Real Housewives of Orange County News: Cast Put On 'Media Lockdown' Following Bruce Ayers' Cancer Scandal
The women of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Orange County" love their theatrics, but it now appears that even they - and their network - have hit their limits.
In the aftermath of the Brooks Ayers' cancer lies scandal, the mud-slinging between the 'RHOC' stars has gotten so messy and complicated that Bravo has put all of them on media lockdown, banning them from speaking to the media and from using social media to vent their frustrations, sources told Radar Online.
"Right now, the ladies are forbidden to talk about each other and the entire cast is on media lockdown," an insider revealed.
"This was done as a means of damage control," the insider goes on to say. "They have all been talking so much sh*t about each other that Bravo had no other choice then [sic] to step in and put a lock on it."
Sources also say that the animosity among the 'RHOC' ladies was brought on by the bombshell revelation that Brooks Ayers, the 47-year-old ex-boyfriend of 53-year-old veteran Orange County housewife Vicki Gunvalson, had lied about having cancer.
Last month, E! News uncovered the truth about Ayers' cancer claim, confirming from a City of Hope National Medical Center representative that Ayers was never treated for cancer at the facility. The beleaguered Ayers tried to prove that he received treatment there by presenting some receipts with the City of Hope logo, but E! uncovered several inconsistencies with his documents.
The day after the revelation was publicized, Ayers admitted his lies and said that he fabricated the documents for a storyline for the "Real Housewives of Orange County."
The 'RHOC' cast expressed outrage over the scandal, directing the brunt of the vitriol towards Gunvalson and even saying that they will refuse to film the show with her. Gunvalson spoke to Andy Cohen on her "Watch What Happens Live!" appearance, claiming that she had no involvement in Ayers' charade, but this only served to fuel her castmates' ire.
After the "Watch What Happens Live!" special, Shannon Beador took to her Facebook page to give a long rant about Gunvalson, saying: "I'm really, really angry about what happened tonight. There were so many lies."
"It was calculated, it was premeditated," she said.
She added, "She wanted sympathy for her boyfriend because for two [or] three seasons… nobody liked him!"
