Does Brooks Ayers actually have cancer? That's the question The Real Housewives of Orange County pondered during the Aug. 17 episode. Why did the ladies doubt the veracity of Vicki Gunvalson's controversial then-boyfriend's illness? (Gunvalson and Ayers announced their split on Aug. 16.) Find out all the details about the accusations in Us Weekly's recap!
Parents: They Just Don't Understand
Now that Shannon Beador's wild trip to Tahiti was over, she was back to the business of full-time mothering — which meant it was time for her 10-year-old twin daughters to face up to the consequences for the toilet papering they got up to while she was away in Tahiti. While Beador tried to lay down the law with her daughters about their foray into vandalism, her husband, David, reminisced about the fun he had vandalizing his friends' houses when he was a kid. It was an experience that apparently involved throwing pumpkin guts at other people's property and it was also an experience that Beador wanted to hear nothing about because she was positive her kids were going to use it as an excuse to vandalize more in the future.
After David finished his journey down memory lane, he got back to what he was supposed to be doing — punishing his daughters. David and Shannon, exceptionally clever parents they are, decided to forgo the traditional grounding and instead told their daughters that they were going to have to write an apology letter to the family whose house they trashed. Suitably horrified, the two girls tried to whine and finagle their way out of it, but the Beadors stayed firm with their punishment.
Eventually, their daughter Stella tried to explain that vandalism was just an everyday part of the 10-year-old mystique. “You just don't understand the 10-year-old life,” she complained to her mother. Sadly, Stella, like most kids her age, failed to realize that her mother was going to see through that line of reasoning since she had happened to survive the rough-and-tumble 10-year-old life years before without vandalizing property. So Stella's valiant efforts to avoid punishment were unsuccessful, and the letter would be written. At least she tried.
While Beador was laying down the law, Meghan King Edmonds was trying to grapple with the rules of being a step-mom for the millionth time during a lunch with her husband, Jim Edmonds. Meghan brought up the fact that Vicki admonished her during their Tahiti trip for letting her stepdaughter, Haley, live a life without any responsibilities. Jim was repulsed by the accusations and said that Gunvalson should just stay out of it — before he essentially gave his wife the same message. He suggested that maybe Meghan should parent Haley less and just accept the fact that she wasn't very smart and didn't need to be pushed that much. Meghan, understandably, had no idea what to do with this request and was upset because she still has no idea how to handle being a stepmother.
Is The Ultimate Pot Stirrer Tamra's Psychic?
Tamra Judge's spiritual journey continued this week as audiences finally met one of her trusted advisers. And since Judge is a Real Housewife, it was not shocking to learn that she was gaining her spiritual guidance from a psychic she FaceTimed named Scott. Judge may have called BS on several past Housewife psychics, such as the medium who ran the séance Gunvalson held to connect to her recently deceased mother, but the new grandmother was adamant this guy was the real deal.
As a result, she took Edmonds and Heather Dubrow to lunch so they could meet the gifted man. After the ladies ordered their champagne (a must when Dubrow is around), Scott the Psychic came in and dazzled the ladies with his good looks. Right away, Dubrow was skeptical of his gifts, asking, “If he was a good psychic, wouldn't he know I wanted him to come in with his shirt off?”
Thankfully, though, Scott the Psychic proved himself by making some predictions. He saw Dubrow's grandmother in the spirit world and talked about how close-knit she used to be with Dubrow. Then, he informed Edmonds that even though she was going to have a biological child someday, she first needed to work on letting her facade down and truly find herself. He also started getting into the Housewife drama, correctly seeing the issues Edmonds was constantly having with Beador.
But the real drama came not from what Scott the Psychic saw, but what he didn't see. When Judge asked him about Ayers' cancer, Scott stalled for a few seconds before admitting that he didn't see anything there when he focused on it. While all the ladies were shocked by the accusation, Scott the Psychic tried to cover his bases and say that Brooks may still have cancer and for some reason, he just can't pick up on it. However, the damage was done and the ladies now couldn't shake the idea of Ayers fooling them all with a fake cancer diagnosis.
The Best Laid Cancer Treatment Plans of Vicki's Man
Judge needed something to do with her spare time while waiting for her real estate career to get going again, so she decided to get into teaching booty sculpting classes at her gym. Before she unleashed the class on the world, though, she wanted to give it a trial run and invited all the Housewives to take part in her practice class.
The ladies varied in their level of enthusiasm for the class. Edmonds was thrilled because she wanted to make her butt bigger but didn't know how since implants were "dangerous and you'd have to go to Brazil and go to some sketchy doctor to get them.” Beador, meanwhile, just expressed disbelief that “big ass s—” was a real beauty trend and maintained her wishes to keep her butt as microscopic as possible. Still, she came out to support Judge's class because that's what frenemies are for! That support only went so far, though, and she was unwilling to run with the rest of the group for fear that she would pee herself while doing so.
After an exhausting workout, it was time to bring out the cake and alcohol because Brooks was bizarrely coming by to celebrate his birthday at the gym. In between the cake and saki bombs, the ailing man shared news that he was going to stop his chemotherapy treatment in favor of a riskier alternative treatment that involved shooting wine into his bloodstream or something. Edmonds was confused by this course of action. “Aren't you worried that something will go awry?” she wondered. Brooks just shrugged and said he was tired of chemo and wanted to try something that might actually completely eradicate his disease.
Following that conversation, Gunvalson and Ayers left the gym to sell insurance and prepare for the birthday dinner they were going to have with the Beadors. With the couple gone, Judge was able to subtly stir the pot by asking Beador if she was frustrated that Ayers never followed through on her cancer doctor recommendation. As soon as Beador admitted that she did wonder why Ayers wouldn't even visit her celebrated doctor friend, Edmonds decided to more blatantly cause drama by announcing that their psychic thinks that Ayers is faking his diagnosis. This accusation troubled Beador greatly, as she felt that it was really gross for someone to distrust a cancer diagnosis. In her defense of Gunvalson and Ayers, Beador proceeded to ask the incredibly on-point question, “What does a psychic know about cancer?”
It's Brooks' Party and Shannon Will Cry if She Wants To
That night, Ayers and Gunvalson continued the birthday celebrations by whooping it up with the Beadors. While a good time was planned, a good time was not had for the participants as trouble began brewing as soon as Beador placed her customary drink order of a Grey Goose on the rocks.
Throughout the night, Beador noticed little behaviors that made her question how seriously Ayers was taking his cancer diagnosis. He was drinking sugary drinks, planning long nights out, and generally partying as a normal person would. Beador became more and more worried about Ayers' actions in the wake of the other Housewives' claims and decided that she needed to talk to Gunvalson immediately about what she'd heard.
However, Gunvalson was ready to eviscerate the messenger before the message was even delivered. As soon as the words “Brooks” and “trouble” were uttered in the same sentence, Gunvalson's defenses were in overdrive. She was furious that she was still getting in trouble for dating Brooks. She was furious that Beador was bringing up anything negative about Brooks on his birthday. She was furious that there were any accusations being leveled at all. Gunvalson shut Beador down so hard that Beador started sobbing and did not stop throughout the dinner.
“Why are you crying and I'm not crying? What is going on?” Gunvalson asked as Beador continued to fruitlessly try to warn her about the rumors. Ayers asked for patience, but Gunvalson had none as Beador tried to apologize. Vicki stood up to leave the restaurant, giving Beador (and viewers) a piece of her mind: Ayers was the moon and the stars in her life, her rock, and she was sick of hearing people sling insults and crap at him because of their relationship. It was an incredibly awkward scene to witness in light of the fact that the couple just announced their separation, but it was fierce nonetheless.
As Gunvalson stormed away from the dinner table, Beador's husband, David, summed the dinner up perfectly: “Well that wasn't good. That wasn't good at all.” Happy birthday, Brooks!
Tell Us: Do you think Brooks is lying about his cancer diagnosis?
