Vicki Gunvalson is the kind of person who is made for reality TV. She's got a larger-than-life personality, her own company, and an interesting family life. After appearing on the Real Housewives of Orange County, the first entry in the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo, for 14 seasons, she left and fans wonder if Vicki misses the show.
Viewers watched a lot of Vicki's personal life and got to know her, from her rocky friendship with Tamra Judge to her happiness over her engagement to Steve Lodge. Vicki often filmed with her son Michael and her daughter Briana, and it was sweet to watch them grow up.
It turns out that Vicki has been married several times before. Let's take a look inside these relationships.
Vicki's First Marriage
Fans might not know that Vicki was married before Donn, as her marriage to Donn was part of the early seasons of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Vicki's first marriage was awful and she has shared a bit about what this time in her life was like for her.
According to Nicki Swift, Vicki and Michael Wolfsmith Sr. were married when Vicki was only 21 years old. Michael is the father of Vicki's two kids, Briana and Michael, and she said that he was unfaithful, had a problem with alcohol, and she experienced verbal abuse.
Vicki said, "When the counselor said, 'I believe if you have the 3 A's in your marriage — Addiction, Adultery and Abuse — it's OK to get divorced.' When I realized I had all three, it was the green light to file for divorce," according to Nicki Swift.
A Reality TV Show Divorce
Vicki and Donn were married for 20 years from 1994 until 2004.
Vicki filed for divorce in October 2010 and, according to E! News, the couple had just renewed their vows in Turks & Caicos in January 2010. Fans will recall watching this as it was part of that season of RHOC.
According to E! News, the reunion for season 6 included an interview that Andy Cohen did with Donn, who was given the chance to talk about the end of his marriage. Donn said that he was surprised and he talked about how tough it was being married to someone who didn't spend much time with him.
Donn said, "I found out that Vicki filed for divorce when the process server showed up at my office. From the get-go, the time I was asking Vicki to give me and our time together just didn't happen."
Donn also said, "Every evening, she was working late and her trips would become longer and she'd call less and less. It was typical Vicki--she orchestrated [the divorce], that's how she rolls. Vicki should feel bad she hurt me. What she did was not cool in anybody's eyes. A marriage and a man should be treated with dignity. I don't think how this went down was treated with class or dignity and I deserve both."
Vicki went on the podcast "Behind The Velvet Rope with David Yontef" and she said that she and Donn would have stayed together if not for RHOC.
Vicki said, "I did everything right, except falling prey to divorce. I mean, I think that hindsight, um, I know for a fact that if I wasn't on a reality show, I wouldn't have been divorced."
Vicki's Third Marriage?
Fans watched Vicki and Steve Lodge get engaged during her last season on RHOC, which was a huge deal since Vicki had hinted at wanting them to tie the knot. She often talked about her "love tank" and it seemed like she really wanted a partner to share her life with. While fans have wondered when that wedding would take place, Vicki said that they had stopped planning the wedding for the time being.
According to Us Weekly, Vicki said, “We’re not wedding planning at all. We’re not in that place of wedding planning, It’s my third marriage, Steve’s fourth, so we’re not going to do wedding [stuff]. But right now, we’re pausing everything. There’s no need to. He’s got his money, I’ve got my money — we don’t need to get married. So, we’ll see what happens. There’s no rush.”
Fans began wondering if the engagement was off, but according to TV Shows Ace, she said that they were definitely a couple still and were in Mexico.
While fans can't see Vicki's personal life unfold on RHOC anymore, they can follow her life on Instagram. It will be interesting to see when she and Steve plan their wedding as after her two divorces, fans definitely want to see Vicki happy and in love.