Meet the Cast of 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' Season 17

From Tamra Judge's big return to Jennifer Pedranti's debut, see all the ladies who will be starring in season 17 of 'RHOC'

The Real Housewives of Orange County are back for season 17!

Last year's stars Heather Dubrow, Shannon Beador, Gina Kirschenheiter, Emily Simpson will be welcoming two additions to the main cast: newcomer Jennifer Pedranti and longtime Housewife Tamra Judge. The latter – who has already promised to bring the drama – is making her return after she was fired before season 15.

While fans may be excited to see Judge's familiar face back on the Bravo show, her castmates may not be so thrilled to rehash the past as she comes to blows with several of them in PEOPLE's exclusive sneak peek of season 17.

The show will premiere at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Tamra Judge

Tamra Judge is rejoining RHOC after she was fired from the show back in January 2020, shortly before season 15.

During her hiatus, Judge focused on her businesses Vena CBD and CUT fitness, the latter of which she ran with husband, Eddie Judge until the gym closed in August 2022.

In December 2021, the veteran reality TV star linked up with fellow ex-housewife Teddi Mellencamp to launch their chart-topping iHeart podcast, Two Ts in a Pod.

Heather Dubrow

Heather Dubrow is back for her seventh season on RHOC and her home life looks a little different now than it did last season.

For one, she no longer lives in the infamous "Chateau Dubrow," as she and her husband, Terry, sold their Newport Beach mansion and purchased a penthouse in L.A.

Her eldest two kids – Max and her twin brother Nick, 19 – also left for college last fall and in March 2023, Dubrow revealed her 12-year-old son, Ace, was transgender.

Dubrow shared that one of the reasons she stayed on Real Housewives was to connect with other people supporting LBGTQ+ family members telling PEOPLE, "I felt like our purpose is to keep those conversations going in other families."

The reality star also teased some of the tensions fans can expect in the upcoming season, which she told PEOPLE was a "very difficult" for her.

"I'm curious to see how it looks, because I think that our memories are sometimes not always accurate of events," she said in May. "I have my narrative, someone else has their narrative, but then when you see it play out, you go, okay, maybe I took that wrong, or maybe I overstepped, or maybe I overstated. So we're going to have to see how it plays out."

Shannon Beador

Shannon Beador is back for more Real Housewives of Orange County, though the most recent season won't show one of her life's most recent changes: the breakup with her boyfriend of three and a half years, John Janssen.

Shortly after she finished filming season 17, Janssen ended their relationship, in a move Beador says "blindsided" her.

"All I can do is repeat in my head what he said to me while we were filming," Beador said, looking back at what led to her breakup. "We were in a great place. But seven days later, when the cameras were down, it was a completely different story. He told me he was done with the relationship. And to hear what he said to me then was absolutely devastating."

Gina Kirschenheiter

The new season will follow Gina Kirschenheiter – who's returning for her fifth go round – as she continues living alcohol-free, a decision she made over a year and a half ago. In April, the Housewife spoke to PEOPLE about how abstaining from drinking has positively affected her, but she's otherwise kept quiet about the lifestyle change.

Kirschenheiter added that filming the newest installment of the Bravo series was ultimately good for her journey, even if it wasn't always easy.

"Viewers will see, I'm having a very natural, real reaction to what's happening in a way I don't think I have in the past," she teased. "And it's not always easy, but it actually turned out to be a really good thing for me, and very good motivation for me to stay away from the bottle."

Emily Simpson

Emily Simpson will be joining her fellow Orange County Housewives for her fifth season on the show. The mom of three has previously been open about her personal health journeys, from her weight loss transformation in 2020, to her recent face lift reveal.

"Being middle-aged, gaining 30 pounds and then losing it, menopause," she wrote on Instagram, captioning a set of before-and-after photos of her face. "WHO knows what the exact culprit is 🤷‍♀️but a couple years ago I was watching myself on TV, and to my utter surprise I realized that I had completely lost my jawline."

Jennifer Pedranti

Among the familiar Housewives faces is one newcomer: Jennifer Pedranti.

According to her Instagram, the new arrival is a mother of five and a yoga instructor. Her bio on Bravo's The Daily Dish site states that Pedranti is "currently separated from her husband — with a twist." Despite their split, she still shares a home with her ex, and he runs her family business.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Taylor Armstrong – who will feature on season 17 as a friend of the Orange County Housewives – shared a selfie with Pedranti on Instagram.

"Two Oklahoma girls trying to figure out this #RHOC world… 👯‍♀️," Armstrong wrote in the caption. "One week to go until the season premiere! 🍊"

Taylor Armstrong

As the first Housewife to jump between cities, Taylor Armstrong is looking to begin a new chapter on season 17 of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

"The difference for me is I went through so much trauma when I was on Beverly Hills," Armstrong told PEOPLE in October 2022, referencing the early days of her reality career.

In 2011, Armstrong filed for divorce from her husband Russell Armstrong. She told PEOPLE at the time that she'd been verbally and physically abused during their nearly six-year marriage. A month after she filed for divorce, Russell died by suicide. She left RHOBH in after its sixth season, in 2016.

Looking ahead, Armstrong told PEOPLE that fans can expect to "get to know a different side of me." She also hopes to be a beacon of hope for other abuse victims: "I'm excited for the fans and the viewers and people who are also coming off of the domestic violence situation to know there is life after," she said.

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