'RHOC': Tamra Judge Hit With Unfortunate Business Setback
The Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge and her husband, Eddie Judge, closed their CUT Fitness gym after almost 10 years in business. Judge, 54, broke the news on the Aug. 15 episode of her podcast, Two Ts in a Pod. The move comes just before she returns to RHOC for its upcoming 17th season.
"We decided to close our gym down way before I got asked back to the show," Judge told her co-host, Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, via Page Six. "So that had nothing to do with anything that's going on right now." Tamra said the gym in Rancho Santa Margarita, California was "doing good" until the COVID-19 pandemic began.
"Listen, we almost made it to [10] years. I'm proud of what we did, what we built," Judge said. "It is what it is. It's sad. It's a loss. It's 100 percent a loss. It's hard." The Judges have not posted a formal announcement on the CUT Fitness Instagram page. However, they have been selling pieces of equipment and merchandise to locals since late June.
The topic of the gym closure came up when Judge and Mellencamp Arroyave were talking about her decision to return to RHOC. She recently saw a comment from another small business owner who thought she was only turning to Bravo because she had to close her gym, notes PEOPLE. Judge insisted that the two were unrelated. The Judges also run a successful CBD business called Vena, which is still in operation.
Judge was a remember of the RHOC cast from Seasons 3 to 14, but was absent for the past two seasons. She announced her return during an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in July. Her return surprised her close friend Vicki Gunvalson, who last appeared on RHOC in Season 14.
"Of course, I'm excited for her. I would be a bad friend if I wasn't," Gunvalson told E! News' Daily Pop on Aug. 18. "Yes, I have FOMO [fear of missing out]. I'm like any other woman that would be feeling that way." Gunvalson cried when Judge said she was returning, partly because she didn't get a callback herself.
RHOC Season 17 will feature Judge, Heather Dubrow, Shannon Storms Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, and Emily Simpson. Noella Bergener and Jennifer Armstrong are leaving, while former The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong will be a "friend." Bravo has not set a premiere date for Season 17 yet.