'RHOC': Braunwyn Windham-Burke Admits She Hit Husband Sean

On Wednesday night's episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, things took a very serious turn between star Braunwyn Windham-Burke and her husband, Sean Burke. The episode showcased all of the Housewives as they navigated the COVID-19 crisis. For Windham-Burke and her husband, things came to a head when the reality star admitted that she had been violent towards her husband during quarantine.

"I lost it. I lost my temper again," Windham-Burke said in the episode via a self-filmed video. "Sean belittled me over the vacuum cleaner. It's not working. I can't get the charger to work… Instead of helping, he made fun of me. And I lost it, and I smacked him. I haven't done that since we were in Aspen [on vacation, three months earlier]." The RHOC star shared that she previously got angry with Burke in the early stages of her sobriety journey, which has been chronicled in the Bravo series' current season. She continued to say that she had hit her husband "a couple of times in my life but nothing like what happened in Aspen."

"I hit him across the face and I hit him hard," she explained. "I wanted to go drink. I was angry and I was lashing out … I feel trapped in my house. I feel trapped in my marriage … Emotionally and physically." Windham-Burke also said that one of the couple's seven children actually witnessed the altercation. The reality star's admission instantly drew criticism from those watching. It even led one of her RHOC co-stars, Emily Simpson, to speak out about the matter on social media. On Wednesday, Simpson wrote that she was disappointed by Windham-Burke's actions, noting that physical abuse should not be excused.

"Tonight on #RHOC, Braunwyn excuses her behavior by acting like a victim of the people and circumstances around her, not to be confused by previous episodes where she excused her behavior by acting like the victim of the people and circumstances around her," Simpson wrote. When one Twitter user questioned her tweet and wrote that they aren't judging Windham-Burke, Simpson replied, "I support love too. I don't support physical abuse, let alone in front of children." In light of Simpson's tweets, Windham-Burke's husband acknowledged the situation on Twitter and stuck up for his wife in the process.

"I love my wife," Burke tweeted on Thursday, per Us Weekly. "On two occasions I was the last defense between her and a bottle. It's disgusting to see some comments from her so called 'friends' that pretend to know anything about our relationship, attacking her, rather than showing an ounce of support."