Former 'RHOC' Cast Member Brooks Ayers Marries in Indiana

Brooks Ayers is officially a married man. The former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member [...]

By Libby Birk

Brooks Ayers is officially a married man. The former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member tied the knot with Christy Lindeman in Indiana on Saturday after a rocky romance and fake cancer scare with Vicki Gunvalson.

While on the Bravo TV series, Ayers dated Gunvalson for nearly five years before splitting for good in August 2015.

Ayers confirmed the news to multiple media outlets, telling Us Weekly, "I've never been happier!"

"I'm moving on with life. I've never been better," he told E! News, adding that they wed in a "small white chapel" in French Lick, Indiana in front of their family.

"It's amazing. Her family's amazing—they were there with us," he said. "My parents were there."

Us Weekly shared a photo from the church with Ayers in a dark suit and his new wife in a white sleeveless V-neck lace dress holding a bouquet of pink and white roses.

The newlyweds have reportedly been together for over a year, according to Us Weekly. Lindeman is reportedly from Ohio and has a 23-year-old son.

"She's an amazing young lady and I'm a very fortunate guy," he told E! News.

While the two live in Indiana for now, they're "looking forward" to moving back to his home state of Mississippi to be closer to his parents and adult children.

"My world is completely different than it was almost three years ago, in a great way," he said.

While on RHOC, Ayers was accused of lying about his health and falsifying information about having cancer. He admitted to fabricating medical documents about a non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis to Us Weekly in March 2016.

Gunvalson, who is now dating retired homicide detective Steve Lodge, denied involvement in Ayers' claims he had cancer. Gunvalson and Lodge started dating in April 2016, with Gunvalson telling Us Weekly that marriage may be in their future.

"I'm so ready for marriage, I'm a marriage girl," she told Us Weekly in December. "I told him from the very beginning, if you don't want to get married, then don't waste your time with me because I love being married."

Gunvalson was previously married to Donn Gunvalson for 20 years. They exes, who parted ways in October 2010, share grown children TV personality Briana Culberson and life insurance broker Michael Wolfsmith.

Meanwhile, Gunvalson and her fellow RHOC castmates will be joined next season by some fresh faces.

Kathleen French, Senior Vice President for Current Production at Bravo, stopped by Bravo's Daily Dish podcast earlier this year to dish on the latest for the O.C. ladies.

"There will be new faces on Orange County and I'm going to leave it at that," French revealed.

"We always want to keep the shows fresh and we always want to introduce new friends," she added.

But if you're looking to become the next Housewife, you're probably out of luck unless you're already in the Housewives social group.

French said the network tries to find new Housewives by plumbing the depths of the already-existent cast member's social circles.

"[We] always look for people who are organic to the group," she said. "So the question when starting the next season is, 'What are you doing now?' 'Who are you hanging with?' 'Anyone new in your life?' ... And that's really where we'll always look first."

What's the most important quality Bravo looks for when talking to possible new cast members? "You have to be ready, willing, and able to live your life in front of the camera," French said.

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