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It takes a lot to rattle Taylor Armstrong, but Heather Dubrow did just that in last night’s episode of The Real Housewives Of Orange County. Armstrong has made Bravo history by being the first Housewife to cross franchises—viewers will remember her days on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills—and she’s wasted no time in making her mark as a Friend Of. With an ally in her Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip co-star Tamra Judge, Armstrong also has developed friendships with the other ladies in the group. Shannon Beador dubbed Armstrong her “hot mess sister,” and Armstrong’s connection with fellow Oklahoman Jennifer Pedranti, has only grown over the first few episodes.
Shockingly, the only housewife Taylor has had issues with so far is Heather Dubrow. Before signing up for the show, Armstrong and Dubrow would see each other only occasionally around the OC and were always friendly. Both women were excited to get to know each other; neither could have anticipated the drama that lay ahead of them. It all started innocently enough. During a girl’s night out, Armstrong revealed that she had just landed her first movie role in a feature directed by her friend Rick Walker. After another actress dropped out of the film, Armstrong had permission from Walker to offer Dubrow—a veteran of shows like That’s Life, Stark Raving Mad, and more—the role. While drinking, Dubrow accepted, and the next morning, Armstrong sent her pictures from the set before Dubrow was to join her for an acting lesson.
Chalking up the previous night’s agreement to “drunk plans,” Dubrow came over to Armstrong’s home to work with her and her acting coach on some of Armstrong’s scenes. Dubrow did not take Armstrong’s offer of the role seriously because no one from the film’s production had reached out to her. Dubrow called Armstrong’s enthusiasm “cute” and left her copy of the script behind instead of taking it with her to read. Whether or not Dubrow was justified in doubting the validity of Armstrong’s offer, she hurt Armstrong’s feelings and made her feel diminished. Instead of apologizing to Armstrong in last night’s episode and trying to work things out, Dubrow doubled down and further widened the growing rift between the women.
Armstrong stopped by the Decider offices to share her side of the story and respond to Dubrow’s truly wild accusation about Armstrong being “anti-female.”
DECIDER: Things took a turn for the worse in your budding friendship with Heather after the acting lesson at your home, correct?
TAYLOR ARMSTRONG: She was condescending to me, which is what made me so mad and caused all of this. She continued the behavior afterwards by leaving the script behind which just felt dismissive. She certainly got under my skin. I had not seen her behave like that in the past, and I didn’t appreciate it.
Do you wish you had said something to her in the moment about how you were feeling?
I was trying to absorb “you’re so cute” comment. I was like, what does that mean? I’m a grown woman. That’s not what most people would say to me. It caught me off-guard. I wondered, did she just insult me? Then it took me a minute after she left to be like, yeah, I think she did insult me. It felt like the unspoken end of that sentence was, “You’re so cute to think I’d be in a movie with a rookie actor.” All of those thoughts were brewing up inside of me after she walked out the door.
Heather accused you of wanting to diminish her career when you pulled up her IMDB page at dinner with Tamra. I don’t think that was your intention, right?
No, I think she completely overreacted to the whole thing. I wasn’t the one who looked at her IMDB page originally. It was the production company after I suggested they cast her in the movie I was going to be in. I was trying to do something positive for Heather’s career, not tear her career down. How it got misconstrued like that, we still are going to have to sort out.
During your argument, Heather calls you “anti-female” and “not nice” among other things, which you are not by the way. I was really impressed with how you carried yourself. How did you keep your cool and hold your ground?
Calling me anti-female, considering all of the work that I do for women and children who experience domestic abuse, is absolutely absurd. I’m the most pro-female person on the planet. I want the best for all women, and that includes Heather. I want her to succeed and to be happy, just like I do all the rest of the ladies despite our differences. I think I kept my cool by thinking, I’m not even going to respond to that. If you think I’m anti-female, then you don’t know anything about me.
In a confessional, Shannon says she sees both sides of the tiff between you and Heather. Looking back on it now, do you too?
I can. I can see both sides, but we each have very different opinions about the whole thing. I’m sure that she feels like she’s completely right because that’s just how Heather is. I can see how she would be upset if she thought we were trying to degrade her career, but that’s not what was happening. It was more of a misunderstanding that I feel took a life of its own.
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