This Is Andy Cohen's Favorite Real Housewives Moment Ever
The WWHL host and other Real Housewives executives reflect on this "classic" throwback moment.
Since The Real Housewives premiered in 2006, there have been many, many unforgettable moments from across the franchises. The new book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of The Real Housewives From the People Who Lived It by entertainment journalist Dave Quinn, takes a closer look at all things Real Housewives.
It hits shelves on Tuesday (October 19) and is being released by Andy Cohen Books, an imprint of Henry Holt, and features in-depth interviews with more than 100 Housewives past and present, as well as those who have worked on the show behind-the-scenes, including Andy Cohen himself.
The Daily Dish is giving you an exclusive peek inside the pages of the book ahead of its release, and it features Andy Cohen (who serves as executive producer of The Real Housewives), other Bravo executives, as well as Vicki Gunvalson reflecting on the famous "family van" moment from The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Below, you can read the excerpt before the book's release on Tuesday.
Andy Cohen: Whenever people ask me my favorite Housewives moment, I don’t know why but I always go back to Vicki and that little family van.
Kathleen French: Here’s what happened there, and this is classic Vicki— classic Vicki. When we were in pre-production, we said to Vicki, “We’re going to start on this date.” Well, when we went to start, Vicki was like, “Oh, I’m leaving for Greece for two weeks with the kids.” We were like, “What?!”
Vicki Gunvalson: I wanted to take my kids to Europe because I had a really good year selling insurance. I deserved it!
Douglas Ross: Vicki has always been the kind of person who is used to getting what she wants and making things happen. She had survived her divorce, she created this business, the show was in its second season, she was starting to feel the power of stardom.
Kathleen French: Things like that happened with Vicki the entire time, but in this case, it was the beginning of Season 2 and we had to shoot something with her before she left or she wouldn’t have been in the first episode.
Vicki Gunvalson: Bravo said they wanted to film us leaving and I was like, “Well, this is going to be boring. We’re just going to put suitcases in a car and leave.” Little did I know it was going to be one of the most incredible scenes.
Kathleen French: The rest is history.
Vicki Gunvalson: I had ordered a full stretch limo, plus bagels and mimosas from this breakfast store nearby, because we had to go to LAX, which is like an hour and a half away from the house. So when this little blue van showed up, I thought Bravo was pranking me.
Douglas Ross: She just was 100 percent herself in that moment. She was angry and embarrassed and frustrated and, most of all, just flummoxed that whatever she said to the dispatcher resulted in that janky minivan and not a giant stretch limo. And of course, I often think about how our Housewives often think they’ve communicated something clearly in their heads but what comes out is hardly clear. So it’s very possible that she did not do a good job of ordering the van in the first place but has no memory of that, of course.
Vicki Gunvalson: I ordered a limo, I did not order a family van! And I was pissed off! Donn was trying to calm me down, and the poor driver didn’t speak a lick of English—he just kept waving at me and I kept saying, “No, you need to leave. I need a limo! I need my breakfast!”
Douglas Ross: I felt bad for that poor driver who didn’t know what the f--k he got into and didn’t know he was going to be filmed on a television show. In his eyes, he just drives up and then gets accosted by this crazy, screaming person!
Vicki Gunvalson: At the end of the day, we shipped six people and fifteen bags into this little family van.
Douglas Ross: That is to this day one of my favorite moments because it was so genuine, so real, and kind of relatable. Who hasn’t had moments in life of extreme frustration? And God love Vicki, she seldom held anything back. Even in later years when she tried to hold things back, she wouldn’t be able to control it and then it would all come out anyway.
You can get your hands on a copy here.
