The Real Housewives of Orange County's Peggy Tanous: Where Is She Now?

As a member of the Season 6 cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Peggy Tanous proved that you can appreciate both the natural and the finer things in life. 

But just because this RHOC mom drove a Bentley didn't mean that her life was perfect. Peggy also let viewers in to her struggle with postpartum depression. 

So when Peggy didn't return to RHOC for Season 7, she decided to take some time for herself. "When I first left, I kind of just focused on the family a lot. Part of my departure was the anxiety I have and my bouts with postpartum depression and everything," she told The Daily Dish earlier this summer. "So I felt overwhelmed, and so I took some time to just really be with my family and spend some time with the kids and that kind of thing." 

But Peggy actually recently completed a journey that began on the show. While she was on RHOC, Peggy started filming a documentary called When the Bough Breaks (clip above) in which she and other women, including Carnie Wilson and celebrity chef Aarti Sequeira, shared their experiences with postpartum depression. The film, which is executive produced and narrated by Brooke Shields, premiered in June at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. "It's a really enlightening film that really shows people that this is a major problem, and it's a problem that people don't talk about it," Peggy said. "There's so many different levels of it, so it was really interesting to me."

Peggy said she realized something was wrong the day her daughter London was born eight years ago. "I wanted kids for my whole life, so when I did have one, it was weird, because I wasn't super-excited," Peggy explained. "And I thought that, 'Oh, it's probably just because I'm tired, and it's probably whatever.' But then a year later, I'm still feeling this way, and I was getting angry a lot, and I would feel overwhelmed. I had help that came in twice a week, and I remember crying and going, 'I just need a break.'" 

When this feeling didn't pass after her husband Micah Tanous organized a spa day for her, they knew Peggy needed to seek help. "So it took a good year before I knew what was going on. And that's why I hope that people can learn sooner. Like, if people can learn from this, if they can find out a lot sooner than I did, then they're going to be a lot better off," Peggy said of her decision to be open about her postpartum depression on RHOC and in When the Bough Breaks. 

Though Peggy doesn't feel nearly as bad as right after she gave birth to her first child, she said she still struggles with postpartum depression. "I know for me, I'm in a much different place, I'm in a much better place, and I might get my occasional, maybe once a month or once every couple of months, I might have a day of depression, but that's about it, luckily," she said. "But there are people that really, really still suffer." 

One thing that Peggy found helpful in coping with her postpartum depression was working out. "I found that fitness and working out [have] always been a part of my life and [have] always made me feel better, and especially with the depression, it really made me feel better," she said. "If I started getting really sad or started feeling like the walls are caving in on me, if I went outside and just took a 30-minute walk, I was like, 'Oh, I feel so much better.'" 

Peggy has even turned this form of therapy into a new business venture. She launched a workout DVD in which she guides viewers through a total body workout that uses your toddler as weight resistance. "It's a simple workout, so anybody could do it," Peggy said. "But the beauty of it is you're using your child, so you're incorporating your child, they're having a lot of fun, and it's teaching them the importance of fitness at an early age."

Peggy said this workout is a big hit with her daughters, 8-year-old London and 7-year-old Capri, who also keep busy with modeling and commercial work these days. "They love it. Now, they're too heavy for me to hold them," Peggy joked. "Now they kind of will just stand next to me and do it. But they love it. They have so much fun." 

Since her time on RHOC ended, Peggy has also gotten back into the modeling game, as well as show business, appearing in last year's Orange County Christmas Extravaganza that included performances from American Idol favorites and hosting her own radio show, Keeping It Real with Peggy Tanous. 

But no matter where Peggy's career takes her, she'll always have fond memories of RHOC. "I'm grateful that I did do the show. I think it absolutely was so much fun. It absolutely opened a ton of doors," she said. "It's fun for my family, and my kids. Like, 'Oh my God, my mom was a part of pop culture.'"

Relive one of Peggy's most memorable, RHOC moments, below.

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