Attend His Memorial Regardless Of Her Drama With NeNe

“And so I went and looked on the wall and there was a manila folder he had stuck to the wall that said, ‘Open this if anything ever happens to me.’ When I opened it up, he had a letter to Brentt [Leakes] (their 22-year-old son) and telling us certain things like, where we needed to pay stuff and who was the accounting person to talk to because we didn’t know anything,” NeNe remarked. “And I thought to myself when I looked through all the stuff that he had written and the things that he had left, that that took a lot of strength.”

NeNe was with Gregg when he transitioned. “He took a deep breath, and then he stopped. I thought I would be scared, but I just held him and kissed him,” the former RHOA star said.

NeNe shared that they held a private memorial for Gregg shortly after he died. The funeral home workers carried Gregg into the living room. “And all of the children were there because everybody was spending the night at this point around the clock. And we had a girlfriend that started reading scriptures out of a Bible,” NeNe explained. “Everybody that we wanted right there…while we were all there, we did a private memorial right inside the house the same day that he passed.” NeNe added, “It was just a beautiful thing.”

NeNe said, “My grieving is really off the meters. If I am by myself that is not good for me, because I usually start to sink.” She added, “I keep thinking to myself he’s away on a trip and he’ll be right back. I’m still waiting for him to come home.” So many of us can relate to the pain of missing a loved one.

RELATED: NeNe Leakes’ Son Brentt Leakes Shares Heartfelt Post About Gregg Leakes’ Passing

NeNe shared a video to her Instagram Story in September of 2021, where she debuted her new blonde hair and talked about how she is “pushing through” her grief. “Now that I’m having to adjust to my new life, my new normal, I thought I’d go back to blonde,” NeNe said. “I have good days and bad days, but they say it’s normal.”

Gregg obviously made an impact on so many lives with his positivity. Our thoughts are with NeNe and Gregg’s family as they grieve his loss and process how to move forward.

RELATED: NeNe Leakes Talks About Adjusting To Her “New Life” After Gregg Leakes’ Passing

TELL US- DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM OR SUPPORT FOR NENE AND GREGG’S FAMILY AND FRIENDS?

[Photo Credit: Bravo]

The post NeNe Leakes Shares The Last Words Gregg Leakes, Said Before His Passing appeared first on Reality Tea.

You've really gotta hand it to Jamie Spears.

The guy has some nerve.

Okay, fine. We take it back. We'll never hand anything to Jamie Spears at all.

But the guy still has some nerve.

On Wednesday, Jamie was suspended from his role as conservator of his daughter's estate. 

This was a role Jamie held for 13 years, much to the chagrin, anger and depression of Britney Spears.

At multiple times this summer, the superstar singer testified to the horrors of Jamie's control -- telling a judge, on one occasion for example, that Jamie wouldn't even let his child remove her IUD.

Britney has charged Jamie with conservator abuse for the dominion he has held over her life and has said he should be investigated for this disgusting treatment.

Now, after being removed as conservator at last, Jamie has released a statement through his attorney.

As you might expect, it paints a very different picture of himself than the one Britney has illustrated over the past several weeks.

"Mr. Spears loves his daughter Britney unconditionally," opens the message.

"For 13 years, he has tried to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father."

Continues the seemingly laughable statement:

"This started with agreeing to serve as her conservator when she voluntarily entered into the conservatorship.

"This included helping her revive her career and re-establish a relationship with her children.

"For anyone who has tried to help a family member dealing with mental health issues, they can appreciate the tremendous amount of daily worry and work this required."

Back in 2007, Britney infamously shaved her head and appered to suffer a mental breakdown.

She was committed to a hospital at the time for a psychological evaluation, which is why the conservatorship was granted to begin with.

All these years later, however, the artist seems to have her life firmly back under control.

At least to the extent that her dad should not be making every single financial decision on her behalf, especially not after you read about the lengths Jamie went to in order to spy on his daughter.

In her statement on Thursday, lawyer Vivian Thoreen said that Jamie has been "biting his tongue and not responding to all the false, speculative, and unsubstantiated attacks on him by certain members of the public, media, or more recently, Britney's own attorney."

She added:

"These facts make the outcome of yesterday's hearing all the more disappointing, and frankly, a loss for Britney.

"Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr. Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney's estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer."

It was one week ago when Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, asked the court to suspend Jamie... following Jamie's surprising admission that he was willing to step down as conservator at some point in the future.

At a hearing on Wednesday, judge Brenda Penny basically sped up the process.

The judge also approved Rosengart's request to appoint John Zabel as temporary conservator until December 31.

"[This decision is] in the best interest of the conservatee, which is my goal," Penny said in court, referring to Britney of course.

Prior to this conclusion being reached, Rosengart appeared before Her Honor and accused Jamie of being "cruel" and "abusive" towards his oldest daughter.

He added that Britney "wants," "needs" and "deserves an orderly transition."

Thoreen, on behalf of Jamie Spears, sees things different, however.

"Despite the suspension, Mr. Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters," she concluded this morning.

So Riverdale decided to tackle the Pulitizer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal, and that might have been a bit of a mistake. I don’t think that I can separate my love of Next to Normal and my understanding of the mess that is Riverdale in order for me to actually like this, but let’s get into why maybe Riverdale season 5, episode 18 “Next to Normal” doing Next to Normal wasn’t the best choice for the show.

Riverdale currently has Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick) dealing with the revelation that Polly Cooper (Tiera Skovbye) was murdered. In her grief, she’s imagining that both Polly and Charles are at their home and that they are the “perfect loving family,” which leads us into Alice’s dream life with all her kids alive and well and hanging out at home. In her grief, she’s imagining that Polly is fine, much like Diana Goodman does with her son Gabriel Goodman, who died as a baby.

Next to Normal follows a woman (Diana Goodman) with bipolar disorder, trying to cope with the loss of her son, who died as a baby, despite the years that have passed. She throws herself into this dream of her boy and what he would have been like, and she neglects her daughter, Natalie, who is alive and struggling. The show itself is all about the fractures in this family, so when Riverdale decided to tackle it with Alice Cooper, I was confused because Dan Goodman, Diana’s husband who also suffered the same loss, is a big part of the show, and Alice Cooper’s husband famously died after being revealed to be the Black Hood killer.

In the actual episode, though, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) served the Dan Goodman role, and I will say that she is easily the best part of the entire mess that is their take on a Tony-winning musical. Again, I love Next to Normal very much. It’s easily in my top five favorite musicals, so watching Riverdale sort of half-ass attempt to honor it hurt me. Pair that with a lot of lyric changes to make it work with the show, and it just completely turned me off of whatever they were trying to do.

It was a good episode overall for these characters and the show, but as a fan of the musical, it made me angry. I wish that it could have just been Betty, Alice, and Polly coping (because the actor playing Charles literally took it as a joke and this musical is … not a joke).

Focusing on the grief of Alice Cooper vs. the mental health issues brought up in the musical meant that many of the songs were cut or just not performed, and because of how the show is formatted, the lyrics all shifted to fit for their story. Hearing “A Promise” on Riverdale is fun, but I hated that it was “A promise, your child says forever” because that’s not on a kid, but that’s also me nitpicking this show because I love Next to Normal so much. Not to mention that a lot of this show has swear words in it so the lyrics for a song like “Everything Else” changed from “Mozart was crazy, flat f*cking crazy, batshit I hear” to “Mozart was crazy, totally crazy, bonkers I hear,” and honestly, maybe don’t do the song “Everything Else” then!

All of this to say that some of this works. From “A Promise” through to “Light” works because the lyric changes are minimal and work with the original text because it is about a family coming together to cope, but the entire middle part of this episode is messy and a disaster of a musical episode for Next to Normal, which deserves so much better.

(image: The CW)

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Late this summer, we reported that 16-year-old Alana Thompson was dating a 20-year-old college student.

But many didn't get the memo until Alana and her much older boyfriend Dralin Carswell went Instagram official.

That public display of their relationship ignited a firestorm of controversy and a backlash.

Alana isn't interested in anyone's criticism, clearly, because she has deleted the photo along with every reply that came with it.

Dralin Carswell is a 20-year-old college student.

Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson is a 16-year-old high school student.

The two reportedly began dating nearly seven months ago.

Weeks before they went public, Dralin and Alana were said to be "attached at the hip" and constantly in each other's company.

While Dralin was reportedly initially slow to come out of his shell, he is "like one of the family" with Alana's loved ones.

Apparently, he has a larger-than-life personality that meshes well with the Shannon family (at least, with those who are in Alana's life).

Alana and Dralin had obvious hints at their romance on social media before this.

But they did not truly go Instagram official until this photo.

Alana even went as far as to proclaim Dralin as her "bae" in the post.

Many of Alana's fans who hadn't kept up with reports on her initially celebrated the relationship news.

It was especially welcome after Alana shared that she struggled to make good friends in school due to her family's fame and infamy.

However, many of those smiles turned into frowns when the four (possibly closer to five) year age gap was discovered.

“This is disgusting. No 20-year-old ADULT have any business 'dating' a 16-year-old CHILD," one commenter declared.

Another declared: “Honey boo boo’s new boyfriend is 20?? Girl is 16. Jail. Jail jail jail."

An additional commenter wrote: “Please stop normalizing this s--t. This ain’t okay,”

Alana deleted the post, as you can see in the screenshot below.

She is not currently sharing any images of Dralin -- at least, not on her public social media.

But though all of those negative comments were purged, it has not changed the worried sentiments behind them.

First of all, we should address the "jail" part of the replies, because a few people seem to be confused.

As in many states (and most countries), 16-year-olds in Georgia are legally allowed to consent to sex as adults would.

Though there are both positive and negative aspects of laws like this, there is no indication that Alana or Dralin have done anything illegal.

Yes, we know that Alana had her birthday on August 28, and was 15 for the majority of this reported relationship.

But we are also aware that many people do not actually have sex with their high school sweethearts, and teens often wait a while before they do.

Some regret waiting as long as they did, some regret not waiting longer, some are happy with their timing. That can be part of life and human development.

And we have to be honest ... there's an ugly familiarity to intense criticisms of a Black guy dating a white girl, even if the focus is not explicitly on race.

That said, it's perfectly acceptable to discuss how age gaps can be wildly problematic, even small ones.

When you're a teenager, four years is a long time. Dralin is an adult who is allowed to vote. Alana is barely old enough to drive a car.

Of course those of us who are grown ups who look at a 20-year-old as basically still a kid and at 16-year-olds as babies are going to find this weird.

We also find ourselves wondering how a 20-year-old man met a high school student to begin with, especially during a pandemic.

Given the reaction that Alana's photo received, it's possible that she will simply never tell us and keep this relationship private.

Despite having numerous questions, we can acknowledge that it's normal for some degree of age gaps to exist.

Protecting minors is important, but the answer would never be to force two high school classmates to break up when one turns 18.

Yes, that has been done, and in some cases, maliciously used to ruin lives of high school students.

Alana and Dralin don't appear to have ever been classmates of any kind, which again leads us to wonder how and where they met.

But Alana's family -- namely Lauryn, her sister who stepped in as her guardian when their mother was no longer fit to parent -- is reportedly good with Dralin.

We have to assume that they know more about this relationship and its impact upon Alana than we do.

I fully believe that I am living in an entirely different reality than Erika Jayne. To be fair, it’s probably always been that way. I have no idea what it’s like to be a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star. With all of the glam, private jets, and over-the-top decadence that it entails. But since the allegations surrounding Tom Girardi and his shady business practices began surfacing, Erika seems to be on her own planet. And “allegedly” this planet doesn’t have access to news headlines. Or believe in merely acknowledging the victims in the situation. 

Tom has been disbarred in the state of California, after practicing law for decades. He’s being accused of swindling millions from victims of horrific incidents like plane crashes to fund his lifestyle with Erika. And add a few things to her jewelry box, “allegedly” of course.

While Erika is doubling down that she’s the only person in Tom’s orbit that had no idea about Tom’s financial issues, it’s hard to believe. Even Tom admitted to thinking that Erika was aware of the situation. But like Sutton Stracke said (behind the protection of her bodyguard), Erika will never admit to lying. It’s not even a possibility at this point.

RELATED: Sutton Stracke Reportedly Requested Security While Filming Real Housewives After Erika Jayne’s Threats

In a deleted RHOBH scene reposted by Bravo By Betches, Erika sounded like Tom’s PR firm when speaking about the situation. She didn’t say one thing about feeling bad for the victims, which would make me have a tiny shred of respect for her. No, she commended Tom for being a hero of some sort. “Believe me, as many people say he’s a villain, there are as many people that reach out to me and tell me what a great job he did for them,” Erika said. Alright, get those people on the record then. I’d LOVE to hear the words from their mouths, not the Ice Queen’s.

Erika continued with her seemingly rehearsed spiel. “All the tuitions that he’s paid, all of the jobs he’s helped people get, all of the good things he has done is now, somehow or another, washed away and we’re talking about putting this man into a facility,” Erika continued.

RELATED: Sutton Stracke Says Erika Jayne Will Never Admit To Lying

Tom has been living in an assisted living facility (with a pretty high price tag) after reportedly suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. I will never take from them that the situation is heartbreaking, as it is for any family that deals with loved ones suffering from such diseases. But that does not negate the alleged “rich crook” activities that he and Erika bragged about. I’m sorry, but the allegations he’s facing do not classify him as a “good guy” in this story.

TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ERIKA DEFENDING TOM IN THE DELETED SCENE? DO YOU BELIEVE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN REACHING OUT TO ERIKA TO PRAISE TOM? 

[Photo Credit: Bravo]

The post Erika Jayne Is Upset People View Tom Girardi As A “Villain” After “All The Good Things He Has Done” For others appeared first on Reality Tea.

Mady Gosselin doesn't care about her haters.

She doesn't care about her trolls.

And she absolutely, positively does not care what her parents think.

Can anyone blame her, either, after all this 20-year old has gone though?

The ex-reality star, who had to live under the same roof as Kate and Jon Gosselin over the formative years of her childhood, is now a college student.

And she's making the most of her freedom!

Earlier this month, Mady shared footage of herself and her friends, out and about and having a great time.

She's wearing a black minidress in the video and enjoying the sort of freedom that was never really afforded to her as a kid.

“I cannot get this song out of my head,” Gosselin captioned her TikTok post on Monday, September 27.

In the clip, the retired TLC personality is performing choreography in her college dorm at Syracuse University to “Words, Words, Words” by Bo Burnham.

“Met a girl named Macy, had sex with her all day,” reads lyrics to the section of the song Mady is moving and grooving along to, as she uses her hands to jokingly pump up and down in a rather racy manner.

The song continues: “But she was dyslexic, so I. ended up doin’ the YMCA."

The silly dance routine is refreshing to see.

It comes after years (and years!) of drama between her divorced parents, Jon and Kate, including a years-long custody battle over Mady, her twin Cara Gosselin, and the former couple’s sextuplets:

Aaden, Joel, Alexis, Leah, Collin and Hannah.

At this time, Jon has custody of Collin and Hannah and has no contact with his other six kids; while Kate has custody of these other six kids and has no contact with Collin and Hannah.

This isn't a healthy situation for anyone involved.

We're just glad to see Mady off at college and having fun on her own for a change.

In recent response to dumb strangers on the Internet calling her out for uploading photos of herself in scantily-clad outfiits, Mady shot back this summer:

“Everything women do is sexualized, so I’m going to do/post whatever I want : ) I appreciate you looking out for me though.”

Elsewhere, Mady also admitted that she sometimes receives death threats -- because people on social media can suck and so can her parents.

Previously, on a Kate Plus 8 confessional, Mady spoke candidly about leaving for school... and leaving her scandal-filled life behind.

“College feels like a place to blend in. I feel like we haven’t really had much of a chance to really, really blend in. I want to be just like somebody,” she said on air.

“I don’t want everyone to know my name and my business. So, I feel like a big college is the way we want to go.”

For literal years now, we've been speculating about Meri Brown's relationship with the rest of her family.

And that's because for literal years now, all of those relationships have been complete and total messes.

Seriously, it's been six years now since Meri was catfished, an event that almost brought about the end of her marriage, and she only reached out to someone else because she was already miserable.

A year before that, in 2014, she and Kody got legally divorced so that he could marry Robyn and adopt her children from her first marriage, another event that was obviously very difficult for the family.

But even before that, one could say since the very beginning of the show, things were strained between Meri and everyone else.

We've seen her fight with Robyn and Christine several times, we've seen her going to therapy with Janelle because things were so bad between them.

And where do we even begin with all of the awful things she and Kody have said to and about each other?

Fans of the show have seen all of these things go on for years, and many of them also follow the family on social media and see all of the vague quotes about moving on and being free that Meri shares.

It's also worth noting that Meri recently unfollowed Kody, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn on Instagram.

Considering all of this, it's really not all that hard to understand why so many people think that Meri is leaving Kody, or that she's already left.

But according to Meri, she has no idea why anyone would think there was anything wrong!

Earlier this week, she made a post on Instagram defending LuLaRoe, the multi-level marketing clothing company that she's involved with -- the company has always gotten a ton of criticism, but with the new documentary, LuLaRich, getting so much attention, the criticism has definitely been more intense.

In the comments, one of her followers wrote "You look great. Comes from within. May I ask, where do you actually live? At the Heritage Inn or a place in Flagstaff?"

The Heritage Inn is the bed and breakfast in Utah that she owns, and she has been spending quite a bit of time there, so it's understandable why some people think she's moved there permanently.

She's also been traveling a lot, never with Kody or her sister wives, so it also makes sense that others would just assume she's done with Flagstaff altogether.

But, somewhat surprisingly, she responded with "I live at my home in Flagstaff with my family!"

The person thanked Meri for answering, and she responded back with "Of course, I get asked that a lot and I'm not sure why lol!"

Speaking for all of us, another Instagram user explained "Because it seems on the show that you are rarely around so people assume you live elsewhere."

"Oh really?" Meri asked. "I'm in every episode ..."

This is obviously a deflection on Meri's part -- clearly she knows better than anyone else how much she travels, whether it's to her inn or elsewhere.

It's also not exactly a secret that so much of the show these days is about the struggles they're all facing with polygamy and their housing situations.

If we had to guess, we imagine that she doesn't want to reveal anything about the drama going on within the family -- unlike other reality shows, the Browns are pretty good at saving a lot of the good stuff for the show.

Another factor is that even on the show, she seems to try her best to convince herself and everyone else that while things may be difficult with Kody and the other wives, they're still working.

Then, of course, we have to remember that no matter how much she's away from home or how completely and totally miserable she seems with everything, it's highly unlikely that none of the wives will ever actually leave Kody.

But man, it sure is fun to gossip about it all, huh?

View Slideshow: Sister Wives Ranked: Who is Kody Brown's #1 Woman?

It's been almost a year since Chelsea Houska quit Teen Mom 2, and at the time she stepped down, fans were concerned that the beloved reality star would disappear from public view.

Fortunately, that hasn't turned out to be the case.

Chelsea still provides regular updates about her family, especially her husband Cole De Boer, and her eldest daughter, Aubree.

Some fans are overjoyed by the fact that Aubree is featured so prominently on her mother's Instagram page, and they're always quick to heap praise on every new pic of the mother-daughter duo.

Chelsea shared some new photos of the 12-year-old this week, and as always, fans were absolutely floored by how quickly Aubree is growing up.

"Baby girl looking like an adult now her cute little ripped jeans. They grow up so quick," one commenter wrote on Instagram, according to The Sun.

"Omg stop growing," another added.

Aubree remains Chelsea's favorite photographic subject, but this week, the former reality star switched things up by working in a few pics of Aubree's half-sister Paislee, who is the daughter of Adam Lind and Taylor Halbur.

Fans loved the update on the seldom-seen 8-year-old, and they were overjoyed to learn that Paislee is welcome at Chelsea and Cole's palatial South Dakota farmhouse.

"Aubree and her little sister Paislee. TeenMom2," Chelsea captioned the pic.

"Aubree is a little lady now! I feel like we're all her family, because we watched her grow up! Paislee is so beautiful too!" one fan gushed.

"I definitely thought Paislee was closer in age to Aubree. They both look so grown up," another commented.

Needless to say, for the most part, fans were complimentary in their remarks.

But some folks have questions.

After all, Chelsea's reason for stepping away from TM2 was that she didn't want Aubree to have to live out her adolescent years in the spotlight, subject to constant scrutiny and criticism from an audience of strangers.

And yet she continues to post pics of her daughter for her 6.3 million Instagram followers.

For perspective, Teen Mom 2 ratings are at an all-time low, and the show only pulls in about 300k followers each week.

That means, of course, that far more people see Aubree on Chelsea's Instagram every week than they would have on the past season of TM2.

And this is social media in 2021 -- a time and place where people see fit to criticize absolutely everything.

Chelsea herself admitted that the situation is problematic during a recent Instagram Q&A session.

"I did want to answer this because I am amused by everyone's reaction to it because I know you guys feel like you know Aubree," Chelsea said in response to a question about Aubree's level of exposure on Instagram.

"Someone was like 'we're all her Aunties' and I thought that was so cute, but I do have one thing that I do not like and it makes me sick honestly is when people comment on her body," Houska continued.

"She's an 11 almost 12-year-old girl and I don't know why people feel like they can comment on her body in any way shape or form. It makes me not want to post her."

Obviously, it's Chelsea's right to post whatever sort of family photos she wants, and it seems that Aubree loves to be included.

But we hope that if the Insta-haters get out of line, Chelsea will be willing to put up some walls between her family and her fans.