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Every ‘Real Housewives’ Star Who Returned to the Franchise: Tamra Judge, Bethenny Frankel, More

They’re back and better than ever! Some of the Real Housewives main cast members have left and returned to their franchise over the years, much to the surprise of Bravo fans.

Tamra Judge, for one, confirmed her Real Housewives of Orange County return in July 2022, just ahead of the show’s 17th season. “The judge is back and drama is in session,” she shared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen at the time. Initially, Tamra appeared on the talk show alongside Vicki Gunvalson before returning one day later because she “forgot” to announce her return to the show — which was done by branding an orange.

Tamra was introduced to the show during its third season and said goodbye to RHOC following season 14. After a brief stint on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip season 2, the California native was ready to pose with an orange once again for her Orange County return.

Of course, this wasn’t the only RHOC headline-making return to the franchise. Heather Dubrow — who departed the series after season 11 — came back to the show in season 16.

“It’s surreal, honestly,” Heather told Entertainment Weekly in December 2021 about returning to the franchise. “It’s so odd to me that I had this secret for all these months, and then it came out and that was a thing, and then we filmed it and then [had] a little respite, and now it’s coming out. It’s so weird.”

The reality star went on to say that, initially, she “laughed” when Bravo asked her to return.

“I laughed, and then I thought about it. The pitch was pretty much what you would expect it to be, which is, ‘Hey, we’d like to go in a different direction with the show,'” Heather recalled. “And when they explained to me the direction of the show and what kind of cast they were looking for, I felt comfortable that that would be a situation that I would be happy in.”

RHOC isn’t the only Real Housewives franchise that has experienced a major return over the years. Bethenny Frankel‘s resurgence on Real Housewives of New York City will go down in history! Scroll through our gallery to uncover which Real Housewives main cast members have left and returned to the show.