Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
As we gear up for what appears to be quite an intense episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County tonight (and so early in the season!), we caught up with Lydia McLaughlin who is making a triumphant return to the franchise this season. In just two short episodes she’s invited Tamra into her Bible group, dined with Vicki, and got in a heated argument with Shannon. We got all the details from the mom of 3 about her family (including her mom!), the promise she made to herself upon returning to the show, and why her interaction with Shannon was even more “shocking and jarring” in person.
First things first, how is everything on your rainbow?
I like people on my rainbow that like me and that are positive and nice. So the rainbow is full of sparkles and sunshine.
The last episode was maybe not so full of sparkles and sunshine: were you surprised at the way things started between you and Shannon?
Yes, I was really surprised. I typically really get along with people and especially in the first meeting. I know my heart and I wasn’t trying to stir anything between her and Vicki. I was really trying to resolve things. Even seeing her reaction now in the media and press is upsetting to me and I feel like you just see her true colors and who she is.
So meeting Shannon for the first time, I was very shocked. I wanted it to go well. I was new to the show and Tamra was a friend of mine and Shannon is her best friend, so of course I wanted to get along with her. My intention was to not be shady. I didn’t want Shannon to find out that I heard all this stuff about her through Vicki. So I was trying to be forthcoming and actually said, “You’ve been hurt, she’s been hurt, why don’t we all meet and get together?” But, she didn’t give me a chance to say that. She heard the first thing out of my mouth and then just went, no. She decided she knew who I was and made her decision.
Tamra said that you use your voice this season, do you agree with that?
Well, [Shannon] wouldn’t even let me speak. So that’s what was upsetting, and I think also sometimes when you’re watching it as entertainment on a show, you can just turn it off and then you’re like, oh, that’s her personality. But when you’re actually in the situation and another woman you’ve just met is aggressively talking to you, it’s very shocking and jarring. My mom is Judy Stirling with rainbows and fairy dust and so I was not prepared for [Shannon’s] response and I felt like she was mad at me for saying something I wasn’t even meaning to say. She wasn’t giving me the chance, and as you saw, I never got the chance to explain myself to her. She didn’t wanna hear it.
Do you feel like a different Lydia this season?
No, I don’t. I mean, obviously I’ve grown. I was on the show four years ago. I was a new mom, I was a new businesswoman. It’s been four years for me, so hopefully I’m not the same and I’ve matured a little bit. That’s why I was on the show the first time, I think the producers saw in me a strong, opinionated woman and that’s always been there. No one gives you a manual when you get thrown into reality world and I was really just trying to figure everything out my first time around. So going in this time, I had a season under my belt and I really knew what to expect. If you have an opinion, you do need to say it. I knew that going into it.
Was there anything you promised yourself you’d do differently this time?
Yeah, I promised myself that I wouldn’t let social media and mean fans affect my mood or I would try to put up things to protect my heart.
Oh, that’s a good policy. Social media is much more intense now than on your previous season.
It wasn’t the same. I mean, but it was. That was a big reason why I walked away. I went into the show very naive and I was like oh, everyone will love me. And then all of a sudden you’re like, oh my gosh they think this about me, and like last week, 60% according to Watch What Happens Live thinks I’m a pot-stirrer and thinks I was in the wrong going after Shannon. To me, that wasn’t at all my intention, so you can be like oh, they’re not getting me, they don’t even know, but you have to more just be like, well I know my heart and hopefully that will shine through throughout the season. That was only 45 minutes and we’re going to be on TV through November, so maybe I could change their mind. If I don’t, that’s fine.
You are coming into a season where there’s some pretty heavy drama already brewing. I know that you had the intention of getting everybody back together, but did you find that it was much harder than you anticipated?
Totally, 100% harder. Yes. You could see that off the bat. I go in to Shannon with the intention of [having] them all make up and I even say [Vicki’s] name and she gets mad at me. So it’s a very weird season. It’s a fragmented cast. With my first meeting of Shannon, the cast gets more fragmented because now I don’t want meet her. So it continues on, and yeah, it’s very difficult.
You’re also the connection to Peggy, the new housewife. How was that process of bringing her in? How did you know she’d be a good Housewife?
Oh, the first time I meet Peggy is the first time the world met her. So it wasn’t like she was my good friend and I brought her into the fold. My husband and I, for our magazine, Nobleman Magazine, we were doing a feature on her husband. He is a successful businessman in Orange County, a family man, self-made, it was a really inspiring story. Before we feature anyone in our magazine, we like to know who they are and meet with them first. We don’t just want to have them be like a rich guy. But we want them to, as I said, have a story that’s inspiring and a heart to it. Diko was all of those things, my husband just loved him when we met. And so Diko has shared with Doug about Peggy and her brush with cancer a little bit. So when I met her we just hit it off right away.
I’m excited to see what she does.
I am too. You will have an opinion one way or the other about her.
How has everything been with Nobleman Magazine?
It’s been honestly the coolest thing. My husband had a dream, like this name came to him in a dream. It’s just his passion and mine. We’re really, really proud it’s been so well-received. It’s in Barnes & Noble nationwide and it’s a quarterly magazine and we want to have it almost like a coffee table book or something men could be proud to have on their table. We have three little boys and so we want them to be gentlemen when they grow up. We feel like this is style and substance for the modern gentleman.
What has the boys’ reaction been to the show, because they’re a little bit older now. You didn’t even have all three of them last time?
I only had two. So I took the maternity leave and now I’m back with a third. They definitely know. They wore mics and some days they didn’t want to wear mics. The crew really becomes like part of the family. They know right now that I’m away to work for Housewives. So it just depends on the day. They have mixed reviews about it. What’s funny is my oldest son, Stirling, was four when I was on it last time and he remembers that I cried. He’s like, “Mommy, when you did Housewives last time, you cried. Are you gonna cry this time?” And I’m like, “I am not, Stirling. I will not cry this time.” I did already cry though [laughs]. But, not in front of him.
Will we be seeing more of your mom this season?
You know it! Judy Stirling is in the house and she brings the sparkle and the fun and the confetti. She’s a big part of my life and I love her to death. So it makes sense that you would see her if you’re seeing me.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Monday at 9/8c on Bravo.
