Katie Returns & Leaks Text Messages With Gretchen During Meetup With Tamra, Gretchen and Slade Confront Tamra as She Storms Off, Plus Emily Clashes With Gretchen

Should they just give Slade an orange and call it a day? On this episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Tamra wants the truth so badly that she is ready to believe 

Katie — you know, the one who has been accused of lying all season. When Tamra hears that Slade is the mastermind behind the rumors, she is disgusted, but not surprised. At a fundraiser hosted by Emily, an aggressive confrontation ends with Tamra exiting, as usual.

Emily is hosting a fundraiser for the Innocence Center. Naturally, it will be a line-dancing event, and therefore, hats need to be made. Emily invites 

Gretchen along for the prep, and she fills Gretchen in on the drama from the night before. Emily told Tamra that no one trusts her, and Tamra did not take that news very well. 

In fact, Tamra quit (again) and went as far as blaming Heather. Emily thinks that her honesty with Tamra was the appropriate route, but Gretchen thinks Tamra is a narcissist who gaslights those who try to question her.

In the meantime, Tamra explains that she is so “emotionally drained and it just seems like nobody really cares.” She lets Gina know that she is tired of the gang-up. Gina admits that Gretchen was out of line by spreading the recording studio rumor, and Tamra wonders when enough is enough. Gina reminds Tamra that Emily and Heather do love her, but Tamra remains hurt by them because they claim they cannot trust her. 

When Heather arrives, the tension is thick. Gina acts as the mediator, but Tamra wonders why Heather would want to be friends with her to begin with. Heather feels like her explanations are never good enough for Tamra. Tamra seems to be most angry that Heather and Emily said they didn’t trust Tamra in front of Gretchen. Tamra states that despite Heather’s apology, she will need time to work through everything.

Emily is thrilled to tell Gretchen that Tamra has planned a meeting with Katie to find out the truth. Gretchen scoffs at this, stating, “All of a sudden, Katie has accountability? Give me a break.” When Gretchen realizes just how much sh*t Emily is stirring, she calls Emily out. 

Emily turns it, reminding Gretchen that SHE is the one who brought up the defamatory rumor about Tamra. Emily is sick of Gretchen’s antics, but Gretchen feels like Emily needs to take accountability because she is the one who kept egging on the situation in L.A. Emily storms off when she realizes this blame game is never going to end. Next time, maybe Emily won’t play both sides…

Jenn and Shannon have a date with an animal psychic. These two are thrilled to find out what their dogs wish to say. Jenn learns that her one dog wants to be carried more, and Archie, well, let’s just hope he stays quiet about *the* DUI. Shannon has a slew of questions to throw at the psychic, and in the end, Shannon learns that Archie wants a brother. Without hesitation, Shannon announces that she will, of course, heed Archie’s needs and get another dog.  

Katie enters the episode all thanks to Tamra, who is now suddenly ready to believe Katie. Katie explains that she feels sad about the whole situation and is hurt by Jenn because she did not stick up for Katie. Katie becomes emotional, and Tamra tries to match her energy with some alligator tears about being the odd one out. 

Tamra is counting on Katie to learn the truth: Did Gretchen say she was drugged by Tamra, and how did Katie get wrapped up in this mess? Katie states the same story as before: Slade called 

Matt and said, “Don’t share this.” Gretchen lied and said Tamra drugged her. Katie was told to stick to the story because it’s a legal issue. 

Katie was being lied to by Slade, who is “at the root of this tornado.” Katie goes on to say she was trying to cover for Gretchen, but now she realizes she was being used to cover Gretchen’s lies. Katie also shares her texts with Gretchen, which seemingly imply this.

Interestingly, Slade no longer calls Matt (since he no longer has any use for him), and so Matt wants to meet up with Slade so they can talk man-to-man. Just very curious that Tamra is reaching out to Katie. Is it because Tamra is on the outs with the rest of the group?

Later, Heather (and some of the ladies) attend a Trevor Project fundraiser. The Trevor Project has a hotline for youth in crisis, and Heather shares a very staggering statistic: Every 45 seconds, an LGBTQ+ youth tries to commit suicide. Heather pledges $50,000 to support the foundation.

Emily has the director of the Innocence Center over to help create an after-care program to fix issues for exonerees. The stories that these men share make you realize how much has been lost for them, yet they remain positive. Emily relates their stress to the situation with 

Luke, her son. She realizes that she should be grateful, knowing that all she has to do is learn how to navigate his needs.

It’s the day of the Innocence Fundraiser, and Gretchen is wondering how it will go being in the same room as Tamra. Slade speaks out (what else is new?) and claims that none of the guys respect 

Eddie because Eddie lets Tamra do whatever she wants, and that’s not cool.  

The crew rolls up, and a familiar face is there to show support: Elizabeth Vargas. Emily explains that 46% of people in prison are there wrongfully, and so once they get out, they need to be supported. Despite the sentiment of the fundraiser, Emily is still frustrated that Tamra actually met up with Katie. This is the exact behavior that Emily is talking about, thus making Tamra more untrustworthy. 

Tamra shares that it went well with Katie, but Shannon is just mind-blown that Tamra waltzed back in after quitting five times. Tamra claims that Katie is credible now because she believes that Gretchen and Jenn set her up.  

Emily explains that despite their issues, she has moved on with Gretchen. She runs right over to let Gretchen know Tamra met up with Katie. Sh*t stirrer. Shannon claims that Tamra is obsessed with Gretchen, adding more fuel to the fire. 

After some line-dancing and donating (thanks, Gina and Terry!), Gretchen hears that Tamra has gotten dirt about Slade from Katie. Gretchen decides that she should confront Tamra, WITH Slade in tow. It’s hard to watch as they beeline toward Tamra, but Tamra runs away… again. Gretchen yells after Tamra, “run, b*tch, run,” which does not sound very Christian-like. Too much Fireball for Gretchen again?

Tamra feels like the group antagonizes her, but she is mad that Eddie flipped them off. Tamra knows that Gretchen brought Slade along to confront her for attention. She calls the couple trash and happily leaves the event.

Gretchen wonders why Tamra can say whatever she wants about Slade, but Slade can’t ask Tamra what happened. Gretchen claims that Slade only gets involved because the women talk about him. Emily tells Gretchen that it was aggressive to confront Tamra with Slade.

Emily yells back and forth with Gretchen until Gretchen runs off. Slade promises he will stay out of it, so long as no one talks about him. Odd that he’s avoiding Katie’s husband, but he jumps on any opportunity to confront a housewife…